The Catcher in the Rye

Growing up and getting old is part of a natural life span, and everyone eventually encounters it. For one it may be a very big step to maturity which may lead to many barriers and challenges. For those who don 't enter maturity will be left behind in their childhood. The saying "age is nothing but a number" isn 't completely true, with every number that gets added to an age, one grows older and develops a mature identity. This leads to receiving many responsibilities and tasks that one may not ask for. The society holds its citizens to very high standards and morals that one may not be ready to understand and accept just like in Holden 's case. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, the main character, is trapped between his fantasy of childhood, and the unpredictable struggles of adulthood. While Holden tries to grow up, he runs into many challenges that hold him back like, living with rules, losing his virginity, and facing his family. Laws of adulthood requires many limitations and boundaries which does not comply with the restrictions of childhood. Rules are something that not everybody can follow. Rules can hold back people from doing certain things because of the fear of breaking them, or in Holden 's case, they can intrigue people to do wrong things in order to break the rules. For Holden, when breaking rules, it also includes doing the opposite of what is expected, not taking the obvious routs, and also not doing what is morally correct. One of the biggest examples is Holden 's academic life. Everyone tries to help him improve his life and do well in school but it just goes in one ear and comes out the other. Holden flunks out of every school he attends because he doesn 't put any effort in his school work except for English class. When Holden 's History teacher, Mr. Spencer says, " Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules" (Salinger 8). Holden totally disagrees and thinks

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