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The True Meaning Of Growth Catcher In The Rye

Decent Essays

Jimin Kim
English Literature 10
Mr. Dorian Burns
12/18/2014

The true meaning of ‘growth’
- Catcher in the Rye –

When one is born, he would possess the complete state of inborn innocence. Every surroundings, people, or events he would encounter would come along with a sense of newness and freshness. During teenage years, he would plausibly face several parts of brutal realities that the society inevitably depicts such as excessive desire, reckless competition, and amoral crimes. In order to get accustomed to the disastrous society, he would start to numb himself and waive his innocence without finding a way to be connected to the world while keeping his innocence. We have called this process a ‘growth’. It is the indisputable reality that the modern society full of villains enforces a majority of people to lose their genuine identities in order to apply themselves to the contaminated world. However, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of a …show more content…

The story of ‘Catcher in the Rye’ starts with his narration about his journey that started when he ran away from his former school, Pencey Prep and wandered around New York for a vast period of time. He also briefly explains an ordeal that he unintentionally faced throughout his teenage years such as his brother, Allie’s death and miscommunication with his friends and family, which had influenced his perceptions about innocence and growth. During the journey, he endeavors to keep his innocence while facing the fact that he must ‘grow up’ in order to interact with people and surroundings around him. Although his thoughts are covered with self-defense and mockery about others, he ultimately tries to demonstrate his constant concern with the loss of innocence.

The title ‘Catcher in the Rye’ ultimately depicts Holden’s, the one who struggles with the problem of how to reach the authentic state of ‘growth’ without losing one’s innocence as going through numbing processes, constant concern

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