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. Upon introduction, Holden Caulfield gives the impression of being a textbook teenage boy. He argues that Pencey Prep, the all-boys academy at which he studied, is no greater than any other school and is “full of crooks.”(Salinger, 7) His harsh language only further argues that he is situated in an all-male environment and has no apparent filter for when swearing is inappropriate. Despite all of the indications that Holden is typical, it soon becomes evident that Holden’s personality does not conform to the teenage stereotype. Although he appears to have some friends, namely, his roommate, Stradlater, and ‘Ackley kid’, it is clear that he does not integrate well with his peer group. Holden’s inability to read social cues leaves him in the dust when all of his “friends” have matured enough to recognize his need for improvement. He is constantly making jokes out of everything without any thought as to how h... ... middle of paper ... ... touch with the whirl wind feelings of adolescence. Holden’s mental instability evokes both worry and pity in the readers because he becomes more desperate and more irate as the novel progresses. The ending of the novel provides little more clarity than the beginning. Holden is no closer to finding a compromise between his ‘idealistic world’ and real life. What the reader can be sure of is thus far in the history of the human race, no one has bypassed the embarrassing, confusing but occasionally fantastic experience of growing up. Whether growing up was a pleasant experience or not, we all will look back on our teenagers years, be it to learn from our mistakes, reminisce our glory days, or regret words unsaid. In the case of Holden Caulfield, he will always be conflicted by remembering the pleasure of his past while accepting the responsibility of his future.
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.
... is apparent that he is a troubled young man through not only what is said and done, but what is also left as unspoken thoughts inside his mind. Holden Caulfield is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, mentally unstable. He is not classified as a "crazy person" or a "loon" but he is a young man who, as a child, had innocence and purity ripped away with no warning or mercy. Instead of reacting more positively and growing older at a young age, the tragedies caused him to year for the innocence of childhood that he knew in some dark corner of his mind had been long gone and was never returning regardless of how much faith and stubbornness he had.
J. D. Salinger's notable and esteemed novel, Catcher in the Rye, reflects the hypercritical views of a troubled teenager, Holden Caulfield, towards everyone around him and society itself. This character has a distinguished vision of a world where morality, principles, intelligence, purity, and naivety should override money, sex, and power, but clearly in the world he inhabits these qualities have been exiled. Holder desperately clings to and regards innocence as one of the most important virtues a person can have. However, he son becomes a misfit since society is corrupted and he yearns for companionship, any kind of connection with another to feel whole and understood again. Ironically, despite his persistent belittling and denouncing of others, he does not apply the same critical and harsh views on himself.
Innocence lies within everyone in at least one point in their lives, but as reality consumes them, that purity begins to vanish slowly as they learn new experiences. In the coming of age novel set in the nineteen-forties, J.D Salinger writes about a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield who stands between a road that separates childhood from adulthood and is confused about which path to take. On a three-day trip in New York away from his family and fellow peers at school, Holden encounters many situations in which lead him to think twice about who he wants to become and how he wants to guide others who are in the same situation he is in. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger utilizes symbolism, vivid imagery, and slangy diction to expose Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of the people that he loves while alienating himself from the adult world he calls “phony.”
Holden Caulfield is a sixteen-year-old who explores New York City after he is expelled from his prep school (Salinger). He cannot return back home because he is afraid of his parents’ response and takes no responsibility for his actions whatsoever. Holden hates the adult world, where he calls all adults “phonies.” In his world, one can’t go back to childhood, but one can’t grow up because that will make one a phony (Bloom, The Catcher in the Rye 124). Holden is stuck in between a world, where he doesn’t want to remain a child or grow up into the adult he is expected to become. According to Chen, Holden fears the “complexity, unpredictability, conflict, and change” of the adult world. He occasionally acts like an adult, when he hires a prostitute (Salinger 119), checks into a hotel room (Salinger 79), and takes care of his sister, Phoebe. As a result of Holden’s immense fear of growing up, he tends to partake in childish tendencies, such as wearing a bright red hunting hat. These actions are his way of isolating and protecting himself. Holden is stuck in his own little world. These actions are very immature; Holden does not accept the adult world for what it is. He needs human contact, care, and love, but he has built a barrier, preventing himself from these interactions (Chen). He also acts like a child by acting out “pretend” scenarios even when no one is
Holden’s adolescent mindset is brought up many times throughout his story. For example, many times he will not listen to adults, though he is intelligent enough to know that the advice is wise, and is willing to listen to kids, who almost never have the intellectual capacity or experience to tell him what he wants to hear. While conversing with Mr. Spencer, Holden inwardly reflects on his discontent with Mr. Spencer’s view of life,
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.
Salinger’s full use of symbolism goes unnoticed until his novel is read a second or third time. Most of it is very cryptic, but once it has been deciphered, it is truly easy to relate to. The difficulty of coming of age is a well-illustrated, recurring theme. Throughout the story, Holden battles with the harsh reality of becoming an adult by fighting anything that relates to adulthood, yet he takes advantage of the grown-up opportunities handed to him. Every teenager gets to that age where they are so close to adulthood, it scares and entices them at the same time. On the one hand, the individual does not want to be considered a grown-up; however, the growing teenager wants to take advantage of the opportunities that he or she is suddenly being presented with. Holden Caulfield is the embodiment of an anxious teenager struggling as he becomes an adult, and therefore defines what coming of age entails.
Teenagers eventually have to face the harsh, vile reality of growing up. Others however try to retain their innocence. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger portrays Holden Caulfield, the main character, as a teen who wants to hold onto, and is obsessed with, childhood innocence. Because of this, he sets out to protect people from the corruption of the world. This “desire” to protect is important to Holden’s life as it stems from his brother Allie who died at a young age, and because he himself has lost his innocence and despises all things “phony” (Holden’s term for individuals that are not genuine or have lost their innocence). In addition, his desire to be a protector leads him to realise that change is not only inevitable, but also
The Catcher in the Rye is the definitive novel of a young man’s growing pains, of growing up in pain. Growing up is a ritual – more deadly than religion, more complicated than baseball, for there seem to be no rules. Everything is experienced for the first time.”
The transition from childhood to adulthood presents one of life’s most drastic changes. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, wrestles to grow as a person throughout the novel. Holden at sixteen, is two years from what society considers adulthood, yet he struggles to grasp maturity. He regresses, and acts more childlike as his journey unfolds. Although Holden has reached adulthood physically, Salinger represents Holden’s fear of becoming an adult emotionally through the metaphor of the Central Park ducks.
The end of young adulthood is one of the most difficult and confusing times of a person’s life. People begin to leave and change, and one has to decide to move on from being a child and become an adult. This was the dilemma that was faced by Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is a teenager who can not seem to let go of his childhood past and is not quite ready to let go of his innocence yet. However, from all of the influences around him like all of his friends moving on, he is feeling the pressure that society is demanding him to move on. Throughout the novel, Holden tries to come to terms with this idea of “coming of age.” As his friends begin to grow up and leave, and as he is thrown from school to school after each of the
At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72 hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior.
“Catcher in the Rye”, written by J.D Salinger, is a coming-of-age novel. Narrated by the main character, Holden Caulfield, he recounts the days following his expulsion from his school. This novel feels like the unedited thoughts and feelings of a teenage boy, as Holden narrates as if he is talking directly to readers like me.
In Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is confronted with the difficulties of both humanity and life as he struggles to find direction, as well as a connection to a world which he has lost faith in. From the very beginning of the novel, the reader can appreciate and relate to Holden’s criticism and condemnation about society and the way people in society govern themselves. “Phoniness”, a reoccurring motif in the novel, is one of Holden’s most favorite conceptions, and is his catch phrase for describing the superficiality, hypocrisy, pretentiousness, and triviality that he comes across in the world around him. The painfulness of growing up is another issue that is touched quite frequently upon throughout the novel, as it is showcased through Holden’s creation of a fantasy world where childhood is a place of innocence and honesty while adulthood is only duplicity and deceit. Finally, relationships and intimacy are also sources of discomfort for Holden as he always runs away from the possibilities of affection and crawls back into the shell of isolation that he has created for himself. These three themes, although they may seem to only be typical, adolescent dilemmas, bring to light the injustices and inherent problems in societal standards and ideals. Ranging from the dishonest nature of people, the hardships of becoming an adult, to the difficulties of creating lasting relationships, Catcher in the Rye is not simply about an erratic and irresponsible teenager lashing out at the world, but a message that reveals pressing concerns of the existing, rigid s...