How Does Holden Change Throughout The Catcher In The Rye

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

In chapters 16 to 20, from buying a record she liked to going to the park to see her and even taking the long walk home after being cold and drunk at Central Park just to see her, Phoebe is obviously very important to Holden. Even though she doesn't show up for a majority of the book, Phoebe's place in Holden's mind is what leads him to do certain things. Just a plain sight of looking at an old record had brought Phoebe unto his mind, which led on to him actually buying the record for her. This thought of buying a record for Phoebe drove him to look for Phoebe at the park he knew she liked to go to. Not being able to find her, he then risks it all by going to her house.

In chapter 21 Holden returns home two days early because he wants to say his goodbyes to Phoebe, when arriving at his family's apartment he walks over to Phoebe’s room and sees that she is not there, he then goes to D.B’s room to find her sleeping. Before deciding to wake up Phoebe, Holden sits in D.B’s room and looks at his brother’s desk and says “You ought to see her doing her homework or something at that crazy desk. It’s almost as big as the bed. You can hardly see her when she’s doing her homework. That’s the kind of stuff she likes, though” (Salinger 175-176). Phoebe is a smart, strong and a confident young woman. Phoebe redefines stereotypes by being intelligent which is one of the traits that Holden admires throughout the course of the novel. Phoebe embodies such a conception of perfection by being intelligent that she becomes an ideal for Holden as he thinks highly of

The adult world is full of phonies, liars and fakes. The transition from being a child to an adult is difficult for Holden. Early on in Holden’s adventure through New York he asks his cab driver where the ducks go during the winter. The ducks symbolize the child world and Holden’s ability to not accept change. The lake is half frozen representing the child world and adult world clashing.

As he is walking he kept thinking of Phoebe going to the museum just like he did when he was her age: " Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway"(122). Holden clearly states that he wants everything to be the same. He wants to put Phoebe in one of those glass cases so she would never change, but he knows it is impossible.

Through the ducks, Holden is seeking inspiration for what to do when his own life gets tough. The ducks in central park are developed through Holdens curiosity and symbolize change, which is significant to Holdens progression between

Holden seems to ignore that memory and pays attention only to situations that fit his idealized view of childhood. When Holden later visits this same museum it reminds him of how Phoebe will be different every time she visits, because she will be growing up. He thinks “certain things should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and leave them alone.”

Holden did not like people who are fake. To him, Phoebe was authentic, honest, and trustworthy, and he knew he could always confide in her. As their conversation progresses, Holden shares more details about his time at Pencey and why he didn’t like it there, Phoebe realizes, “You don’t like anything that’s happening.” (220). Holden realizes she is perceptive about what was going on and makes him feel depressed.

were they feel like they’re alienated. In a lot of ways, Holden also literally wants

Phoebe gave Holden a feeling of love that he thought was gone when his brother Allie died. Holden made decisions based upon what he thought was best for the life with his sister, and he always thought about what was best for her. Phoebe is the one who in the end made Holden realize that he had to let some things go. “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab to the gold ring you have to let them do it and not say anything. If the fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.”

This symbolizes him holding on to his past, not wanting things to change. As Holden meets with all of his old friends, he claims many of them to have become phonies. All of his friends have grown up, and Holden is left behind, and still acts like a child. "[Holden's] central dilemma is that he wants to retain a child's innocence" (Bloom 22). As everyone around changes he just wants to stay the same, young and sheltered.

Holden says,” You'd like her. I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell you're talking about. I mean you can even take her anywhere with you. If you take her to a lousy movie, for instance, she knows it's a lousy movie. If you take her to a pretty good movie, she knows it's a pretty good movie”. Holden considered his little sister smart, even though she was so young. At ten years old, skinny Phoebe was one of the few people Holden felt a connection with. Holden basically tried to find Allie in Phoebe and thus tried to protect and love her in every way possible. Holden’s obsession with Phoebe is an example of his isolation and extreme loneliness. The one person he wanted to connect with on several occasions was much younger, and was out of reach. Regarding Phoebe as a living copy of all that he loved in Allie, he was comforted by Phoebe’s jauntiness and vitality; he yearned to protect her from the ugliness he perceived in the world around them. Phoebe is perhaps the only reminder that Holden still had the capacity to

Catcher in the Rye Essay Not everyone can say it is a pleasant experience, but no one can deny that it happens, I’m talking about growing up and becoming mature. Holden Caulfield experiences personal, social, and mental isolation. During the process between childhood and adulthood the adult world seems inviting and free. But only when one becomes a member of a belonging, cruel, and truthful society, then we can appreciate our innocent childhood days.

The continuity and circular motion of the carrousel show Holden’s reluctance, while Holden’s refusal to go on the carrousel shows Holden’s acceptance of adulthood. Firstly, the carrousel is circular in shape. Circles are often seen as never-ending and infinite, similar to Holden’s idea of living. As Timothy Aubry said, "Holden 's urge to shield children from danger and allow them to play endlessly exemplifies his desire to suspend time, to inhabit a space of youth preserved indefinitely" (Aubry). Holden believes the safest way to live is to not change, to stay true to who you are at that same time so you cannot become a phony. He wants everything to stay the same and takes comfort in this thought. He wants children to play in the field forever, making sure they do not fall or leave by catching them. This is the reason Holden brings Phoebe to the carrousel in the

Childhood: a time when kids are the purest and hidden from the dangers of the adult hood. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye the main character, sixteen year old Holden Caulfield faces many challenges over the course of a long weekend in which he adulterates the innocence he tries so hard to hold on to. After losing his younger brother to illness, Holden finds himself alienating the world around him and pushing people that he loves, and that love him away. The novel is set in a cold and dour 1950 New York after Holden is kicked out of one of the many boarding schools that he has already attended. Salinger expresses throughout the novel that Holden is not fond of the ideas that are associated with adulthood and thus he desperately tries to hold on to the innocence linked with childhood.