Holden Caulfield's The Catcher In The Rye

The desire to be accepted by others is what most people strive for in society. At various points in life, young people understand that they had to leave their childhood behind, to fully mature and feel accepted into society. However, for Holden Caulfield, he saw adults as “phonies” and “fake,” which showed him being judgmental and snobbish, to the people around him. Yet, he has a desire to be accepted by others, which is shown in his interactions with Ackley and the three girls he met at the Lavender Room, but was rejected almost every time. One of the few people that truly accepted Holden, was his own sister, Phoebe, and in the end, she is the reason why Holden finally accepts growing up. In the beginning of the novel, Holden invited Ackley to the movies, as a “favor”, since Ackley stays mostly to himself. Later, he hopes that Ackley will return the favor by allowing him to sleep in Ely’s bed. Holden tries to initiate a conversation with Ackley, but Ackley denies his acceptance of sleeping in Ely’s bed and his company. After their short conversation, Holden spontaneously choose to leave Pencey and all the phony people behind. His last-minute resolution shows a tiny part of his “immaturity” and …show more content…
Later on, after he delivers her letter, she meets him at the museum with a large suitcase filled with clothes. She decides to accompany Holden on his journey out west, mainly to care for him. However, he rejects the idea of her joining him and soon, the idea of embarking the journey. Phoebe responded to his reject, by the “silence treatment” on their way to the zoo. However, once they approached the carousel, Holden buys a fistful of tickets for his sister, and watches her go around and around, will attempting to reach the golden ring. During the moment, is when Holden finally feel accepted and understands that he has to grow