Examples Of Immature In Catcher In The Rye

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, the author characterizes Holden as immature in order to show that Holden is struggling to become an adult. This can be proven by Holden’s contradictory nature that appears throughout the book. Holden’s date with Sally is a big example of Holden’s immaturity. When Holden sees Sally after a long time, he says that he wanted to marry her right away, but this changes very quickly: “The funny part is I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her. I’m crazy. I didn’t even like her much, and yet all of a sudden I felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her” Salinger 124). By the end of the date Holden and Sally get into an argument which ended badly: “‘You (Sally) give me a royal pain in the ass if you want to know the truth’ Boy did she hit the ceiling when I said that” (133). Holden went from wanting to marry Sally to insulting her. This shows that Holden is immature because he makes judgements and changes his feelings toward something very quickly. Thus contradictory nature is characterized in children, which is why Holden is struggling to become an adult.
B’s time in the war. He says that he couldn’t stand it if he had to go to war himself, yet moments later he goes as far as saying that he would volunteer: “I don’t think I could stand it if I had to go to war…. I’m sort of glad they’ve got the atomic bomb invented. If there’s ever another war, I’m going to sit right the hell on top of it. I’ll volunteer for it. I swear to go I will” (140-141). Holden’s contradictive nature is shown once again this time with war as the topic. Holden goes from hating the idea of war to swearing that he will enlist. Immaturity is show here due to his swings on his view of war. This quote proves that he is struggling to become an adult because he cannot have stable views on something, and this instability is a characteristic of an