In his journey from childhood to adulthood, Holden Caulfield feels surrounded by dishonesty and phoniness. “Phoniness” is a constantly repeated word in the novel because it is the word Holden uses to describe the adult world. “Phoniness” for Holden, stands as an embodiment for everything that’s wrong in the world around him. Holden considers himself a representation of the world of childhood, which is to him the opposite of “phoniness”. In J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden learns to accept the loss of innocence in him and in the children in his life by developing and growing in the phony world of adults.
Throughout the novel, Holden always detects phoniness in the adults in his life but never in the children in his life. In chapter …show more content…
Towards the end of the novel, Holden calls himself a ‘catcher in the rye’ and explains, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye … what I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff”(173). Holden uses the little children falling off the cliff as a symbol for growing up and entering adulthood. The children that are playing in a big field of rye aren’t paying attention to their surroundings, hence them falling off the cliff. This suggests that the children aren’t prepared to face the pressures and struggles of adulthood. Holden fears the children, and essentially himself, facing the responsibilities of growing up, causing him to handle certain situations with uneasiness throughout the novel. Holden also shows how apprehensive he is to the thought of growing up when he expresses, “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” (122). At this point in the novel, Holden is aware towards his distress of change. He wants everything in his life to stay the same, he wants the children in his life to remain innocent and never enter the phoniness of adulthood, but he later realizes that he cannot control this and everyone will eventually become an
Throughout the novel, Holden always detects phoniness in the adults in his life but never in the children in his life. In chapter …show more content…
Towards the end of the novel, Holden calls himself a ‘catcher in the rye’ and explains, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye … what I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff”(173). Holden uses the little children falling off the cliff as a symbol for growing up and entering adulthood. The children that are playing in a big field of rye aren’t paying attention to their surroundings, hence them falling off the cliff. This suggests that the children aren’t prepared to face the pressures and struggles of adulthood. Holden fears the children, and essentially himself, facing the responsibilities of growing up, causing him to handle certain situations with uneasiness throughout the novel. Holden also shows how apprehensive he is to the thought of growing up when he expresses, “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” (122). At this point in the novel, Holden is aware towards his distress of change. He wants everything in his life to stay the same, he wants the children in his life to remain innocent and never enter the phoniness of adulthood, but he later realizes that he cannot control this and everyone will eventually become an