Coming Of Age In Catcher In The Rye

A coming-of-age novel is when a protagonist undergoes adventures and/or inner turmoil in his growth and development as a human being.
Keeping that in mind, Holden was dealing with the realities of growing up, and becoming "phony". He was slowly realizing that he could never censor the world from profanities, and that he could never rub off all the "****-Yous" on the walls. At the end when Phoebe is on the Merry-Go-Round, he says that he has to let her grab the ring, which his way of letting her grow up, and have her own experiences. He knows that he cant protect her anymore.
When one is dismayed by some cold facet of society, the verbal exclamations are directed at the incorporeal "they". Who are "they"? Just because a tangible object to
Maurice is a pimp, rather unsavory yet an institution of society none the less, who assaults Holden. This character demands more of Holden than he is willing to give, or even fairly owes, and reacts to him violently for wanting to preserve what is his. Holden tries to defy this unfair treatment yet ultimately fails and considers himself "yellow"9 for being incapable of fighting back. This story takes place during a time in Holden's life when he is exploring what it means to become a man. Facing your demons is a crucial rite of passage. Being brave and holding your own in a fight is a very important sign of manhood, especially for someone who is psychologically under siege his whole life. It's a theme that is often pushed in the movies and exaggerated to an unrealistic degree making the expectations of those who watch such movies impossible to live up to. Holden can't realistically go after the pimp with a gun, "holding onto my guts, blood leaking all over the place" (Salinger 104). But that is his impression of a manly way to handle the situation because he was "ruined"10 by the movies. But what we, as observers through the glass case, can read into this that Holden cannot, is that Holden is perhaps the bravest character in this book simply because he refuses to back down on his principles regardless of the overwhelming might of his
I know of no better definition of conformity. Indeed, Salinger taunts the reader with allusions, both vague and direct, that Holden is in need of such psychoanalytical help. But the distinction between the vague and direct styles of inference forms an important reflection of what is really going on as opposed to what other people perceive to be going on. The reader is tempted to believe that Holden is in a mysterious institution, and often hears him refer to things that drive him crazy12. But it is always something done by other people that is insane, not him. The only person to directly suggest that Holden should seek psychoanalytical help is Carl Luce, who only engages people in intelligent conversation when he can be condescending13 to them, a person whom Holden "once called him a fat-assed phony" (Salinger 137), and admits to having needed psychoanalytical help himself14. But that is the only time such a statement is made. There is nowhere else in the book that directly states anything about needing psychoanalytical help or being put into a mental institution. Most readers with an inempathetic approach to this book, including some critics15, assume that just because Holden doesn't fit into the