Holden Caulfield's Maturity In 'Catcher In The Rye'

Rough Copy Essay While growing up, one of the biggest challenges in life is to focus on the positives rather than the negatives. With a judgemental society, individuals choose to focus on the negatives comments, quite a bit more than the positive. The idea of not fitting in allows one to feel alienated. At a young age people are not as complex and as they begin to age they beggining to have different similarities resulting in less common interests. Constructing a friendship at the adolescent age should be quite simple. However, it seems as if the young adults struggle to find themselves a place in society. The inability for an individual to mature can lead to an immeasurable amount of loneliness. With maturity comes the need to embrace society and change. The unwillingness to do so tends to isolate individuals rather than associate them with the surrounding environment. …show more content…
It is because of the protagonist’s’ actions that he is living an alienated life. As the novel progressed, readers learned more and more about the personality and characteristics of Holden Caulfield. One major characteristic, in which many readers caught on to quickly, was Holden’s immaturity. Holden was unable to show that he was a mature individual early on in the novel, and this lead him to have an inability in accepting change, which ultimately lead him to isolation, “When I got to the museum, all of a sudden I wouldn’t have gone inside for a million bucks.” (Salinger 122). From his childhood to his adolescents Holden’s life has changed since he last entered the museum. If Holden was to go inside the museum and it was different, he wouldn't know how to react. After all these years and memories of going into that museum, he would not want anything to be different. It was in this time of the novel, that readers knew, Holden’s immaturity was not allowing him to accept change and furthermore created a larger path for