Limbo of Childhood and Adulthood
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that can help adults understand the difficulty of transitioning from a teenager to an adult. J.D Salinger reveals Holden’s transparent predicament of finding where he belongs, what he wants, who he is; the common struggle of most teenagers. Yet, he wishes to obtain the advantages of being an adult while remaining a carefree kid. Holden is wedged in between these two worlds and can not figure out which one he truly wants. Holden’s lack of desire for change and responsibility has him caught in a tug-of-war between childhood and adulthood due to his cravings for adult privileges.
Throughout the book, Holden behaves with various actions that exemplify his desire for certain adult …show more content…
Throughout the book, Holden does not accept responsibility for failing out of many schools. When he is talking to Old Spencer at the beginning of the book, he does not want to even hear what he wrote on a test that he failed: “I had to sit there and listen to that crap… I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for reading me that crap out loud ” (11-12). Once Old Spencer starts reading his essay aloud, Holden enters a world of misery because Old Spencer is forcing him face the fact he did not put effort into his academics. He says, “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for reading that crap out loud.” This indicates that he is immensely repulsed by the idea of being accountable for something and shows his resistance to mature. He is aware that what he wrote is not good, but he does not want to have to deal with it. Later in the book, Holden is on a date with Sally Hayes and gets a sudden urge for escaping society. He suddenly says to her, “How would you like to get the hell out of here?... We’ll stay in these cabin camps and stuff like that till dough runs out ” (132). The expected social norm in society is to grow up and become an accountable adult. Holden does not want to have to conform to society, so his solution is to run away where he can avoid growing up. Then later when he is talking to Phoebe, he mentions his escape plan …show more content…
When Holden mentions the museum, he talks about his favorite memory: “The best thing…was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…Nobody’d be different” (121). Holden loves the concept of nothing changing. In the real world, there is constant change. But the museum is Holden’s haven where change barely exist except, one thing which Holden does not enjoy: “The only thing that would be different would be you… I thought about how [Pheobe] [see’s] the same stuff I used to see, and how she’d be different… It didn’t exactly depress me to think about it, but it didn’t make me feel gay as hell either” (121-122). Holden fantasizes about being in a frozen world where no one could change or grow up, including himself. Holden also see’s change in younger children and has fear for them. Therefore, he feels he has to prevent them from changing. When Holden is talking to Phoebe, he explains his constant thought of the poem “Catcher in the Rye”: “I kept picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all… What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff… I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (173). This demonstrates Holden’s fixation on saving kids from falling into the world of repugnant adulthood. He feels that he has to catch them if they start to grow up due to his
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that can help adults understand the difficulty of transitioning from a teenager to an adult. J.D Salinger reveals Holden’s transparent predicament of finding where he belongs, what he wants, who he is; the common struggle of most teenagers. Yet, he wishes to obtain the advantages of being an adult while remaining a carefree kid. Holden is wedged in between these two worlds and can not figure out which one he truly wants. Holden’s lack of desire for change and responsibility has him caught in a tug-of-war between childhood and adulthood due to his cravings for adult privileges.
Throughout the book, Holden behaves with various actions that exemplify his desire for certain adult …show more content…
Throughout the book, Holden does not accept responsibility for failing out of many schools. When he is talking to Old Spencer at the beginning of the book, he does not want to even hear what he wrote on a test that he failed: “I had to sit there and listen to that crap… I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for reading me that crap out loud ” (11-12). Once Old Spencer starts reading his essay aloud, Holden enters a world of misery because Old Spencer is forcing him face the fact he did not put effort into his academics. He says, “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for reading that crap out loud.” This indicates that he is immensely repulsed by the idea of being accountable for something and shows his resistance to mature. He is aware that what he wrote is not good, but he does not want to have to deal with it. Later in the book, Holden is on a date with Sally Hayes and gets a sudden urge for escaping society. He suddenly says to her, “How would you like to get the hell out of here?... We’ll stay in these cabin camps and stuff like that till dough runs out ” (132). The expected social norm in society is to grow up and become an accountable adult. Holden does not want to have to conform to society, so his solution is to run away where he can avoid growing up. Then later when he is talking to Phoebe, he mentions his escape plan …show more content…
When Holden mentions the museum, he talks about his favorite memory: “The best thing…was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…Nobody’d be different” (121). Holden loves the concept of nothing changing. In the real world, there is constant change. But the museum is Holden’s haven where change barely exist except, one thing which Holden does not enjoy: “The only thing that would be different would be you… I thought about how [Pheobe] [see’s] the same stuff I used to see, and how she’d be different… It didn’t exactly depress me to think about it, but it didn’t make me feel gay as hell either” (121-122). Holden fantasizes about being in a frozen world where no one could change or grow up, including himself. Holden also see’s change in younger children and has fear for them. Therefore, he feels he has to prevent them from changing. When Holden is talking to Phoebe, he explains his constant thought of the poem “Catcher in the Rye”: “I kept picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all… What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff… I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (173). This demonstrates Holden’s fixation on saving kids from falling into the world of repugnant adulthood. He feels that he has to catch them if they start to grow up due to his