Playwright Tom Stoppard wrote, "If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." Youth live in a carefree world constantly surrounded by people looking out for them. As they grow older, they are given more responsibilities, and finally, the weight of the world is placed on their shoulders. Some people are able to wean themselves from childhood more easily than others. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield struggles with the difficulties of the adult world. Due to this clash of identities, Holden simultaneously plays the dual role of adult and child.
One group of people with whom Holden plays a dual role is with his own family. During times when Holden feels especially depressed, he digresses to thoughts about his deceased brother, Allie. At first the mentioning of Allie is okay, but then it becomes an unhealthy habit. Holden is unable to move on with his life and accept the fact that Allie is gone and life moves on. Just as Allie was an important family member to Holden, Phoebe also plays an important role in his life. Holden is very protective of Phoebe and watches out for her, but at the same time, he goes to Phoebe for help and advice. As much as Holden would like to seem paternal, he also behaves in a child-like manner. As he behaves in a paternal way with Phoebe, he also wants the best for his brother DB. While he knows that what DB does may not be the best way to pursue a career in life, he tries to support him without judgment. Holden is very protective of his family but at the same time to an unhealthy extent, while some family members, such as Phoebe, need to protect him.
Holden strongly cares for his family but has a more difficult time getting along with ad...
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...ally. Holden's idea of moving away with Sally Hayes is a very irrational idea. As soon as he sees her he says, "I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her," (124). This immediate reaction is very unrealistic. While he is trying to form a permanent relationship, it is not very practical considering the circumstances. It seems like a perfect idea to Holden, but to Sally, and any other practical minded individual, it is not. Holden's struggle with relationships is often due to his immaturity and irrational thoughts.
Holden simultaneously plays the dual role of adult and child. Much of what Holden says and does is contradictory to his own thought process. He struggles with the concepts of the adult world as he experiences them. Truly, the more years one has, the wiser one tends to be. Memories and feelings from youth remain always, but the child must move on.
Allie and Phoebe both affect Holden Caulfield's life. Allie completely destroys his brother’s life, leaving him emotionally damaged. Phoebe brings her brother up from his depression and puts meaning back into Holden’s
After many years of ideas coming and going, one that seems to stay the same is the thoughts of tennagers. In the book The Catcher In The Rye written by J.D Salinger many can still relate to Holden’s story even after a 76 year difference. While exploring the city around him Holden takes the time to try to find himself on a deeper level and try to grasp how growing up really makes him feel. Given the fact that everyone is unique in among themselves the need for self satisfaction is always current meaning many run from the true responsibilities that come with age.
The overwhelming pain that Holden had suffered during the past was nonetheless an impact, which stained his future life. Some evidence that implies Holden’s characteristic is how he grudgingly criticizes and scorns at almost everyone he knows. After he leaves Pencey Prep School, he falls into a dilemma where he faces loneliness and depression. More so, he desperately seeks company from clubs, bars, and hotels to have someone to accompany him. The factors that affect this isolation of him are mostly because of the tragic death of his younger brother Allie and the life he has in school. He was an important person to Holden. He mentions how great and smart Allie was out of the entire family. When Stradlater told Holden to write an essay for him Holden decided that he wanted to write a paper about Allies baseball mitt, which had poems written on it and Holden still carries with him the mitt at school (38). The life he has in school is very miserable to him because he has already failed two other schools and it is happening to him again. He says that he did not mean to disappoint and hurt his parents’ feelings so he takes a few days out to Edmont Hotel (59).
In The Catcher in The Rye, by J.D, the main character, Holden, can be seen as a troubled teenager growing up in a less than perfect society. Throughout the novel Holden struggles with the fact that many young and innocent kids will grow up and see the world from a different perspective. He naturally becomes worried for all future generations who will one day grow, as he did, and loose their innocence. The fixation of youth and innocence can be seen in the title of the book, as well as throughout the novel.
Holden madly wants to protect the innocence and purity of childhood, but of course cannot. After the death of Allie, Holden’s brother, he wants to save others from what was painfully taken away from him. Holden desperately tries to protect children from losing their purity, to protect them from the same ...
Holden Caulfield offers the reader an interesting view on dealing with teen problems and adult life through the eyes of a teenager suffering from depression. Depression and the death of his brother Allie play a significant role in Holden's personality, especially his sensitivity to people around him and the emotional response he has in certain situations. He is self-conscious of himself, but at the same time struggles for independence and individuality. He longs to keep his childhood, staying away from the adult world. However, Holden's story ends with saying "I sort of miss everybody I told about," implying that he has, at last, grown up and matured, and these experiences he has narrated are just boyhood memories.
James Bryan notes that Holden is “is poised between two worlds, one he cannot return to and one he fears to enter”. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden embodies the limbo between childhood and adulthood by trying to maintain both “worlds”. For example throughout the novel Holden behaves like an adult but still behaves like a child and tries to preserve his innocence and the innocence of children. He also embodies both worlds by often contradicting himself, which shows the limbo of both worlds.
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.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
There is one event that unites all human beings. This event is the process of growing up and becoming an adult. The transition into adulthood from childhood can be very long and confusing. As a kid most of them can not wait to become an adult but once you experience adulthood you miss your childhood. The novel Catcher in the Rye shows how a teenager on the break of entering adulthood can get scared. Through the main protagonist Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of adapting to an adult society. Holden is faced with many problems as some teens
Holden Caulfield, the teenage protagonist of Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, struggles with having to enter the adult world. Holden leaves school early and stays in New York by himself until he is ready to return home. Holden wants to be individual, yet he also wants to fit in and not grow up. The author uses symbolism to represent Holden’s internal struggle.
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.
Holden’s little brother, Allie, also influences a lot on him. For example, Holden states, “…You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent…He was also the nicest member of the family in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody…” Holden always thinks of his brother Allie as a good and intelligent boy. When Holden thinks about Allie, Holden shows his love for him and how much he likes him. Another important scene is when Holden says, “…I kept walking and walking up Fifth Avenue…Then all of a sudden, something very spooky started happening. Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I’d never get to the other side of the street.
When we are told that we do good, we’ll do better; when we are told that all we do is bad, we become worse. Holden seems to be arrogant to the fact that the people around him only try to help because they care about him. Holden’s sister Phoebe constantly chastises him to keep his grades up in school, and to stop running away from his issues; for example, every time holden comes across an issue in school, he tries to leaves.
Holden is a teenage character who has suffered a lot in his life. He has suffered a lot. He doesn?t care about anybody other than his sister, Phoebe. He did not like the adulthood because he thought that every adult was a phony. Holden thinks that when people lie, they are being phony.