Immaturity of Holden in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

Being a teenager is hard. There are even many struggles that a person has to face throughout their adolescent years such as dating, getting good grades, and keeping a good relationship with friends and family. For Holden, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, going through the traditional high school’s struggles wasn’t easy. In addition to all the ‘normal’ challenges that every teenager has, Holden also had depression. Depression cast a dark shadow that followed Holden all throughout the story. Despite all of this, Holden made his life difficult for himself by doing things such as unfairly judging people, telling numerous lies and having a pessimistic attitude. Holden’s life, and the lives of the people around him could have been much simpler if he tried using these traits in a positive way. Instead Holden’s life was unnecessarily complicated, as he forced challenges onto himself from the way he behaved.

In all forms of literature, characters develop and progress throughout the story after experiencing several events that change them as a person; this is what gives the story substance and interest in the readers’ eyes. This statement is also the case in J. D Salinger’s novel “The Catcher in the Rye” as the protagonist Holden Caufield goes on a journey of self-discovery resulting in change in his overall view of the world around him. Throughout the novel, Holden is driven by the idea of preserving the innocence of children and sheltering them from the adult world, but as the story progresses he comes to the realization that growing up is an inevitable part of life that must be accepted. Holden also changes from being someone who rarely shows

Holden tries to be an adult, yet he does all these bad things to make him look

In the book, Holden, has problems with his school, Holden does not try in school and does not care what he gets in school. Holden says, “I forgot to tell you about that. They kicked me out. I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all” (Salinger 4). For the character Holden is hard for him to accept that he has grown into a grown man, from being a kid. Holden does things that are adult like, but he does not know that he is hurting himself and making him suffer with the problems that he has with smoking.

Haas and his friend Stradlater for being unscrupulous while comparably, Holden isn't any different. For instance after agreeing with Old Spencer regarding life as a game, internally Holden admitted that this idea was idiotic and Holden had no problem divulging this to the reader and the reader might find this insignificant but quite coincidentally, these occurrences happen whenever reality is too much for Holden to handle. A great example of this was when Old Spencer asked Holden if his future was significant to him, to which Holden divulges to the reader that this subject is quite depressing for him but in order for a simple concept such as the future to be so depressing, one may infer that Holden has gone through a series of unhealthy events in his life that have made him feel as if life is

Holden is not happy with himself. To make himself fee better about himself, he points out the flaws of others. When his sister, Phoebe, pointed out that he is a hateful person, he got very defensive. After hearing this he fell deeper into his depression.

society. Each person around him was a fake and he could never see the good in people and things. This is due to Holden's strong opposition to material wealth, which is a dominating characteristic of the society which he could not accept. Many say that he’s just a spoiled rich boy who doesn’t appreciate all of the opportunities given to him. I think he was constantly viewed as spoiled and rich and learned to hate it and criticize it. He can't communicate with anyone and feels that the only person he can even relate to is his sister Phoebe. Holden cannot function as a normal part of society because of his hatred towards all "phonies", which he believes everyone to be.

Holden's reached an age where he's figured out what he likes and what he doesn't but hasn't quite figured out what he wants. He loathes phony people and seems to find them everywhere he looks. He's grown up and lost innocence and hates the world he's seen. Unsure of

In particular when Holden had been abandoned alone in the spooky hall way of the mummies of the Natural Museum, he realized that “it was so nice and peaceful then all of a sudden, I saw another “fuck you”...You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any” (204). Through the harsh views of Holden’s eyes, Holden wishes nothing would change so that he would not induce any more pain from society filled with a bunch of depressing phony people. Therefore, since he had no feelings about connecting to society’s standards he isolates himself upon the world while being motivated in order to not induce a more fear from the thought of his brother’s death. He is depressed and caught in a cycle of grief that he can't break out of, that dominates his thinking and leads to poor decision

The more you hear Holden express his thoughts on people, and life in general it is clear he is not your average sixteen year old; Holden is alone. His family sent him away to boarding school, his eldest brother has gone to Hollywood to work, he does not seem to truly connect with anyone he went to school with, and saddest of all his youngest brother had died of an illness. Holden talks about tragedies like his brothers death as if he is no longer hurting from them. This seems to be Holden’s tone throughout the book. Something bad would happen and Holden brushes it off and continues the story. Holden is stuck between growing up and becoming another phony adult and staying a child. There is irony in this because where Holden despises adults and thinks they are all fake he constantly is trying to get away with adult things like smoking, drinking, and going into clubs. He also acts like a child every time he is faced with an adult situation. Instead of having a rational conversation with his roommate about his roommates date with his old friend Jane he lunges into a fist fight over it. The Author uses lots of hyperboles and metaphors to show Holden's exaggerated attitude towards things. Holden even finds just sitting by himself to make him feel like “a prize horses ass” (86). The diction Holden uses in this book reveals a lot about him. Simpler

The way Holden cant fit into the society around has drove him to hate it, instead of him coming to realize this he just judges other people on the fakeness and dishonesty. Holden even thinks that his own school is hypocritical because they don’t really follow there own motto which is “molds boys into upright, respected members of society", in his eyes the guys in his school don’t change from when they get there it even molds some into crooks and criminals. He also

Holden has a desire to stop change and preserve innocence throughout a majority of the book, which pushes him to run away in order to prevent himself from entering adulthood. As Holden visits the museum from his childhood, he states that “the

At the onset of the story while Holden is attending Pencey Prep, he believes he is better than everyone and that he is unique. Holden alienates himself because he thinks he is above the rest of society, while in reality, he is antisocial, and he does not interact well with other people. “It was the saturday of the football game. [...] I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill. You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams.” (1). While the rest of the school is together watching the football game Holden is isolated from society and he is judging everyone else. Holden's alienation causes most of his pain and sorrow in life, but he hides his own emotions from the rest of society, and this prevents him from connecting with others. A prime example of this is when Holden

Throughout the novel, Holden appears to be mature through his impressive observational skills and analytical skills. Holden’s observational skills make him seem smarter than he actually is. This is most easily seen when he’s showing off he easily, and how well, he could do a composition. “That’s something else that gives me a royal pain. I mean if you’re good at writing compositions and somebody starts talking about commas” (Salinger 49). Solidified the fact that Holden knows what he’s doing, and since this is early in the novel, it gives the reader a chance to see at an early point in time what he’s capable of. Holden, as smart as he is, makes the continued mistake to judge other characters in the book based on his perceived maturity and experiences. This ranges from how Holden interacts with characters like the

Holden’s brother Allie’s death immediately leaves his mind with a negative association between maturity and innocence. In Holden’s eyes, Allie’s death represents the death of innocence, and feels the obligation to live out Allie’s innocent years for him. The night Allie died, Holden “broke all the windows in the garage (39)” with his fist. Smashing these windows was not just an act of anger, but symbolizing the brokenness Holden felt inside when he lost his brother The windows could also