How Does Holden Protect Children From Growing Up

Have you ever wanted to protect children from growing up? In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield tries to protect children from growing up. First, Holden does not want the children to become depressed like Holden. Next, Holden wants to protect the children from being phony since he dislikes phonies. Finally, Holden does not want children to be as hateful as he is and wants to make sure they enjoy themselves. Holden wants to protect the children from growing up to be depressed, hateful, and phony like Holden.
Holden obsesses over trying to protect the children from growing to be depressed like he is. Holden wants to prevent the children from feeling like "committing suicide" or "jumping out the window" like Holden felt throughout the novel (Salinger 117). If he can protect the children from feeling this then he feels he has protected them from a lifetime of sadness. Clearly Holden feels like he can stop the kids from experiencing this by being the “catcher in the rye” (191). He feels that he is …show more content…
Phoebe knows that “you don't like any school. You don't like a million things. You don't.”(187) and this is very true to Holden. We know of three things that Holden enjoys, Allie, Phoebe, and adults that are not phony. Other than that he does not enjoy other things. Holden wants to protect the children from being this way, he wants them to enjoy their lives and not be hateful. He does not want them to be like him since he is so unsatisfied with everything in his life at this moment.
Clearly Holden wants to protect the children by being the catcher in the rye. He wants to protect them from growing up to become phony adults. He also does not want them to become as hateful and as depressed as he is. Trying to shield younger children from turning into people you do not like or things you despise is normal. Specifically when you are not exposed to the real world