The Theme Of Adulthood In Catcher In The Rye

J.D. Salinger explores the difficulties associated with the passage from youth to adulthood in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye. The author especially highlights the importance people staying connected to others in order to make a mentally healthy and successful life transition. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in the novel, is desperately clinging to his youth. Holden is obsessed with the phony nature of adults and judges the people around him based upon their degree of insincerity, two-facedness, and pretension. Holden is equally preoccupied with preserving childhood innocence. He is unable to sacrifice his purity in order to gain adult privileges. In fact, Holden is so disillusioned about adulthood that he eventually cuts off all ties in his life that could possibly help him through the transition of adolescence. Thus, the author, through Holden, explores the difficulties of this stage of life and how easy it is to stray from “the path” without “a village” to support this journey.
Holden is metaphorically at war with most of the adult world. He thinks adults are phony, which is the epitome of deficiencies. Some such people in Holden’s life include his history teacher, Mr. Spencer; his roommate, Stradlater; and the headmaster at his previous school, Mr. Haas. Mr.
Salinger explores the transition from youth to adulthood through Holden. Holden desperately wants to maintain the positive aspects of childhood while obtaining the benefits given to adults. Without strong family or another adult support system to guide him, Holden’s obsessions and deficiencies dominate him. In the end, the reader is left with the impression that Holden will not have a successful exit from his teenage years. In fact, his alienation from everyone around him is the main reason his decline is both dramatic and inevitable. Thus, the formation of connections to others during teenage years are imperative to healthy mental growth, as shown by Holden