Research Paper On Catcher In The Rye

Yet another demon that Holden avoids is the process of having to grow up. Throughout the book, he seems hesitant to develop any real ambitions or goals. He is a perpetual failure at school. He refuses to associate himself with mature ways of living, and so isolates himself from anyone his own age or older. This is all directly connected to Holden's picture-perfect image of his childhood. He sees this particular period of his life as his own personal paradise. He does not want to finalize the fact that he has to concede it's innocence in the end. Towards the end of the book, Holden shows his desire for life to remain as it was by saying, "...certain things 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." Holden does not want to join a world of phonies and greed, a world lacking in carelessness and irresponsibility. He won't, whether consciously or not, accept the fact that he has no choice.

Holden has matured in many ways throughout the novel. He had grown from an immature child who only cared about himself to a mature adult who wanted to make something of his life. In the beginning of the story we are introduced to

Throughout the story Holden emphasizes his love for childhood innocence. In a passage he says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.” (Salinger 211) This immediately points to his affinity for innocence and not having the limits of being and adult. The

Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child. “All of a sudden I

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 desires and actions ultimately show how innocence is almost impossible to protect and is temporary. Holden wants to save everybody from maturing because he is afraid of change. All he sees are the bad things adulthood has to offer and is struggling with the hardships he is facing. He misses the innocence of his childhood and doesn’t want anyone else to lose it. Therefore, he tries several times to protect them from the downfall he is facing. Ultimately, his attempts are useless because innocence turns into an illusion as you mature. You can never change back once you become an

This directly correlates with Holden’s dubbing of many people, practices, or labeling things as “phony.” He refers to the school and each of the students individually as “phony,” and calling out, “Sleep tight, ya morons!”(59) when he leaves Pencey for the last time. This demonstrates Holden’s use of “phoniness” to describe anything that doesn’t meet his

Holden Caufield emphasizes on the loss of innocence in children. He feels that once they lose their innocence, they will soon turn into phonies like everyone else. The loss of innocence is very common in the development in human existence. It is caused by many factors. Past a certain age, children are either forced or led unintentionally into a pathway of corruption. A child is also known to lose their innocence by desires, fantasies, and attention. But once they lose their innocence, they tend to desire to go back and pretend to be young again. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden discusses the importance of innocence in children's lives. He feels that once a child loses his/her innocence, he/she will soon be leaded to a

Holden is very immature and cannot act his age for anything. In the beginning of the story, Holden was very immature and self-centered and he often did very immature things, but he wanted to be an adult. This is very contradicting considering that he is very immature. In the novel, Holden states, “Boy! I said. I also say Boy! quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen.” (Salinger 16). This shows how Holden is very immature and needs to start acting his age and this could be dangerous to society. This is why he needs to stay inside the mental facility. In the mental facility, he will be safe and he will not cause any harm to anyone or to himself

It is very clear that Holden is immature. One of the most obvious times that this is shown is when Holden is talking with Luce. Luce says, “ Same old Caulfield. When are you gonna grow up?” (Salinger 144).

“I was 16 and I'm 17 now sometimes act like about 13” (Salinger 232) This quote taken from the novel shows the reader that Holden may not be just as mature as his lifestyle represents. “I'm 6 foot two and I have gray hair”. (Salinger 222) Maturity is also shown when Holden comes home to visit some teachers, and is told to start dreaming, and thinking about his future plans in life, such as an occupation, etc. These conversations Holden has, starts to make him think that one day hell have to grow up and start to plan out his future, and that he can no longer hide from

Throughout history, authors have used controversial scenes and imagery to convey a deeper meaning or theme within a work. Some of the most famous one’s being Color Purple and Uncle Tom’s Cabin which both relied on vulgar scenes to portray themes of racial and societal inequality. Another popular book that contains several vulgar scenes is J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, which deals with the themes of alienation, and the maintaining and loss of childhood innocence.

But was it what he wanted? Inside, Holden was conflicted with the reality of becoming an adult. He wanted to protect himself and all children from the harsh reality that was adulthood. But ultimately it was an impossible task. Throughout the book, Holden was pushing aside the fact that he couldn’t preserve innocence, that kids eventually have to grow up.

“Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do you start missing everybody” This quote taken from J.D Salinger’s 1951novel The Catcher in the Rye, exemplifies one of the themes of the book; loneliness. Other themes in the novel are depression, self delusion, authenticity, self isolation, loss and growing up. The novel follows Holden Caulfield as he tries to maneuver through life in a world he finds very ‘phony’ and shallow.

No matter what, he would without a doubt have his attitude, thinking of Holden without his attitude and witty remarks do not seem right and the book would not be that good, it would probably be a typical teen book if it were written without Holden and his whole attitude. The people like Ackley, Straldner, and Maurice would probably be the same except they would have the technology and for Maurice that could be bad, the only reason that is stated is that he is a pimp and has prostitutes and it would be hectic for