Catcher In The Rye Confusion

All around the world, adolescent children roam the earth confused and lost between the stages of being a child and becoming an adult. The confusion and problems that every child faces is what shapes them to be the person they will become. J.D Salinger took an adolescent child’s experience and made it come to life as readers experience what the narrator of the story struggles through and how the narrator faces all the confusion of an adolescent child. In the novel A Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger represents adolescence as a time of uncertainty and confusion as the narrator struggles to walk the line between childhood and adulthood.
Holden expresses his uncertainty about the adult world through the use of the word “phony”. In Holden’s eyes, the adult world is filled with lies and deceit. He despises those who look or act differently than they normally do and dislikes actors because “they …show more content…
The battle between moving on from his childhood but being caught in the middle of transitioning into adulthood, is what shapes the novel as Holden perseveres through every judgement and struggle that comes in his way. Holden then focuses on the important things in his life. For example, his sister Phoebe, and being the catcher in the rye for children so that they may be protected from the world. As Holden told his story, Salinger protrayed a troubled adolescent child in a way that everyone can learn from. In the end, Holden just wanted to protect other children from harm, from the world, and from a treacherous path in life. The uncertainty and confusion lies in everyone’s everyday life and Salinger shows us how despite Holden’s past, he perseveres and conquers all his obstacles. All around the world adolescent children face their own problems day to day and from this novel, readers can all learn to persevere through the confusion and problems that they may