Growing Up In Catcher In The Rye

Many children dream of the day they will grow up and become whatever it is they wish to be. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is obsessed with the idea of becoming the catcher in the rye, saving children in the rye fields from falling off a cliff. It may sound like a heroic job and a dream, but Holden is not thinking of a typical cliff. The cliff he is imagining is a metaphor for the road from childhood to adulthood. Holden Caulfield dreams of never letting kids grow up. Holden is afraid of growing up, so he thinks that other kids are afraid of growing up as well. Due to the death of his older brother, no one was there for Holden when he grew up, Holden wants to be there for them as they grow up, but instead of mentoring …show more content…
Who would blame him for not wanting to deal with the adult responsibilities in life. Holden’s first realization to the irrationality of his idea was when he watched his sister ride the carousel. “Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round...All the kids tried to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she's fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it is bad to say anything to them.” Holden watched his sister Phoebe fall off the carousel. This was the first moment he realized that he could not always protect her and that she would be forced to learn some things on her own. This was not the only moment, Holden had, he also realized he could not do what he dreamed when he was reading profanity on the walls. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn't come off. It's hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck you" signs in the world. It's impossible.” When Holden saw the words were scratched on, he realized that no matter how hard he tried he could not erase all the profanity in the world, and no matter how hard he tried he would not be able to keep all the children from growing up.
Holden’s dream to be the catcher in the rye sounded like a great idea at first, but then he realized how unrealistic his concept was. Children will grow up no matter how hard Holden tries to stop them, fear would not get in the way. Holden saw nothing wrong with his idea until the profanity on the walls and the carousel incident gave him a new outlook, that growing up