Everyone and everything whether they know it or not play a role in society. Though some roles might be much greater than others we all have a part to play. But sometimes finding your place isn’t always that easy, and it can come with a lot of pain and adversity. In J.D Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye, we as readers are put in the shoes of a character who is indeed struggling to find his role and many people can relate to him. Finding your place in society can be difficult but if that path is not found it can lead to loneliness and instability. It might come as second nature to others, but finding where you fit in can be rather difficult. For Holden Caulfield, this is his biggest battle. It is immediately noticed that Holden is lost and
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But At the end, there are slight differences that are noticed about Holden. Yes, Holden is still, for the most part, the same, But he comes to some realization of who he is and where he wants to be. For example, Holden at first wanted to be “the catcher in the rye,” where he would catch kids who were about to fall off of a cliff. But at the end Holden says “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.”(210) Holden's realization of this can be seen as a symbol of faith and hope. The gold ring can be seen as happiness and the fall is the risk of failure. Holden himself wants to reach for that ring but is afraid he will fall which is why before he would rather be the catcher rather than the one trying to reach for the ring or happiness. But what does this mean for Holden and society? Holden realizes that he must let kids fall if they're trying to find themselves because if he tells them that they could risk falling they would be too afraid to leave their comfort zone which could potentially make them like Holden; an outcast to society. But from this realization, Holden does find his place and it's with “old” Phoebe and his family. This can be seen when Phoebe asks holden if he was staying saying, “"Did you mean it what you said? You really aren't going away anywhere? Are you really going home afterward?" she asked me. "Yeah," I said. I meant it, too.”(212) This tells us that Holden has indeed somewhat found his place because before he was so sure about moving out west. But now he realized that his place was home all along and being around his sister made him happy. In fact, just watching his sister go around the carousel gave him a sense of warmth and comfort saying, “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, seeing old Phoebe going
But At the end, there are slight differences that are noticed about Holden. Yes, Holden is still, for the most part, the same, But he comes to some realization of who he is and where he wants to be. For example, Holden at first wanted to be “the catcher in the rye,” where he would catch kids who were about to fall off of a cliff. But at the end Holden says “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.”(210) Holden's realization of this can be seen as a symbol of faith and hope. The gold ring can be seen as happiness and the fall is the risk of failure. Holden himself wants to reach for that ring but is afraid he will fall which is why before he would rather be the catcher rather than the one trying to reach for the ring or happiness. But what does this mean for Holden and society? Holden realizes that he must let kids fall if they're trying to find themselves because if he tells them that they could risk falling they would be too afraid to leave their comfort zone which could potentially make them like Holden; an outcast to society. But from this realization, Holden does find his place and it's with “old” Phoebe and his family. This can be seen when Phoebe asks holden if he was staying saying, “"Did you mean it what you said? You really aren't going away anywhere? Are you really going home afterward?" she asked me. "Yeah," I said. I meant it, too.”(212) This tells us that Holden has indeed somewhat found his place because before he was so sure about moving out west. But now he realized that his place was home all along and being around his sister made him happy. In fact, just watching his sister go around the carousel gave him a sense of warmth and comfort saying, “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, seeing old Phoebe going