Holden Caulfield Void Of Adolescence

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Filling the Void of Adolescence Throughout the ages marked by adolescence, I have experienced my own world becoming bleak by the drainage of color, my bubble of hopes and dreams deflated by the prick of a needle. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger examines the challenges that junior Holden Caulfield experiences throughout the novel. One of Holden’s deciding moments in his coming of age occurs at the end of the novel, at the carousel in Central Park. After getting into a fight with his younger sister, Phoebe, Holden takes her to a carousel in Central Park. The carousel that Phoebe is on has gold rings, and the goal of the game is to grab the gold rings for a prize. When Holden is watching her, he says,”if [the children] want to grab [it], you have …show more content…

With this, J.D. Salinger shows us that Holden is letting his stubborn dreams of being a catcher in the rye drift away, which reflect his goals of preventing his growth of maturity. Earlier in the novel, Holden developed his idea of being a ‘catcher in the rye’ meaning that he will ‘save’ and prevent children from going over the verge of ‘adolescence’ and into a life of adulthood. But by saying that he will let them ‘fall on their face’, it indicates that he has embraced maturity, especially for himself. In conclusion, in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger indicated that one of the turning points was at Central Park, while Phoebe was riding the carousel. With Holden’s own struggles about preserving his, and other young people’s innocence, it raises the question of, is there a proper way to ‘come of age’? Speaking the Truth In order to be adept and comfortable around other people, you must be able to fully communicate your own thoughts and beliefs. As it turns out, communication plays a key role in the novel, Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng. Each character in the Lee family, an Asian-American family living in the suburbs of 1970 Ohio, struggles with

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