Catcher In The Rye Phoebe's Mistake

The Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger is a story about a depressed prep student, Holden. Holden has been kicked out of countless prep schools. He gets kicked out of Pencey before winter break; the only option is to go back home. As he travels home he goes through rounds of alcohol and has trouble with women. Once he reaches home he talks to Phoebe; his younger sister. Phoebe asks Holden what his dream job was; saving kids from losing their innocence. While spending time with his sister, Holden realizes you have to let kids grow up even if they make mistakes along the way.

At the end of the novel Holden takes Phoebe to a carousel. Holden realizes he’s to old to ride the carousel so he sits on the bench. When he sits on the bench it shows how he realizes he’s an adult. On the carousel Phoebe reaches for a gold ring, just like all the other kids. Holden was nervous she would fall, but then he realized she’s growing up. Holden says, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for 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. (211)” He knows if Phoebe does fall off she won’t grab the ring again because she learned from her mistake. Growing up involves taking risks, but they are necessary. You
Holden believed he could help kids, saving them form losing their innocence. He wanted to be the “catcher in the rye.” But he now knows he can’t, kids have to grow up. We all grow up and there is nothing we can do about it. He finally accepts that, he come face to face with himself. Holden is growing up. He accepts the hard cold truth about adulthood. Eventually kids will learn they have to grow up and they will finally acknowledge it just like Holden did. For once Holden is happy, before he was unstable but he has an emotional release. The carousel shows adulthood, you have to let them make mistakes to