Growing Up In Catcher In The Rye

There is an only event that unites every single human being on the nature. Not everyone can say it is a pleasant experience, but no one can deny that it happened. This single event is labelled ‘growing up’. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing, often uncovering questions that cannot be answered. During this time the adult world seems inviting and free, but only when we become members of a cruel, society can the happy ignorance of childhood be appreciated and missed. The novel Catcher in the Rye examines how adult life appears complex and incomprehensible to teenagers on the brink of entering it. Through the main protagonist Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced

The Ducks In the Central Park Lagoon are impactful to the book because they represent the exact opposite characteristic than that of the main character Holden. The ducks represent beneficial decisions at times of adversity, while Holden struggles to guide himself in the right direction at these times. Holden is very hung up on where the ducks in the pond go in the winter when the pond is frozen and no longer suitable for them to live in. Holden will often bring it up during conversation, as he did with a cab driver, he asked “well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where in the

The ducks are first brought to the reader’s attention while Holden is visiting his teacher, Mr. Spencer, regarding his removal from Pencey. While conversing with Mr. Spencer, however, Holden’s mind drifts elsewhere. His mind drifts back to New York as he wonders to himself if the lagoon in Central Park is frozen over, and if so, where do the ducks go? A direct parallel can be drawn from the ducks in the lagoon to Holden’s present situation. He is mandated to leave Pencey, but has no idea where he belongs after leaving. Just like the ducks in the lagoon, “Holden is essentially homeless, frozen out” (Trowbridge par. 1). Holden’s life has not been filled with an abundance of stability and now what little he had is gone, albeit due to faults of his own, and he sees an unsure and hazy future. Holden inquires about the state of the ducks to the driver of the first cab he catches in New York, and the driver believes that he is kidding. Later on, he asks another cab driver if somebody came around “in a truck or something to take them away” or if they flew away “by themselves” (Salinger 81-82). Knowing what happens to these ducks, knowing that they are safe and secure even though the lagoon is frozen would provide Holden with a sense of comfort about his current state of affairs. What seems to be a ridiculous and meaningless question to the

In chapter nine when Holden takes a trip to New York City, he is very concerned with the ducks in Central Park. While speaking with his taxi driver, he says: "Hey, listen" …"You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" ‘I realized it was only one chance in a million-I was just interested, that's all’" (Salinger 60). Holden perceives himself as a duck trapped in the motionless water, a gloomy atmosphere where he does not belong nor fit into. Subconsciously, he may be searching for a “warm escape” like the ducks, because he feels he should have a chance to find his place in the world too. His motive for wanting a “great escape” is because he fears the idea of maturing into a young adult. He feels that adults are “phony’s” and depreciate the values instilled in young children. Holden’s conversation with his taxi driver teaches him that there is a fine line between dreams and reality, and this helps Holden

The ducks represents how Holden deals with maturity throughout his journey. The ducks also represent running away. and this is why Holden have questions whether stay at the pond meaning stay with his parents or fly to the neverland meaning escaping. Holden wonders where do the ducks go when the pond freezes, even though Holden wants to escape from his family he wants to see his little sister, Phoebe. Just like the ducks Holden runs away when problems get harder, in case of the ducks the freezing lagoon is the problem and when there is no problems he does not bother to do anything just like the ducks. Holden runs ways when things get difficult; therefore, he does not want to run away when everything is fine.

In possible hopes of making himself feel better towards the idea of change, Holden would ask his cab drivers about the ducks in the pond. He would ask where the ducks go in the winter, do they stay? Or do they leave. In other words, Holden could be characterizing the ducks to a person, and to relate them to the concept of change. Within the text, Holden takes a cab ride and asks about where the ducks go for the winter. ""The fish, they don't go no place. They stay right where they are, the fish. Right in the goddamn lake." "The fish, that's different. The fish is different, I'm talking about the ducks." " what's the difference?"" (Salinger, 82) Holden's curiosity gets the best of him when he asks where the ducks really go. The ducks represent the concept of change. He asks his cab driver’s and other secondary character throughout his journey about the ducks and where they

There is a time in everyone’s life that we all can relate to, although it may not be the same for everyone. This event changes people around the world in one way or another, this occasion is called growing up. It is the conversion from innocence to the confusing adult world. Where we become participants in an unjust society and become oblivious of the childhood that we miss and cherished. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, it explores the innocence of a teen in the late 1940’s and also how he lacks it.

When Holden is taking a cab to a hotel, he asks the cab driver if he “know[s] those ducks in [the] lagoon right near Central Park South?” and if “By any chance, [he] happen[s] to know where…the ducks [go] when it gets all frozen over?” (Salinger 60). Holden is frightened by change and disappearance, as he wants to continue being young. Holden is worried about where the ducks go because he is scared that he too will have to leave soon, since he must grow up and enter his life of adulthood. As Holden drunkenly walks the streets of New York, he finds “[the lagoon]…partly frozen and partly not frozen” and although he “walked all around the whole damn lake…[he] didn’t see a single duck” (Salinger 154). Holden desperately wants to find a duck still at the lake so that he could hold on to his hope that he doesn’t have to grow up. Instead, Holden finds the lake “partly frozen and partly not frozen”, which signifies the current state of the transition he’s in, between childhood and adulthood. The ducks in the lagoon symbolize that Holden cannot remain a child forever, and that he must accept change and no longer be afraid to grow

Teenage years are sometimes believed to be a fun time in many people’s lives; but the transition between childhood and becoming an adult can be tricky. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden is stuck in between the change of childhood to adulthood because he doesn’t want to let go of childhood and the care-free attitude he can have. In adulthood, people have to have some sense of maturity, and Holden demonstrates that he isn’t ready for that until towards the end of the novel. Holden is stubborn at the beginning of The Catcher in the Rye because he is not alert to the world surrounding him. The reader sees him transform and become mature because he comes to terms with his life and realizes that he was wrong about growing up, and that he is ready to come to terms with the end of his childhood.

One of the most widely recognized symbols of the book is Holden’s curiosity about the ducks in Central Park. Holden longs for answers to his question of where the ducks go in the winter. “The ducks. Do you know by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves—go south or something? (107). As the ice freezes over the pond and winter comes, the ducks leave, able to escape the brutal winter and the ice for a more pleasant, warmer climate to the south. Holden longs to avoid being apart of the adult world that is engulfed with phoniness, but is unable to understand how to do so. “The fish don’t go no place. They stay right where they are, the fish. Right in the goddamn lake… Their bodies take in nutrition and all, right through the goddamn seaweed and

The gap from childhood and adulthood is far apart. It is difficult for a person to transition from one to another because it is a long process of maturing and accepting that being a child is over. In The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is struggling with his transition to adulthood, in fact he doesn’t want to mature because the adult life is something he is completely terrified of. JD Salinger cleverly writes an astonishingly novel with the theme of maturity and the struggles of a teenager by using many literary and rhetorical devices.

As most teenagers and young adults would agree, growing up is a difficult task to which no alternative is present. Every person must grow up and lose much of the innocence they had as youth, no matter how badly one may want to hold on to it. Holden Caulfield, an expert “catcher in the rye”, seems to think he can thwart time and the natural progression to adulthood by keeping as boyish and innocent as he possibly can. He tries to find acceptance among his peers and his teachers, only to be met with rejection after rejection of his refusal to adulthood. He is, every so often, met with acceptance of his insistence on staying in high school. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is met with rejections from his peers, such as Robert Ackley, and his teachers, such as Mr. Spencer; despite this, he succeeds in receiving acceptance from

Infants become toddlers; toddlers become children; children become teenagers and teenagers become adults. Toddlers think they are invincible until they fall. Children think they are champions until they lose a game. Teenagers think they can take the world until they lose a companion. They rush through life, growing up too fast when they are able to still have the right to a childhood. The pressure to act older,the pressure to be someone they are not. Life comes with bumps in the road and for some they take them harder than intended, toddlers will fall, children will lose, teenagers will cry. In JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye a misunderstood teenager goes through New York City to figure out what to do with his life. Holden Caulfield battles a war within himself and struggles with the constant conflict between adulthood and childhood, emotional stability, depression, and truth and denial.

When people think of growing up we think of stress, maturity, and freedom, but some of us have a hard time growing up. This was the case for Holden Caulfield, Holden Caulfield is a 16-year-old boy who has a hard time bridging adolescence and adulthood together, thus making him have a hard time finding his own place in society and letting go of the past. Holden Caulfield is one of those people who doesn’t like growing up because of all the problems he’s been going through such as his brother Allie dying, he emotions, and letting go of his past. To begin, Holden grew up with a brother named Allie dies of leukemia when Holden has been just 13 years old which affected what he thought about of growing up. This affected him growing up because Allie was his only little brother that died at a very innocent age, which made Holden thinks that he doesn’t want to grow up.

Every person born goes through a life cycle. Life propels forward forcing yourself to grow up. Growing up you may experience downfalls or incidents changing your perspective on society and people. During the 1940’s Holden Caulfield is sent to Pencey Prep, after being kicked out of three other preparatory schools. It is no surprise Holden flunks out again, before Christmas vacation. In the remaining three days before coming home, Holden faces issues. Holden witnesses first hand knowledge of the adult world and realizes the difference between childhood and the mysterious real world. In Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger focuses on the perspective of Holden. Holden witnesses loneliness, pain of growing up, the need of warmth