Holden Caulfield Rejection

Growing Pains

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tells the painful story of a seemingly unloved and lonely teenage boy named Holden Caulfield, struggling to find his way in a world of “phonies” and bullies. After being expelled out of the prestigious Pencey Prep School due to poor academic performance and a lack of effort, Holden leaves Pencey early as an act of rebellion, three days before he is expected home. Living and traveling alone in New York City, he encounters prostitutes, pimps, and hypocrites all while experiencing first hand the cruelty of the grown up world, and breaking down in the process. Through his journey, Holden is reminded of his own impending fall out of innocence, and into a dog-eat-dog world. Similar to most, Holden

Caulfield experiences fear and anxiety regarding his maturation, and transition into the adult world. His fear of growing up, desire to not conform, and alienation from society are common problems among all adolescents, and plague his journey from childhood to adulthood.
Holden fears growing up and its complications, shown primarily through his dislike of phonies and change along with his views on innocence as a trait. The two people Holden is supposed to admire the most, his father and brother D.B., he views instead as sell-outs, either to Hollywood or to the pursuit of money. Regarding his sibling, Holden exclaims, “Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute”(2). Holden uses the word prostitute to convey his brother’s betrayal to classic literature, and his selling out ideas to be made into movies. He views anything or anyone who is dishonest or without true intentions as “phonies”, such as movies and theater, since neither of those things correctly demonstrates reality. He sees so many adults being shaped by society in a way he reflects on as negative, and does not want to fall victim to that same fate. Holden has strong feelings towards change in general, showing his desire to keep things as they are prominently in the Museum of Natural History. Looking around at the displays, he reflects, “Certain things they 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”(122). Holden cannot accept the fact that life is change, and possibly the only secure thing about it is that we know it will always be there. Instead of confronting this reality, the protagonist tries to avoid it. He remains in a state of immaturity and denial to the fact that we all, at some point, must learn to grow up. Innocence is a valuable trait in Holden’s mind, shown through the fact that the only three people in his life whom he truly likes and admires are Allie, Jane and Phoebe, all symbols of purity. Allie especially, Holden has placed on a pedestal, regarding him as somewhat of a saint. The picture of a youthful and untouched boy will always remain in his head, since death has frozen him as such. Holden states, “But it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest…he never got mad at anybody”(38). Allie’s seemingly senseless death confuses Holden throughout the novel, causing him to cling to his own innocence in an attempt to stay close to his brother. His obsession with purity and liking only those who fall into a child like state in terms of honesty and “realism” shows his own fear of losing the very thing he values in others, innocence, which comes hand in hand with growing up.
Holden’s need to not conform to the norms of society demonstrates a typical teenage defiance. A clear symbol of his push away from the “standard”, Holden’s red hunting hat serves as a differing factor between him and society. Its outlandish appearance renders the hat as unique, along with the boy who wears it. Holden narrates, “I took [it] out of my pocket and put it on- I didn’t give a damn how I looked”(88). His obvious disregard for what may or may not be attractive to the rest of the population demonstrates Holden’s wish for individuality and segregation away from others. He refers to it as a “people shooting hat”(22), displaying his scorn for those who are in fact “societal norms” and his symbolic intention to rid of them. Along with being a symbol for his uniqueness, Holden’s hat also serves as a source of comfort throughout the novel, reminding him not only of his independence from the world’s phonies, but also of his brother and sister, who both share the same red hair. Subsequently, Holden states how his father wishes for him to attend an Ivy League college, and become a more typical version of success. Yet, Holden flouts this normative goal saying “I wouldn’t go to one of those Ivy League colleges, if I was dying”(85). He believes that attending one of those expensive schools filled primarily with carbon copies of the next student would be phony, an adjective which Holden avoids at all costs. Similar to his distaste for Ivy League schools, Holden also dismisses the thought of getting a normal job, like his father who is a corporate lawyer. Holden only desires to become the catcher in the rye, explaining, “If they’re running and don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day…I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be”(173). Not only does this display Holden’s rejection of society and its common jobs, but it also shows his fear of growing up, as he never wants himself or any other kid to fall over the cliff into adulthood, essentially juxtaposing maturation with death.
One of Holden’s biggest problems throughout is his loneliness and alienation from society, due to his own rejection of the world, and in some ways, the world’s rejection of Holden.

Holden does not view life as a fair game, explaining, “Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right- I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot shots, then what’s a game about it?”(8). He clearly identifies with the side without the “hot-shots”, and because of this, feels victimized, as if the world is betting against him. Holden refuses to accept a society in which people are not born onto an equal playing field. An opportunity for Holden to break out of his shell of isolation appears through both emotional and physical relationships, yet he struggles to accept their unpredictable nature. “Sex is something I really don’t understand too hot. You never know where the hell you are”(63). Relationships and sex are ever changing, and also require an openness Holden appears reluctant to give. He darts from one person to the next, constantly on a search for companionship, love, and a mentor, yet at the last second, Holden seems to throw his opportunities away, such as when he insults Sally at the conclusion of their date, or his repeated talks of calling Jane, and always finding an excuse to abort his plan. In Holden’s case, his alienation is his own form of self-protection. This painful isolation allows him to

keep his distance from complex relationships and people. Obviously Holden needs and yearns for friends, but in destroying all his attempts to make them it is clear his need for a protective barrier between him and an unjust world rules over. His strongly judgmental view of others gives Holden a reason to avoid interaction, so he can pretend he is above everyone and therefore has no use in talking to them. At some point, every young person feels as though they are alone, and Holden experiences these same maturation problems without exemption.
Holden’s various difficulties collaborate to display one of the novel’s prominent themes of the struggle to surrender innocence.

Holden Caulfield is stubborn towards the natural progression into adulthood, not allowing his teenage self to mature into a grown man. He imagines the developed world as a villain, which pushes kids over the cliff towards their doom, while those who remain young frolic and play in a beautiful field of rye. His descriptive views on both child and adulthood demonstrate the feelings all adolescents experience as they make the same transition: anxiety, nervousness, and fearfulness. Holden shows how exiting the carefree life of being a kid is fast, unpredictable, and nerve-wracking, but that it is inevitable, and that everyone at some point will realize the world is far from perfect. Holden himself seems to begin his own maturation concluding the novel. While watching Phoebe ride on the carousel, he reflects on the fall out of innocence thinking, “If they fall off, they fall off, but’s bad if you say anything to them”(211). This acceptance of everyone’s eventual “fall” shows Holden is finally growing

up.
Exiting adolescence and discovering a world where not everyone plays nice is something we all must experience. And without exception, Holden Caulfield faces these same unsettling realities. His push away from conformity, fear of maturation, and feelings of detachment are common problems among every teenage worldwide. The weight of his adolescent struggles even appears to influence him as a character, becoming the source of his manic people-hopping and cynicism towards others. As a rich, well-off boy, Holden shows us that no matter the social class, wealth, or abundance of material items one may have, no one can exist peacefully without love and companionship. He also unveils a problem in society even today, regarding how children grow up in our world. The human race needs to learn to better adjust itself to growing children, introducing them to the world carefully and providing them with a healthy outlook on adulthood. Along with the typical problems of growing up, Holden’s mental state at the end of the novel brings attention to the ever-growing number of mental health problems and suicide rates in children today. The Catcher in the Rye demonstrates the type of confusion and lack of direction today’s children feel due to the pressures of an ever-changing, image obsessed world centered around potentially harmful social media, perhaps making the book even more relevant today to society than ever.