Catcher In The Rye Individuality Analysis

Individuality at Best

Throughout life we adapt and change depending on societal norms, our environment, and many other aspects that influence us. Adolescence is a critical time in our lives, where we are first introduced to the real world and prepare ourselves for the future. Whether it be a teen who joins a new group of friends to experiment what it’s like to be an outcast, a teen who runs away and gets out of his comfort zone to figure out how he will deal with growing up, or a hermaphrodite who learns to accept who he is and is not willing to change himself to be normal. We will always have to be adapt to the situations we are put in and accept who we become. In many works of literature, the adolescent change as they mature
Salinger is about an adolescent who runs away to New York to discover who he will become. While most people his age are able to mature and grow up Holden is still trying to figure out how he to deal with growing up when he values youth over maturity. Holden doesn’t feel the need to grow but whether he likes it or not he is not able to avoid growing up. When Holden checks into the hotel and gets the prostitute, he rushes himself into an uncomfortable situation that he doesn’t know how to handle. While the prostitute named Sunny is trying to do her job Holden thinks to himself, “The trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth. She was depressing. Her dress hanging in the closet and all” (Salinger, 96). Holden rushes himself into situations where he tries to act older or more mature than he really is, but when put into a situation where maturity is required Holden is not able to apply maturity since he is not ready to grow up himself. He is also going through a constant struggle of whether he is ready to grow up and start identifying himself. Many times throughout the book nostalgia saddens Holden and he often contemplates whether he is ready to find his selfhood. When Holden explains about how nothing at the museum changes he explains it by claiming “ The only thing that would be different would be you. Not that you’d be so much older or anything. It wouldn’t be that, exactly.
Cal, who grows up with the name Calliope, is raised as a girl but when he finds out he possesses both male and female parts he decides to change his name and stay the way he is born. When Cal is brought to a doctor because he discovers there is something wrong with his genitalia a surgery is setup to turn Cal into a female. Although Cal was never informed about the surgery, Cal found out on his own and did not approve of the surgery and runs away to San Francisco. Even though he is given the chance to become a girl as he was raised as, Cal is not willing to go forth with the surgery to permanently stay female. He would rather stay with the gender he feels more comfortable with rather than changing to fit the gender he was raised with. When Cal runs away to San Francisco he meets Bob who takes him most of the way to San Francisco and parts ways with him when he reaches San Francisco. After being beaten up Cal decides to call Bob, who gave Cal his number before they parted and Cal then starts working at the strip club owned by Bob. Because of Cal’s condition he is put in an exotic show that gains a lot of popularity in the strip club. While working at the strip club he meets Zora who lets Cal live with them. During the first day at Zora’s, Zora explains how hermaphrodites are both looked