Growing up may seem daunting to most, but it is a necessary part of life. In the novel The Catcher in The Rye, J.D. Salinger portrays Holden as a teenage boy who cannot accept this concept. The novel shows Holden’s thoughts and take on the world over the course of three days. Holden consistently judges other characters and avoids communication with them until finally, he has a complete mental breakdown. Salinger uses the characters Allie and Stradlater to symbolize stages and aspects of life to show that one must eventually accept confrontation and interaction with the adult world. Throughout the novel, Salinger refers to Holden’s little brother Allie who represents innocence and purity in Holden’s life. When first introducing Allie, Holden
Teenage years are difficult. Time tells this story of struggle again and again. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel showing the struggles a teenager goes through while transitioning into adulthood. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a judgmental and temperamental boy who struggles to see the positivity in life. Throughout the story, Holden searches to find himself, as he feels forced to grow up. He holds onto aspects of his childhood and isolates himself so much that it is even harder for him to transition. J.D. Salinger uses the red hunting hat, the museum and cigarettes as important symbols in the story to convey the themes of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, loneliness, and isolation.
In J. D Salinger 's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden, goes through many hardships in his journey to self-knowledge. In the beginning, Holden has to deal with being kicked out of school and not having any place to call home. He is also struggling with the unfortunate tragedy of the death of his beloved younger brother Allie. At the same time, Holden is trying to deal with growing up and accepting the adult world. Throughout the novel Salinger addresses the conflicts faced by a young man struggling with the trials and tribulations of growing up while also confronting personal loss and loneliness along the way.
When people grow up for some it is painless while for others it is difficult. J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is a book about a boy named Holden who is scared to grow up, he tries to hold on to his childhood for as long as he can. Growing up is something that Holden fears as seen throughout the story. Salinger revels Holden’s fear of change through The Museum of Natural History, Little Shirley Beans Record, and the ducks in Central Park.
Adolescence is often a confusing time where people still have elements of childhood, but they are beginning to enter the world of adults. People end up stuck between two points in life and feel that they can not quite fit into either. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, sixteen year old Holden Caulfield experiences the contradicting feelings of being a teenager while he is alone in New York City. He masquerades as an adult and his experiences represent various aspects of being an adult. He tries to act grown-up and engage in adult life, but at the same time he resists it and tries to hold onto the way things are. Salinger explores the image of adulthood using symbols. Symbols of adulthood hold for Holden a certain longing and resentment as he struggles with the turmoil of adolescence.
There are certain qualities that define maturity, and they vary from person to person. Throughout the story, Holden Caulfield, the sixteen year old protagonist of “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger is slowly but surely becoming a mature, young boy. He battles through his teenage life because he is caught between two worlds; one of pure bliss and innocence, the other of a mature adult. As he aspires to be “the catcher in the rye”, he wants all children to hold on to their innocence as long as they can because he feels the world is full of “phony” adults. However with the help of some friends and family, he is able to realize that he cannot save all children and that they will eventually have to grow up. Jeannette Walls, the author and main character of the memoir, “A Glass
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
J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is the chronicle of a young man's metamorphosis from immaturity to unsure manhood. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is a sixteen-year old boy who leaves the prep school he has been expelled from to escape the frightening reality of dealing with his parents. However, during his visit to New York City he is faced with the harsh reality that he cannot continue to hold onto his childhood. Holden is an extremely complex character and it is only by examining each layer of him that the reader is able to understand his painful metamorphosis.
Holden Caulfield plays a timeless character in the sense that his way of life is common for the American teenager, in his time as well as now. Today parents dread the terrible and confusing adolescent years of their child's life. In J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in this terrible and confusing point of his life. At this point in his life, as well as in modern teenager's lives, a transition occurs, from child to adult. Holden takes this change particularly rough and develops a typical mentality that prevents him from allowing himself to see or understand his purpose in life.
In the book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist, Holden gets kicked out of his school,Pencey Prep, for poor grades. He causes trouble with the kids at Pencey Prep and decides to leave and stay at a hotel in New York where he causes even more trouble. People dispute over Holden's maturity or lack there of in the book. Some people view Holden's actions and thoughts to be justifiably mature. However others refuse to make excuses for his behavior and see his behavior as what it it, immature. Holden above all else demonstrates immaturity in the book “The Catcher in the Rye.”
Throughout the book Catcher In The Rye Holden learns how to make decisions that are mature but will also make him happy. In the beginning of the book, Holden's saw maturity as acting like most adults do. He thought that if he did things like losing his virginity, having a family, etc. he would be mature. For example during Holden's date with Sally he realized that he didn't like the way his life is going, Holden decides the best thing to do is run away, he says to Sally, “I could get a job somewhere and we could live somewhere with a brook...we could get married or something...
JD. Salinger’s 1951 book, The Catcher in the Rye, shows us how society treated their confused and changing teenagers during their transition into adulthood. The book’s main character Holden Caulfield is being pressured into growing up even though he doesn’t feel ready, to lead an adult life. He is still struggling socially and mourning for his deceased brother whose death turned Holden upside down and into a negative, hopeless person from a young age, which causes him to be distracted, indifferent and to flunk every school he goes to.
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.
J.D. Salinger 's "The Catcher in the Rye" portrays a troubled teen in New York City. Over the few days the novel depicts, the boy displays his critical and unhealthy mindset. Eventually he has a mental breakdown. Through psychoanalysis of Holden Caulfield, one may suggest that Allie 's death, social development, and an identity crisis are large contributing factors in Holden 's mental breakdown.
It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.
Holden’s connection with his little brother Allie was very special to him. This is evident in the way he talks about Allie. He holds Allie up to these great expectations, saying “You’d have liked him” (Salinger, 1945-6, p.33) and convincing you how great he was and how intelligent and special he was. You are now able to connect and sympathise for Holden, because he has told you all about the things that mean most to him, and you can’t help but feel a little sorry for him.