Every adult has experienced maturation that ended their childhood; for some people it’s early on, while for others it’s later in their life. For Holden Caulfield, maturation and coming of age occurs when he is 16 and he flunks out of his school. Holden Caulfield, protagonist of the story, “The Catcher In The Rye”, written by JD Salinger, experiences maturation and a transition from youth to adolescence. “The Catcher In The Rye” is a story centred around a teenage boy’s perception of the world, and his coming of age. Holden’s transition from youth to adolescence, is represented through his mentality at different stages of the story, directed by factors in his environment.Mentality can refer to several things such as a feeling of independence,
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Secondly, this can be seen in Holden’s change in actions as the story progresses. Finally, his feeling and display of independence also acts as a representation of his maturity. Holden’s inner desire, lust and thoughts in relation to his maturity, display his maturity throughout the course of the story. At the beginning of the story, Holden proclaims he wants to see Jane Gallagher and reconcile with her. This can be seen as a childish desire; they haven’t seen in each other in years, and he expects there to still be a connection. This can be seen as childish, for he hasn’t seen her in years, but he expects to rekindle their “fire”. As the story progresses, his desires can be seen as progressively more mature. Holden on several occasions throughout the story feels a form of lust or desire, that many describe as an adult feeling or desire. His desire and sexual attraction to different female characters in the story, show his process of maturation. His lust is evident when Holden says, “I don’t mean …show more content…
Holden’s actions are a direct representation of his maturity. When Holden shows that he is able to cope with the pain left by the fight with stradlater, we are shown his adult state. He is able to not only handle the pain and bleeding left from injuries caused by stradlater, he is able to do tasks without this hindering his progress. Furthermore, Holden donates to a group of Nuns, after striking up a conversation with them. This not only shows his generosity, but also his maturity. Thanks to his maturity, he is able to realize that he was giving to a good cause and there is a better return with donation, than spending money on personal goods and experiences. At the beginning of the story, Holden makes several incorrect decisions and does not think out his actions such as running away from Pencey, and by telling several unnecessary lies, but as the story progresses he starts making more and more thought out decisions. For example, near the very end of the story, Holden denies his sister, Phoebe’s request, to join him on his trip, because he knows that would not be a smart decision. It’s almost as if his actions are a direct representation of his maturation; at the beginning of the story his decisions were not thought out and immature but as the story progressed his decisions were more well thought
Secondly, this can be seen in Holden’s change in actions as the story progresses. Finally, his feeling and display of independence also acts as a representation of his maturity. Holden’s inner desire, lust and thoughts in relation to his maturity, display his maturity throughout the course of the story. At the beginning of the story, Holden proclaims he wants to see Jane Gallagher and reconcile with her. This can be seen as a childish desire; they haven’t seen in each other in years, and he expects there to still be a connection. This can be seen as childish, for he hasn’t seen her in years, but he expects to rekindle their “fire”. As the story progresses, his desires can be seen as progressively more mature. Holden on several occasions throughout the story feels a form of lust or desire, that many describe as an adult feeling or desire. His desire and sexual attraction to different female characters in the story, show his process of maturation. His lust is evident when Holden says, “I don’t mean …show more content…
Holden’s actions are a direct representation of his maturity. When Holden shows that he is able to cope with the pain left by the fight with stradlater, we are shown his adult state. He is able to not only handle the pain and bleeding left from injuries caused by stradlater, he is able to do tasks without this hindering his progress. Furthermore, Holden donates to a group of Nuns, after striking up a conversation with them. This not only shows his generosity, but also his maturity. Thanks to his maturity, he is able to realize that he was giving to a good cause and there is a better return with donation, than spending money on personal goods and experiences. At the beginning of the story, Holden makes several incorrect decisions and does not think out his actions such as running away from Pencey, and by telling several unnecessary lies, but as the story progresses he starts making more and more thought out decisions. For example, near the very end of the story, Holden denies his sister, Phoebe’s request, to join him on his trip, because he knows that would not be a smart decision. It’s almost as if his actions are a direct representation of his maturation; at the beginning of the story his decisions were not thought out and immature but as the story progressed his decisions were more well thought