Thinking back as a teenager, have you ever had conflicting feelings between staying as a child or becoming an adult? While wanting to mature because of the rights and freedom only given to adults, adolescents do not want to leave their simple life as a child. The protagonist Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger has conflicting emotions on this topic. Despite wanting to remain in childhood, he also desires to become an adult. However, throughout the novel it is evident that his wish to stay as a child is greater than his eagerness to grow up. He expresses the pain and challenges that come with growing up. Therefore, the process of growing up and entering the adult world is challenging as it brings changes, …show more content…
exposure to the hypocritical world, and the loss of innocence. Entering the adult world causes change that the individual needs to constantly adapt to, which demonstrates the difficulty in growing up, since the world of children and adults are vastly different. In the adult world there are a lot of matters to worry and consider about, making life more complicated than those of children’s world. This is apparent when Holden Caulfield remembers going to the Museum of Natural history as a child as he states, “The best thing, though, in the museum was everything always stayed right where it was” (Salinger 121). The readers can interpret that the museum symbolizes life. How nothing changes emphasizes the simplicity of life when rejecting the invitation to enter the adult world. The museum also shows how life is predictable as everything stays the same, letting one prepare themselves for any difficulty they will be facing. Nonetheless, this is the ideal world many people want to live in, including Holden. The real world is constantly moving forward. There is no stop sign that permits an individual to catch up to the pace of reality. This establishes how the process of growing up is not an easy task, but a course in which adaptation is essential. Moreover, another matter that fascinates Holden is the mummy as he describes them as, “…they could be buried in their tombs for thousands of years and their faces wouldn’t rot or anything” (203). Holden talks only about the face of the mummies, nothing else. It is evident that Holden takes an interest in how the face is reserved, allowing the features not to disappear. He fears being forgotten by others among the world. The possibility of an individual being forgotten by others is a fear that builds up during one’s stay in the adult world It depicts the difficulties that is brought when entering this world. Furthermore, the carousel is a major symbol within the novel. The circular shape, which goes around and around, represents childhood. The carousel shows the cyclical trend of life that can be broken by risking the fall when trying to reach for the ‘golden ring’. When taking this risk, pain is brought that many are terrified to go through. However, it is a process in which is necessary to take when arriving in the adult world, which demonstrates the pain in maturing. As a result, modifications will occur in life, leading to difficulties in accepting the transition to adulthood. Nevertheless, changes are only a part of the obstacle that will be faced when growing up, as one will be vulnerable to the deceitfulness of the adult world. Difficulties will be faced during the process of maturity because of the exposure to the hypocrisy present in adulthood. For instance, the headmaster of Pencey Prep School Mr. Haas demonstrates the hypocritical society of the adults. Mr. Haas is “…charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents” (14). The way the headmaster puts on a façade is a behaviour which individuals will be unprotected from. This will lead to not knowing what is true, which is a problem that one will face when growing older. The ‘phoniness’, as Holden describes, of the adult world is also evident when he mentions how lawyers are ‘phonies’. He says, “…how would you know if you did it because you really wanted to save guys’ lives, or because you did it because what you really wanted to do was be a terrific lawyer…” (172). Holden states how lawyers put up a façade, hiding what their true intentions are. The job of a lawyer is to justify the innocence of their client. However, there being another intention other than protecting their client contradicts their responsibility as a lawyer, demonstrating the hypocrisy of the adult world. Growing up and becoming an adult portrays the problem brought with growing up, since it will expose oneself to this contradicting society. Additionally, Phoebe’s notebook is another example that allows the contradiction of the adult world to be visible. While reading this notebook, Holden says, “It didn’t take me long, and I can read that kind of stuff, some kid’s notebook, Phoebe’s or anybody’s, all day and all night long” (161). The notebook his sister has written shows purity of children, since they write exactly how they see and hear things. Contrast to this, adults try to elaborate things to impress others, causing one to lie and deceive others. Surviving in a world full of deception is challenging, as people will not know the difference between a truth and a lie, resulting in the depiction of the harm brought with growing up. For these reasons, the process of achieving maturity comes with its own consequence of going into the world of hypocrisy. Throughout the novel, however, the difficulty that is brought with growing older is also proven through the loss of innocence. Leaving childhood and taking a step into the adult world has its own consequences as it leads to the loss of innocence, which causes one to perceive the world in a negative way.
Throughout the novel, Holden displays his desire to protect the innocence of children as well as his own. This is apparent with the Little Shirley Beans record he buys for his sister, Phoebe. The record is about “…a little kid that wouldn’t go out of the house because two of her front teeth were out and she was ashamed to” (114). The missing teeth displays the process of growing up, in which the little girl does not want to accept. Holden feels the same way; however, later in the novel the record shatters into pieces despite Holden’s effort to protect it. This signifies the innocence he has disappearing as Holden gets closer to stepping over the boundary to become an adult. As an adult, there are many things to consider while surviving in the world, which leads to a more negative societal view. This makes it apparent that problems will follow with the loss of innocence. In addition, the title of the novel is an example of the loss of innocence bringing difficulties to oneself. Holden feels responsible to protect the innocence of the children, as he states, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…” (173). Children jumping off the cliff represents the transition to adulthood. Holden uses the cliff to metaphorically tell the readers the pain that is brought with becoming an adult. Nonetheless, he discovers children will one day jump off the cliff into adulthood, exposing them to the altered perception brought with the loss of innocence. Furthermore, during the process of maturity the exposure to sexual desire depicts the loss of innocence. This is established when Holden shows his fear toward this matter by stating, “I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I’ve never got around to it yet” (92). It is apparent that he is on
the line that divides adulthood from childhood. His sexual desire shows that he is about to enter adulthood, yet the hesitation of putting it into action displays his grip on his innocence. After the act of sexual intercourse, that is the moment when an individual has completely lost their innocence. Nevertheless, the fear of one day having to go through this unknown process will cause people to see the world in a dimmer light. Thus, the loss of innocence as a result of growing older causes one to pessimistically view the world. Therefore, the changes, loss of innocence as well as being vulnerable to the hypocritical world of adults portray the challenges that is brought when one enters the adult world. The author uses symbolisms to demonstrate this throughout the novel. The modifications faced with the process of maturity is evident through the significance of the places and artifacts Holden describes. Also, one’s perspective on the world will change because of the innocence lost during the process of growing up and the exposure to the ‘phoniness’ of the adult world. Nonetheless, Holden is not the only adolescent that will be facing these problems. Teenagers all around the world will one day have the same challenges waiting in front of them. Pain and challenges will be blocking the path that leads to the destination; however, time will always move forward. No one can escape from adulthood, so one should learn how to accept reality. As Wilhelm Stekel says, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man Is that he wants to live humbly for one” (118).
In J.D. Sallinger's Catcher in the Rye, is based on the sullen life of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction. Holden, a growing adult, cannot accept the responsibilities of an adult. Eventually realizing that there is no way to avoid the adult life, he can only but accept this alternative lifestyle. What Holden describes the adult world as a sinful, corrupted life, he avoids it for three important reasons: His hatred towards phonies and liars, unable to accept adult responsibilities, and thirdly to enshrine his childhood youth.
Childhood is an unusually hard thing to rid yourself of when it is time for you to pass into the intensified life of adults. Personally, I have yet to overcome that challenge. The Catcher in the Rye is a well developed story about a high school boy, Holden Caulfield, who is stuck between the stages of adolescence and adulthood, and is trying to discover his identity. All his life, Holden Caulfield has refused to grow up, and as the book progresses, he is on the fine line of leaving innocence and adolescence behind and passing into adulthood, but what gives him the needed shove into the realm of adulthood was getting over his brother, Allie’s death. To Holden, Allie is the main definition of innocence. Eventually Holden comes to the decision to be the catcher in the rye. After this decision he tries to follow through with his plan and ultimately decides that he can’t keep anyone from growing up. This seems to be his breaking point in the book where he finally overcomes all his negative emotions towards Allie’s death and accepts it for what it is, knowing that he has to move on.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
Aristotle once said, “Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing.” This “condition,” as Aristotle says, is adolescence. Adolescence is much like jumping in a lake. One must walk out to the dock and once he or she is at the end, one cannot turn back. If one is to turn back they will be ridiculed as a coward, like a child. The water is ice cold, a freezing ice bath, so one does not want to jump in, but he or she can’t turn back for fear of jeer from friends. Therefore one is in a dilemma of confusion and tension between “chickening out” and braving the polar water of the lake. The land is childhood, safe and comfortable, but gone forever; and the artic water is unknown, unpleasant, and threatening like adulthood. Just like the awkward stage of being in between jumping in and abandonment, adolescence contains the strains and tension between childhood and adulthood. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield, experiences these tensions of adolescence. Holden’s quandary is he is deadlocked in adolescence, unable to go return to childhood but unwilling to progress forward to adulthood. Because Holden is consumed with the impossible task of preserving the innocence of childhood, so he delays the inevitability of becoming an adult. This leaves Holden stranded on the dock, stuck in adolescence; the center of Holden’s problems.
Have you ever pondered about when growing up, where does our childlike innocence go and what happens to us to go through this process? It involves abandoning previous memories that are close to our hearts. As we can see in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, we listen to what the main character; Holden Caulfield has to say about it. Holden is an average teenager dealing with academic and life problems. He remains untouched over his expulsion from Pencey Prep; rather, he takes the opportunity to take a “vacation.” As he ventures off companionless in New York City, we are able to observe many things about him. We see that Holden habitually states that he is depressed and undoubtedly, wants to preserve the innocence of others.
Growing up is not easy. The desire to slow down or stop the process is not unusual for adolescents. Resisting adulthood causes those who try to run away from it to eventually come to terms with the reality of life: everyone has to grow up, and fighting against it makes it much harder to accept in the end. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield often tries to resist the process of maturity in an effort to avoid the complicated life he might face as an adult, making him an unusual protagonist for a bildungsroman; this struggle, however, opens Holden’s eyes to the reality and inevitability of growing up, helping him realize that innocence does not last forever.
In his novel Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence when his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is faced with the reality of becoming an adult. Holden’s desperation to maintain his innocence and the manner in which he critiques those he deems to have lost theirs, emphasizes his immaturity and ignorance while highlighting the importance the author places on childhood.
In the modern world, everyone must make the transition, no matter how scary or daunting it may be, into adulthood at some point in their lives. Most individuals are gradually exposed to more mature concepts, and over time, they begin to accept that they can no longer posses the blissful ignorance that they once had as a child. Others, however, are violently thrown from their otherwise pure and uncorrupted adolescent lives through a traumatic event that hurls them into adulthood before they are ready. The novel The Catcher on the Rye written by J.D. Salinger, explores the struggle children face to adapt to adult society through the main character Holden Caulfield, a teen that lost his innocence, and is still attempting to cope with the fact that everyone grows up.
Growing up poses challenges to most people at some point in their lives. 16-year-old Holden Caufield is no exception. He is an apathetic teenager who’s flunked out of many schools. Underneath the cynical exterior though, Holden is troubled. He has different methods for escaping his problems but in the end they just cause him more problems. J.D Salinger, in his novel The Catcher in the Rye shows that often times when an individual faces problems in their life they will try to find a means to escape, instead of solving them.
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.
There is a certain process that every human being on the planet has in common. Not everyone can say it is a pleasing experience, but nobody can deny that it happened to them. ‘Growing up’ happens to everyone one whether they like it or not. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing, which often reveals questions that can never be answered. The novel Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger explores how the adult life has its complexities and can be very puzzling to teenagers starting that phase in their lives. The main character Holden Caulfield realizes the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenges of adapting to an adult society. The catcher in the rye shows the inevitable loss of innocence
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
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s vision of nature of childhood and adulthood are not as separate as Holden believes them to be. Holden tries to battle through the pressures of adulthood while staying in his childish frame of mind. He feels that if he acts childish, he can go back to that. He also feels the need to be an adult and do his own thing. Holden is at war with himself trying to see what he really is- a child or an adult. Although, Holden thinks he is being an adult by drinking and smoking, he is actually becoming more childish.
There is a singular event that unites every single human being on the planet, growing up. Not everyone can say it was pleasant, but no one can deny that it took place. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing; often forcing one to seek out the answers to questions that likely have no definitive answer. During the process, the adult world seems inviting and free, but only when we are on the brink of entering this cruel, unjust society can the ignorant bliss of childhood be truly recognized. Catcher in the Rye explores the intimidating complexities associated with adulthood and how baffling it seems to the naïve teenage mind. 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.