Holden Caulfield Adulthood

Many things in the world shape who people become. Everyone makes mistakes, they try to learn from them and try to move on and not dwell on the past. One’s mistakes and the experiences that people go through in life shape the person that they become. In the Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger shows, various characters, events and symbols that illustrate Holden Caulfield’s struggles to accept his inevitable transition into adulthood. Multiple people in the novel show and explain to Holden that there is more to life than being a child. The events in Holden’s life have made it challenging to let go of the past. The various symbols displayed in the novel demonstrate Holden’s fight against becoming an adult. His lifestyle choices create
This is caused because of such a big trauma that happened in his life with his brother. Holden wants to live in the past and not move forward with his life because he feels guilty. Holden illustrates pain and suffering through his brother’s death because he can not accept the truth that he died from Leukemia. Allie’s death causes Holden to live in the past, this is shown in the quote, “[T]hey all came when Allie died, the whole goddam stupid bunch of them… I wasn’t there; I was still in the hospital” (155). Allies death has been holding Holden back because he does not want to let Allie go. Holden still talks about Allie as if he is still in the physical world. Holden struggles to let go and move on with his life because he did not make it to his funeral and have the opportunity to say goodbye. Holden has no desire to commit to anything and actually try to do well in school. Holden is convinced that every school is full of phonies and keeps getting kicked out. When Holden is speaking with Mr. Spencer, Holden says, “[T]his is about the forth school I’ve gone to” (9). This proves that Holden does not want to have an education if he keeps getting kicked out of the schools. Holden getting kicked out of the schools shows that he isn’t adult enough to handle anything in life. Holden decides that he is ready to have sex because he thinks he is a
The symbol The Catcher in the Rye shows that Holden wants to keep people from becoming mature and falling off the cliff. The cliff is when children are about to fall into adulthood and when people do they end up falling off the cliff. In this quote it shows why he wants to keep people young and immature, “[T]housands of little kids and nobody is around. Nobody big, I mean except me and I am standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch them…I’d just be the Catcher in the Rye and all” (173). This quote determines that Holden does not want children to lose their pureness and innocence. Holden thinks that if he can try to save every girl and boy from wanting to have sex and becoming an adult he can be the Catcher in the Rye. The mummies in the museum help Holden express that he does not like change and rather them stay exactly the same. When Holden goes to the museum he enjoys it because nothing ever changes there. Holden showing he does not like things changing is shown in the quote, “[T]hey wrapped their faces up in these cloths that they treated with chemicals, that way the mummies could be buried in their tombs for thousands of years and their faces would not rot or anything” (203). This shows that Holden is not mature enough to lose his innocence because you change completely. Holden does not agree with children wanting to become an adult and lose their