Holden's Fear in The Catchter in the Rye

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In The Catcher in the Rye Holden fears growing up he will get uncomfortable when talking about adult situations, he would avoid seeing people just to avoid an adult predicament. Whether it will be a confrontation with his sister, or talking about a racy book with an adult he always seems to get timid. He is not quite yet ready for adulthood. This is something he needs to get ready for soon. He is 16 going on 17 and before he knows it he will be a grown up and will have to support himself and have a steady job. That involves communication.

Holden will do absurd things just to avoid an uncomfortable situation even if it is his own sister whom he trusts more than anyone else. He searches for most of his afternoon for his sister and finally tracks her down. He has not seen her in a long time and he will have to tell her that he had gotten kicked out of Pency. Fearing what she might think or say, putting Holden in an uncomfortable position, made Holden leave when he could have been a little late for his date with Sally Hayes. Sally would have been reasonable if he was not there on time for seeing his sister whom Holden has not seen since he left for school. You do not just spend all afternoon searching for someone or something and once you find them or it leave, it just does not make any sense.

Holden is becoming a man and the thought of sex should not scare him. He should be able to uphold conversations with them, even if the topic is racy. You both are grownups and it is human nature, it is natural and it is nothing to feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk about. While he is at the train station talking to the nuns about the play Romeo and Juliet he gets real uncomfortable. He said ?It feels weird talking to nuns about a book that gets pretty sexy at points.? Holden is now a young adult and should be able to talk about a book that contains that. The sexy parts we not even a part of the conversation just the thought of the book made him uneasy. He really likes to avoid discussions that contain sex.

Holden truly fears growing up he would be close to someone he loves and just leave because he is afraid.

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