The eminent 17th century French poet, Jean de La Fontaine once said: “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it”. This can be related to the protagonist, Holden Caulfield in the J.D. Salinger Bildungsroman, Catcher in the Rye, as an adolescent searching for his purpose in the world. Many literary works explore the struggle of finding one’s identity within society, such as Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The timeless essence of this best seller elucidates the vigorous study of the novel over the past decades since its publication. Holden’s desire for independence and companionship is defied by his infatuation with the past and fear of entering adulthood. This is something everyone,
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During the first half of the novel, Holden is set on becoming “the catcher in the rye” in order to prevent children from loosing their innocence and growing up. However, he eventually realize that “it’s hopeless, anyway” (p. 109) and that “it’s impossible” (p. 109) to protect children from maturity. He starts to face reality and begs: “Allie, don’t let me disappear” (p. 106), because he was lingering in the past with Allie and is beginning to confront his fear of leaving him behind. He also realizes that he is going to fall into adulthood, despite all his efforts. “Nobody’d ever see [him—his stubborn childish identity—] again” (p. 106). After Mr. Antolini compels Holden to understand that “there’s a time and place for everything” (p. 99) he slowly realizes that needs to “find out where [he] wants to go. And then […] start going there.” (p.101). Mr. Antolini’s advice that: 'The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one: (p. 104) instigates Holden’s final steps of his journey. In the last chapters of the novel, Holden watches Phoebe and recognizes that “the thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.” (p.114) He admits that he can’t be the catcher in the rye and that he has to let children fall into adulthood and that he himself has to risk loosing Allie in order to obtain his true desires—finding his place in the
During the first half of the novel, Holden is set on becoming “the catcher in the rye” in order to prevent children from loosing their innocence and growing up. However, he eventually realize that “it’s hopeless, anyway” (p. 109) and that “it’s impossible” (p. 109) to protect children from maturity. He starts to face reality and begs: “Allie, don’t let me disappear” (p. 106), because he was lingering in the past with Allie and is beginning to confront his fear of leaving him behind. He also realizes that he is going to fall into adulthood, despite all his efforts. “Nobody’d ever see [him—his stubborn childish identity—] again” (p. 106). After Mr. Antolini compels Holden to understand that “there’s a time and place for everything” (p. 99) he slowly realizes that needs to “find out where [he] wants to go. And then […] start going there.” (p.101). Mr. Antolini’s advice that: 'The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one: (p. 104) instigates Holden’s final steps of his journey. In the last chapters of the novel, Holden watches Phoebe and recognizes that “the thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them.” (p.114) He admits that he can’t be the catcher in the rye and that he has to let children fall into adulthood and that he himself has to risk loosing Allie in order to obtain his true desires—finding his place in the