Catcher In The Rye Theme Of Adulthood

In Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger over takes the voice of a 16 year old cynical boy Holden Caulfield who was recently expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and protagonist of the story Salinger’s main focus is not on Holden but on the reality of adulthood. Holden is constantly faced with the thought that it is his fate to control the purity of the youth. Having suffered a traumatic loss of a sibling at a young age, Holden develops a pessimistic view on the world and the “phonies” in it. Moreover, Holden is simultaneously affected from the large majority of negative views imposed on him by the majority due to his actions and beliefs. Salinger develops a steady conflict between society and the protagonist, Holden Caulfield
Pushing them away provides a deeper and deeper loneliness, but at these moments of choice he is willing to endure it rather than eventually face the ultimate, devastating loneliness of losing another person like Allie. Holden makes it his job to be a “catcher in the rye” and prevent the children from running off the “cliff”. He feels the need to keep children from falling into adulthood or facing challenges. He is aware to what or how it affects others,and it's not fun. He is afraid that children just like him will experience what he has experienced. Holden cannot bear to hold onto his innocence because innocence brings its own harms; people continue to disappoint him. Thus the cost of maturity is much less; innocence has been quite painful, too. Innocence has been problematic: the prostitute demands more money for nothing, the man who takes him in seems like a pedophile, and the cab driver acknowledges him as stupid when he asks simple questions about the birds in the park. While Allie’s memory’s can help him preserve his innocence, this is not enough, for he cannot find real love in the outside world. He begins acting out with profanity, underage drinking and loses his self motivation in school resulting in multiple expulsions.“ I ordered a Scotch and soda, and told him not to mix it—I said it fast as hell, because if you hem and haw, they think you're under twenty-one and won't sell you any intoxicating liquor. I had trouble with him anyway, though. "I'm sorry, sir," he said, "but do you have some verification of your age? Your driver's license, perhaps?" I gave him this very cold stare, like he'd insulted the hell out of me, and asked him, "Do I look like I'm under twenty-one?"(Salinger 69). Holden doesn’t mind being young until it contradicts the morals of society. An individual that learns from its experiences will grow from it. Holden and other children should realize that