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How Does Holden Escape The Catcher In The Rye

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In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger reminds readers about the process in which children inevitably need to grow up to face the real world. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is presented as a vulnerable, depressed adolescent whose constantly seeking escape, in every form, from the complexities of adulthood approaching. Escape which can be portrayed in the forms of sex, drugs, and alcohol from topics such as death and intimacy in which he is going to have to encounter in order to grow up, which terrifies him to no end. Nevertheless, Holden desires to escape the thought of the adult world by turning his attention to imagining a fantasy world. A fantasy in which the adult world dealt with hypocrites as well as superficial people …show more content…

Holden thinks of the museum as never changing and simple. No matter how old he gets, history never changes. Which is why he can easily find solace in his safe spot, a place where he can always come back to. Besides the fact that the museum is a part of his fantasy world, it is also a place of preservation. The artifacts and exhibits are hidden behind a glass case surrounding and preserving itself from the outside world. Which in a way, preserves its innocence. Similar to how Holden thinks of his childhood, "Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know it's impossible, but it's too bad anyway" (158). Readers can infer how Holden is terrified by the thought of the world around him changing. He's just like all these teens on the verge of growing up, they want to revert to simpler things. With change comes the unpredictable challenges life throws your way. A way to cope with change is to escape reality, which Holden does best. He creates an alternate universe in which the less important things matter most to him. While things like death, he deals with in a nonchalant-like

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