Maturity And Adulthood In The Catcher In The Rye

In The Catcher in the Rye Holden has a dismal outlook on the future, hating how adulthood is fake and pretend. Holden Constantly reiterates how much he despises the adult world, and how anyone who is part of that world is despicable. Holden shuns anyone that fits outside his ideal of innocence and childhood, even if these people such as Mr. Antolini, really care about Holden and want him to thrive and grow. Instead in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s view of maturity and adulthood as phony forces him to maintain a false positive image towards Jane and Phoebe, the few child-like characters he places a sense of innocence on.
Holden constantly speaks about Jane, how he should call her and talk to her, yet Jane is never actually spoken to. Holden’s view of Jane is stagnated, forever entrapped in the youthful summers he spends with her: “Every time I got to the part about her out with Stradlater in that damn Ed Banky’s Car, it almost drove me crazy. I knew she wouldn’t let him get to first base with her, but it drove me crazy anyway”(89). In Holden’s eyes, Jane …show more content…
Holden’s goal of keeping children protected and innocent is futile as eventually the children will grow up, and will understand the adult world, along with all the harsh language the comes with it: “[W]hile I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them…” (221). Profanities are a very adult like behavior, so it drives Holden near insane for Phoebe and the other innocent kids to be exposed to the harsh realities of the outside world. The graffiti on the wall if the kids see it, according to Holden would ‘fall off the cliff’ into