Holden Caulfield Coming Of Age Analysis

Holden has matured in many ways throughout the novel. He had grown from an immature child who only cared about himself to a mature adult who wanted to make something of his life. In the beginning of the story we are introduced to

Bored and lonesome, Holden sits in his apartment watching kids shows and movies. He laughs at every joke the show or movie makes and he cries as he watches sad things on the the show or movie. Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old boy in The Catcher in the Rye and he has been kicked out of many schools, including Elkton Hills High School and Pency Prep High School. He is the kind of teenager who smokes and drink at an early age. When he gets bored, he sometimes fool around to keep himself occupied. Holden has had trouble acting like an and entering into the adult world; in addition, he does not want children to grow up and enter the adult world because Holden has not accomplished anything to achieve for himself.

One of the characteristics that reveals that Holden is a dynamic character is that he grew to understand adult world as the correct view. Holden's false view of the world consisted of him believeing that kids should not grow and stay kids forever because he does not want those beautiful and innocent beings to turn into phony and fake adults. Constatly, readers vitness Holden complaining about adults and referring to them as «phony». Holden,a lot of the time mentions adults actions to show how fake they are. «We always had the same meal on Saturday nights at Pencey. It was supposed to be a big deal, because they gave you steak. I'll bet a thousand bucks the reason they did that was because a lot of guys' parents came up to school on Sunday,

Holden is very immature and cannot act his age for anything. In the beginning of the story, Holden was very immature and self-centered and he often did very immature things, but he wanted to be an adult. This is very contradicting considering that he is very immature. In the novel, Holden states, “Boy! I said. I also say Boy! quite a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen.” (Salinger 16). This shows how Holden is very immature and needs to start acting his age and this could be dangerous to society. This is why he needs to stay inside the mental facility. In the mental facility, he will be safe and he will not cause any harm to anyone or to himself

Holden sees growing up and becoming an adult as a loss of innocence and an onslaught of changes he isn't quite ready to make. Albeit that growing up is full of change and discovering new things, it isn't necessarily a "loss of innocence". In chapter 22 of the book Holden describes his dream to be the catcher in the rye. Basically he wants to save children, who are apparently playing in a big field of rye and not paying attention to their surroundings, from falling to their demise off a cliff. The field represents childhood and untainted innocence, whereas the cliff represents the transition from childhood to adulthood. Where Holden is perched. And the descent off the cliff symbolizes entering the corrupt and crooked adult world. Thus is Holden's obsession with shielding children he encounters from phonies who represent the corrupt adult world in his eyes. However, this perception of the mature world is false. Life isn't a line that goes straight toward impure adulthood, it's more like a circle where one goes around and around in a journey to and from innocence. Which is why Holden could feel "so damn happy all of a sudden [watching] the way old Phoebe kept going around and around." (Salinger 213). He realizes that growing up isn't a direct loss of innocence and that, maybe, growing up isn't as bad as he originally

Teenage adolescence is one the toughest transitions for a human to go through. It's the moment in our lives where we experience change both physically and mentally and emotionally. It is the transition between childhood and adulthood, the period where teens struggle to find their identify in life. It's also the point in which our minds have developed, eyes wide open to all the negative things that surround the world – and in the world Holden Caulfield lives in, he has expressed himself they only way he feels comfortable and the only way he knows how – rebelliously. Respectfully, Holden Caulfield differs from what a normal teenage boy appears to be but he does show emotions and characteristics that categorizes him as an “average teenager.” He’s portrayed as an adolescent teenage boy who is constantly struggling to find is identity in a world that he doesn't seem to fit in with. Holden actions and the way he expresses himself is very relatable to the modern day teenager. Whether it's through his sexually related encounters or his strive for independence.

In the novel “the Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield exhibits an unwillingness and a repugnant attitude to the notion of adulthood. The death of Holden’s brother, Allie, is a deeply traumatic and jarring moment in his life. Holden’s Recollection of Allie is not just as “...the most intelligent member of the family,” Allie is also revered by Holden as “the nicest.” Holden refuses to accept the death of his beloved brother and move on, this reluctance to move forward strengthens his hostility towards the inevitable undertaking of adulthood. Moreover, Caulfield’s objection to growing up manifests itself in his schoolwork, or lack thereof. He “[flunks] four subjects” and “[knows] absolutely nothing.” He doesn’t apply himself

In the course of the story, Holden is suspended between adulthood and childhood. Several of his actions and words show evidence of his confusion between adults and children. Admitting to his immaturity, Holden says, “I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I’m about thirteen.” (p. 9) Sunny, the prostitute is an example of Holden’s attempt to be an adult, but realizing he is stuck in childhood. Another example is when he asks his cab driver where the ducks in Central Park go during the Winter when the ice is

Holden Caulfield is the protagonist in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye”. In the book Holden hears a quote “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he want to live humbly for one” (Salinger 188) which he embraces as he matures throughout the story. Holden’s opinions of childhood and adulthood change as he grows through experience.

It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.

To Holden, becoming an adult is becoming a phony. The majority of adults seem to him to be perpetually pushing an ulterior motive, and always acting crooked or as if they have something to hide. He yearns for the purity of a child’s emotions, in part because he is socially inept when it comes to interpreting the subtleties of adults and his peers, whereas when dealing with the comparatively simplistic emotions of children, he is far more adequate. Near the beginning of the novel, Holden remembers an old Headmaster of his, Mr. Haas, “One of the phoniest bastards “[he’d] ever met in my life… [Mr. Haas] would be charming as hell and

Teenagers – the hardest growth stage of a human's life. Becoming a teenager and being a teenager are two different things. It's an exciting thing when you realize you are able to do things you weren't allowed to do when you were younger – you've suddenly taken on a huge responsibility for things you aren't used to. You're mind has developed, eyes wide open to all the negative things that surround the world – and in this world Holden Caulfield has expressed himself they only way he feels comfortable and the only way he knows how. Respectfully, Holden Caulfield differs from what a normal teenage boy appears to be but he does show emotions and characteristics that categorize him as an “average teenager.” He’s portrayed

Many authors express themselves through their characters within their books. They create a writing piece through their eyes of the world. They often reflect their own personal experiences through a character. This makes the text more interesting to read, and easier to understand. A reader can make connections to the story, if there are real world experiences within a character. J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, serves as an example for this. Holden Caulfield, the main character, is very opinionated and rebellious. Holden has a rough childhood, and experiences many ups and downs. He has a hard time staying at one school, and staying out of trouble. J.D. Salinger has many similarities in his life to Holden. Salinger uses many of his personal life experiences to form Holden’s character and personality.

I traveled all the way from New York to California just to see Holden Caulfield, and although he was in a mental facility, I found a friend who worked there that could help me visit him legally. I walked in there and the first thought I had was "Why is he even here?" Holden looked perfectly healthy to me, he was tall, had wide shoulders, a bit muscular, and his cheek bones gave him that thirties looks. anyway, I introduced my self and the purpose of being there, he was very welcoming and he said "This is the first time someone other than D.B visits me!" he asked a little about my self, but that's unimportant, I asked him why he was there and he stated "I've been through some hard time growing up and it had a big impact on me, so these phony psychologists or whatever they call themselves recommended that I live here until they make sure I'm settled" I listened patiently as he complained, after all, he's seems to be a good man.

Holden matures in the book by going through all these experiences that any other person most of the time doesn’t have to go through to mature. Holden tells us more about his brother's death when he says, “He got leukemia and died when we were in Maine, on July 18, 1946”(Salinger 38). Holden has to go through having a really close family member die from cancer while most people don’t go through such things when they are coming of age. This shows that Holden went through a more challenging journey to mature because he was one of those few people who have a close family member die