A few months down the road I will be achieving a milestone by graduating high school and having a taste of independence. Like Holden Caulfield, I too am close to entering adulthood, but the difference between him and I is our attitude towards change. In the novel, Holden's former teacher tells him that, 'the mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one" (page 188). Through a discussion of various themes and issues in the novel, we can conclude the Holden is, in fact, immature.
One of the biggest traits of a mature person is their ability to accept change, which Holden clearly lacks. Holden has to realize that unlike at museums not 'everything always stayed right where it was." (Chapter 16) …show more content…
For instance, letting his fencing team down by forgetting their school's fencing equipment on a subway the day of their tournament, and not regretting it. There is also the incident when Ackley asks Holden if his red hunting hat is a deer hunting hat, and Holden answers with “It’s a people shooting hat. I shoot people this this hat.” Or the time when Holden's roommate Stradlater was not satisfied with the composition he asked Holden to write and Holden reacted to it. By throwing a tantrum. He "[tore the composition up and [threw] it away angrily. Afterwards, he smokes a cigarette in the room just to annoy Stradlater." He later gets into a fight with Stradlater over a crush he had on a girl who he has not seen or spoken to in a long time. Finally, after the fight when Stradlater tells him to go wash the blood of his face, Holden replies with "You go wash your moron face!" Finally, when Holden decides to leave Pencey in the middle of the night all he could say was “Sleep tight, ya morons!" at the top of his lungs, waking up the entire
One of the biggest traits of a mature person is their ability to accept change, which Holden clearly lacks. Holden has to realize that unlike at museums not 'everything always stayed right where it was." (Chapter 16) …show more content…
For instance, letting his fencing team down by forgetting their school's fencing equipment on a subway the day of their tournament, and not regretting it. There is also the incident when Ackley asks Holden if his red hunting hat is a deer hunting hat, and Holden answers with “It’s a people shooting hat. I shoot people this this hat.” Or the time when Holden's roommate Stradlater was not satisfied with the composition he asked Holden to write and Holden reacted to it. By throwing a tantrum. He "[tore the composition up and [threw] it away angrily. Afterwards, he smokes a cigarette in the room just to annoy Stradlater." He later gets into a fight with Stradlater over a crush he had on a girl who he has not seen or spoken to in a long time. Finally, after the fight when Stradlater tells him to go wash the blood of his face, Holden replies with "You go wash your moron face!" Finally, when Holden decides to leave Pencey in the middle of the night all he could say was “Sleep tight, ya morons!" at the top of his lungs, waking up the entire