Catcher In The Rye Quotes Analysis

Holden has a phobia about growing up. “I figured I could get a job at a filling station somewhere, putting gas and oil in people's cars. I didn't care what kind of job it was, though. Just so people didn't know me and I didn't know anybody. I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody. If anybody wanted to tell me something, they'd have to write it on a piece of paper and shove it over to me. They'd get bored as hell doing that after a while, and then I'd be through with having conversations for the rest of my life. Everybody'd think I was just a poor deaf-mute bastard and they'd leave me alone”(Salinger pg 257). Holden showed him liking to be individual and isolated, which ties to the theme.
Holden is scared of growing up, he
“Simply flies away like a duck from a frozen pond where it is no longer possible to live” (Panova Pg 60). Furthermore, As Holden runs away from school because he is afraid of change he doesn't want to stay at Pencey because he believes that he can longer stay there. “ What it was, it was partly frozen and partly not frozen. But I didn’t see any ducks around” (Salinger Pg200). In all honesty, Holden connected his youth to the ducks, thinking they were afraid of change as well. “The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in truck or something and take them away” (Salinger Pg 107). Also, Holden always wonder about the ducks because he felt like he was one of them. Changing their location when they didn’t feel comfortable. Holden had a connection with the ducks, doing the same thing the ducks