How Does Holden Mature In Catcher In The Rye

In the novel, The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield, is a teenager who is rich but suffering from societal problems. Throughout the book, Holden struggles with the idea of children realizing that the world isn’t how they imagined it to be as they grow up. He believes that future generations of kids will grow up as he did, and lose their innocence. Holden has matured throughout the book. He has grown from an immature kid to a mature adult. Holden wanted to make something out of his life as he left Pencey Prep. The school that Holden went to was filled with rich kids. Which he believed to be ¨phonies¨. The students at his school were already sexually active, making them more into an adult in a way. The reason …show more content…
As said by Holden ¨ I'm thinking now when Stradlater got back from his date with Jane¨(Salinger-40). This bothered Holden because Stradlater seems to view Jane as a sexual object to impress. Whereas Holden see´s Jane as a person and appreciates all the little quirky things she does. An example such that “she wouldn’t move any of her kings”(Salinger-31). Throughout the book, Holden’s innocence is slowly going away. When he goes to New York city he is exposed to things that normal kids are not used to seeing. While he’s in N.Y.C he sees prostitutes and people who are opposite of innocent and clean. During this time Holden has surrounded phonies and realizes that the world isn’t a perfect place because people lie and cheat in order to get what they want. This is seen when Mr. Ossenburger take advantage of other people while their mourning of their loved ones, he takes their money which is supposed to go to the graves of those who died. But instead, he ends up keeping the money and throwing the body into a ditch. Since Holden believes that he has met many phonies, he doesn’t want other kids to be exposed to their dishonest