Throughout the book The catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield takes a journey through his life. On the outside of this young teenage boy it may seem like he has it together, but the inside of him is a full-hearted child. Holden has troubles with his inability to not try and save every innocent life he passes all the while he’s trying to force childhood and his actions back on himself. The sudden death of his brother Allie makes him go through this transition where he needs to grow up and face reality, but he instead chooses to hide behind the thoughts of a child. Although some may think that Holden has grown up because of the change he shows from the beginning to the end of the novel and the fact that reality might have hit him, that is not the case. Though he may have made the switch and let Phobe hop on the child ride and stay behind, he still chose to sit in the rain and let that red hunting hat “protect” him. …show more content…
He had been failing all of his classes but one, english, and he constantly complains about the friends he has. The problems that are in front of him with his schooling and social life are what he tries to run away from, but they follow you no matter what. Pencey was the best thing that Holden had but instead he chose to pick out all of the problems and put that over everything rather than focus on the good. If he were to actually be successful on his journey in the end, he wouldn’t have regretted as many of the choices he made. J.D. Salinger writes: “Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” By the end, if he was to be at that level of mature, he would reconnect rather than just
In the book Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger writes about a boy named Holden who tells a story about his life from a mental hospital. Holden's story begins after his classes at Pencey Prep school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Not being a very good student, Holden has failed out of three schools and Pencey Prep will be his fourth. Holden wants to find a way to say good bye to Pencey and remembers the time he was playing football with his friends late at night. Through Holden's time at Pencey, he has become acquaintances with Ackley his unhygienic dorm neighbor and Stradlater Holden's popular roommate. Throughout the book, Holden thinks about Jane, a girl he has spent a lot of time with in the past and has flashbacks about her, but never talks
Holden Caulfield’s fear of change, especially death, is a consequence of Allie’s passing away as a child due to leukemia. This has a huge impact on his view of the world around him. He fears change and refuses to accept the fact that innocence doesn’t last forever, chaging everything pure and hating the phony world of adulthood. Through the use of the voice and thoughts of Holden’s character, fear of growing up and death are expressed as a result of the traumatizing experience he had as a child.
Holden Caulfield faces a dilemma throughout “The Catcher in the Rye”. Holden wants to protect his innocence as a child. As he leaves Pencey Prep; venturing off into the vast city of new york, he tries to get somebody to listen to him and meaningfully respond to his fears about becoming an adult. Holden has grown six inches in the past year and one side of his head is full of grey hair, both symbols of the inevitability of the progression of time towards adulthood and its disappearance of innocence. He is so obsessed with protecting his innocence he can't even through a snowball at a car because, “it looks so nice and white.
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.
Stories always differ in how characters develop change. Characters usually change from their first encounter to their last. In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, the main character does not experience change. Throughout the book, the main character, Holden Caulfield, simply is just a young adult strict about change. He is still his narcissistic-self, believing everyone is phony except himself, also focusing on the wrong aspects of life.
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.
Most teens seem to believe that they are more prepared for drinking, drugs, and sex than they actually are. This mindset is no different for 16 year old Holden Caulfield in the book, The Catcher in the Rye. As the novel's main character, Holden attempts to participate in adult activities, although he is inexperienced, because his brother's death stole his childhood innocence. Holden felt as though he was responsible for protecting his sister and other young children by pushing himself to become an adult. Although Holden thought forcing himself to grow up would help himself and others, it only resulted in his mental relapse. Since Holden's failed attempts at adulthood resulted in his insanity, the challenges of change are consistently reiterated
When we grow up we’re raised to do our best and to be mature. People know their right from wrongs. Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye by, J.D. Salinger the main character goes through a difficult life and time growing up. Growing up too fast is not the answer for everything. The main character Holden Caulfield is a misfit because he is very dramatic, he avoids facing things, and he shows reckless behavior.
The carousel and gold ring finally allow Holden to accept change as a natural part of life and that it is necessary for one to grow as a person. Holden buys a ticket for Phoebe, his kid sister, to ride the carousel but refuses her offer to go on as well. Instead, he sits and watches: “ I went over and sat down on this bench and she went and got on the carousel” (211). By doing this, Holden chooses to no longer be a child. He starts to accept that he needs to start maturing and watches Pheobe, like the other adults are watching their children. This is a step in the right direction for Holden as up until this point in the novel, he has refused to change because of his fear. While Holden watches Phoebe ride the carousel, he watches her reach for the gold ring. As she reaches, Holden thinks to
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.
Reveals about situation: Holden’s disorder is becoming more and more evident. He does not originally feel a sense of belonging, so he decides that he will move away. However, he begins to question his decision and become very paranoid above leaving. This reveals how he thinks he wants to leave, but in reality, he wants to stay home and mend his relationships with his family.
Holden went to a prep school, and from what I observed I could tell he didn’t like it very much. Holden thought he was going to be kicked out of Pencey Prep because of his bad grades, He was only passing English. Before the school could kick him out he decided to leave. Other reasons included his leave as well. For example, He didn’t want to be around Stradlater anymore after their major blow out fight. Holden did not have many friends at Pencey either, He was somewhat friends with Ackley, but he always made fun of his acne, that’s not being a true friend. Another reason he wanted to
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield resists the idea of growing up. Throughout the book Holden struggles with the transition from childhood to adulthood. This is partly because the only times he remembers being happy is in places he made childhood memories in. For example, the Carousel in Central Park is where he has many happy childhood memories with his siblings. As the book goes on, the setting of the Central Park Carrousel is the place where Holden ultimately accepts that he has to grow up. His reasons for accepting that he has to grow are Phoebe’s actions at the carrousel , the rain, the symbolism of the golden ring and the Carrousel music.
In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulifield views the world as an evil corrupt place where there is no peace. Holden has a phony phobia that restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendship, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way; including the realization that he is powerless to change the world.
In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, a young man named Holden Caulfield is on the edge of adulthood. He is a bright kid but struggles with many mental diseases mainly because of the passing of his brother Allie. This has caused him to not focus on school and has got him kicked out of many schools. He did not have many friends and he did not like many people. He thought of everyone as phony. Holden does not want to confront adulthood in fear of losing his childhood because of the fear of change, conformity to the phony world and the passing of his younger brother Allie.