Have you ever experienced something in your life that had such an immense impact on you that it altered who you are and the way you live, forever? For Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye this was a reality. Holden’s blissful childhood was brought to an abrupt stop when his brother and best friend, Allie passed away. Everyone mourns the loss of loved ones differently. For Holden, he was stuck in the moment of his brother’s death. Experiencing such a trauma while being so young left Holden with lasting negative effects and the idea that there is no happiness past childhood. He was also left feeling alone and incapable of being close or forming any sort of relationship with others. Holden Caulfield in JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye
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Correspondingly, Holden was trapped in the moment of his brother’s death, struggling to transition into adulthood. Holden told Phoebe, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye […] And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff […] I have to catch everybody if they start to go over […] That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (Salinger 173). All throughout Holden’s life, he had observed kids in their youth and longed to experience the happiness and innocence in the way they could. He related all of his fond memories and happy experiences in his life to his childhood, before his brother died. However, he was no longer a child, and holding onto that period of time in his life would just burden him with more grief. Change and growing up are major parts of life and neither can be avoided, although Holden did all in his power to avoid the inevitable. Along with trying to protect his own innocence, Holden did all that he could to prevent his sister and those around him from becoming adult-like. Since his innocence had been stripped from him early on, he yearned to maintain everyone else’s by becoming the catcher in the rye. Being the catcher in the rye entails saving children from falling off the ‘cliff’ of childhood and into adulthood. Holden personally was on the edge of this cliff, struggling between adulthood …show more content…
He believed the actions of Mr. Haas were deceitful. Because Holden does not agree with his actions in one scenario Holden makes the assumption that he does not like him. Someone with more maturity would not be so quick to judge. In the article, A Study on the Painful Transition of Adolescent in J. D. Salinger 's Writing, Xiaomei Han writes, “Most adolescents eventually come to terms with things as they are. They give up their idealistic ideas of working any radical changes in the social structure or in the culture 's value system. They try at least, painful as it may be to find their own "realistic" place in society. Holden was unable to do this very thing”. He is further proving that Holden, unlike most is unable to accept societal flaws. Holden wishes for things to be black and white, when that is not at all the case. Because of a few poor encounters with adults that are supposed phonies he has decided to write all adults off as phonies. Holden has not reached to level of maturity where he is able to grasp the idea that not everyone falls under a specific
Correspondingly, Holden was trapped in the moment of his brother’s death, struggling to transition into adulthood. Holden told Phoebe, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye […] And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff […] I have to catch everybody if they start to go over […] That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (Salinger 173). All throughout Holden’s life, he had observed kids in their youth and longed to experience the happiness and innocence in the way they could. He related all of his fond memories and happy experiences in his life to his childhood, before his brother died. However, he was no longer a child, and holding onto that period of time in his life would just burden him with more grief. Change and growing up are major parts of life and neither can be avoided, although Holden did all in his power to avoid the inevitable. Along with trying to protect his own innocence, Holden did all that he could to prevent his sister and those around him from becoming adult-like. Since his innocence had been stripped from him early on, he yearned to maintain everyone else’s by becoming the catcher in the rye. Being the catcher in the rye entails saving children from falling off the ‘cliff’ of childhood and into adulthood. Holden personally was on the edge of this cliff, struggling between adulthood …show more content…
He believed the actions of Mr. Haas were deceitful. Because Holden does not agree with his actions in one scenario Holden makes the assumption that he does not like him. Someone with more maturity would not be so quick to judge. In the article, A Study on the Painful Transition of Adolescent in J. D. Salinger 's Writing, Xiaomei Han writes, “Most adolescents eventually come to terms with things as they are. They give up their idealistic ideas of working any radical changes in the social structure or in the culture 's value system. They try at least, painful as it may be to find their own "realistic" place in society. Holden was unable to do this very thing”. He is further proving that Holden, unlike most is unable to accept societal flaws. Holden wishes for things to be black and white, when that is not at all the case. Because of a few poor encounters with adults that are supposed phonies he has decided to write all adults off as phonies. Holden has not reached to level of maturity where he is able to grasp the idea that not everyone falls under a specific