Holden Caulfield Maturity

“This is someone you want to hang around, this sixteen year old with radar vision. Yet this is also the first glimpse of a boy who is disconnected, onely, confused. Rather than sitting in the stadium with a date on his arm, he is by himself and without a clear idea of whether he could, or wants to, fit in” (Wesner 37).
Holden Caufield must find his place in the world as he grows up from a child to an adult. In the beginning of the novel, Holden remains stuck in a state of paralysis as an innocent child, and he must grow up in order to break this state. Struggling with maturity, Holden leaves his own world and begins to associate with the outside world. Consequently, Holden makes many blunders and irrational decisions as he creates contact

with the real world. These mistakes, however, teach him valuable lessons on his way to growing up as an adult. Also during his path to adulthood, Holden creates his own personality and finds his place in the world. Overall, Holden must make mistakes as he matures in order to escape paralysis and isolation and develop into his own individual.
Irrationality represents a major flaw in Holden’s personality, and it serves as a major cause to why Holden struggles growing up. For example, Holden struggles to decide which girl he should call, “The telephone is a steady temptation, particularly a call to Jane. Instead, before leaving the hotel, he calls Sally Hayes, someone who first impressed him with her patter about Manhattan cultural life” (Wesner 44). Holden almost makes the right decision to call Jane, a girl he clearly loves, but he wastes his time by calling a random girl named Sally. His preference to call Sally over his true love shows he struggles to choose the rational decision because he displays fear to the idea of growing up. By calling Jane, Holden almost obtained a chance to escape from his state of paralysis, but his hesitation to do so leaves him paralyzed and isolated. Holden also displays an interest in the trivial aspects of a women. He likes Sally Hayes because of the way she talks about a certain subject of interest and not because of who she portrays herself as a person. Holden displays his lack of rationality in his intermingle with a blond dancer:
Though she is not pretty, seemingly stupid, and not of his class, Holden remains interested. She gets angry when he kisses her on the head and even angrier when he curses. Despite this, Holden is dazzled by her dancing and observes the disjunction between physical talent and ignorance (Wesner 41).
Holden fails to succeed in his attempt to connect with this girl. Every move Holden conducts, irritates the girl further and further. Holden, however, still shows interest in this girl because of her ability to dance. He ignores the fact that she is not pretty, smart, or nice and becomes distracted by her dancing. He fails to focus on the important aspects of a person such as their personality, and he focuses on trivial things such as her ability to dance. However, these mistakes help him in the long run as they help him enter the adult world.
Throughout the novel, Holden must take the next big step in life and mature into an adult. “The carrousel has suggested to Holden the dangers and insecurities in life which children must risk as they grow up and reach for their fixed star. The ride has its perils, but all children must risk them” (Vanderbilt 301). The carrousel represents life, and Holden realizes that all people must grab a ride on their own carrousel. He understands that every carrousel will have its dangers, but every person must risk them in order to enjoy the ride. This demonstrates that Holden matured into a person who reaches for his full potential. Holden finally shows a feeling of content when his sister is on the carrousel:
Holden can be happy— ‘so damn happy’—now in the knowledge that Phoebe is held by the magic and endless circle of the carrousel in a suspended state of the perfect and impenetrable innocence, and his happiness can be intensified and rendered poignant in the mature awareness that the state is momentary, that the music will stop and the magic circle break, that the fall, finally, cannot be stayed (Miller Jr.

558).
The carrousel makes Holden very happy because it represents purity and innocence. Since he matured, he also realizes that this state of purity cannot last forever in life. He notices not only must the carrousel’s innocence break, but his must also break too. This ending in the novel expresses Holden’s thoughts about life have changed as he matured. Holden’s maturity displays his escape from the state of paralysis as an innocent child unexposed to the real

world.
Holden hesitates when he thinks about growing up into an adult. He wants to stay a child because he finds comfort in an environment where everything remains the same. For this reason, Holden loves to visit the museum, “Holden’s fascinated interest in the Museum of Natural History, particularly in those human scenes (a squaw, an Eskimo) statically preserved behind glass, where nobody moves and nothing changes, no matter how many times you come back” (Miller Jr. 556). Holden illustrates an interest in a scenery that never changes because he wishes for his life to remain the same. He enjoys how the scene remains pure and innocent just as a child. He flees from the idea of evolving into an adult that others treat differently from the young children. Notably, Holden obsesses over objects that represent paralysis:
Holden, of course, remains frozen in his adolescence—in a novel dominated by images of static, of freezing (the snowballs he lovingly packs but refuses to throw at cars or fire hydrants because they, too look ‘nice and white’; the icy lake of Central Park; the unmoving, Keatsian figures at the museum) (Pinsker 163).
Holden fails to throw the snowball because he wants to preserve their innocence and purity just as he needs to preserve his own innocence and purity. Holden encounters many static scenes and objects because he, himself, remains in his own static scene of adolescence. He desires to become “frozen” as an adolescent forever just as the snowballs and the lake are frozen. Most of the other children mention in this novel demonstrate eagerness to grow up in to the adult world. They go on dates with girls and go out to hotels and party. Holden, however, stays away from the occasions and events because he rather sit at home in his state of innocence. His desire to stay in paralysis separates himself from others in society.
Holden’s separation from society leaves him alone and helpless which makes it hard for him to grow into an adult.

“Holden flees in panic when he awakes to find Antolini patting his head, a gesture Holden interprets as “perverted”, though he later regrets this precipitous flight when he remembers Antolini’s kindness. This betrayal of trust contributes further to Holden’s overwhelming sense of depression and alienation” (Rollins 6). Holden feels uncomfortable when any person tries to connect with him emotionally. Since he always lives in his own world, the action of someone trying to join makes him hostile. He fails to trust anyone, especially people he does not know very well, because people constantly ignore him. “And his wearing it backwards suggest not only his defiant withdrawal from his teammates, but more generally, his basically recessive tendencies” (Vanderbilt 297). Holden chooses to wear his hat backwards because he does not want to be apart of the normal kids. For once, Holden chooses to escape his comfort zone, but he further isolates himself from his peers by doing so. He also chooses to act different because the thought of his classmates shunning him scares Holden. He feels more comfortable being by himself so he does not have to worry about what other people think about him. “Well—take me to Edmont then,’ I said. ‘Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I’m loaded’” (Salinger 9). As Holden adventures into the real world and matures

slowly, he realizes that he must connect to others in order to survive and thrive. He shows signs of maturity because he constantly makes an effort to try to mix in and fit in with society. However, he seeks this connection a little too much, and he tries to connect with almost anyone. He must learn the hard way that not everyone in this world can be trusted, and he must learn from this mistake. His separation from the rest of society and the community forces Holden to find his own identity.
Growing into the reality, Holden notices he must act like himself and act as his own individual in order to progress from a child to an adult. “Holden wears his cap backwards, 180 degrees out of phase, as a badge of his nonconformity and his rebellion against the rest of society” (Vanderbilt 296). Holden’s desire to be isolated from his teammates and classmates makes his become his own individual. Holden rebels against society because he feels as they have mistreated him. Because he feels wronged by society, Holden decides to step away from them. With this in mind, Holden searches for his place in the world:
Perhaps in its profoundest sense, Holden’s quest is a quest for identity, a search for the self—he does, for example, go through a number of guises, such as Rudolf Schmidt when he talks with his classmate’s mother or Jim Steele when he is visited by the prostate bunny. But he remains, however he might wish to the contrary, Holden Caufield, and the self he is led to discover is Holden’s and none other (Miller Jr. 555).
Holden tries to fake his own identity multiple times in order to fit in with the adults and not be isolated again. He realizes, however, that being himself is his best option. If he cannot accept how he acts, how can he expect others to accept him? This realization of the importance of the individual represents his maturity and growth as a person.
Holden’s ability to learn from his mistakes allow him to fit into the adult world and escape the paralyzed world of innocence and isolation. He understands that all innocence must come to an end, and he has accepted that fact. After adventuring through the real adult world, Holden exposes himself to the harsh realities that adults face every day. These realities corrupt his pure and innocent mind, but this helps him out in the long run as he matures. Although Holden matures throughout the novel, some might say that he truly never escaped his state of paralysis, for he ended up in a mental hospital. However, Holden’s ideas about life matured as he realizes that life fails to represent purity, but that cannot stop him from living it.