How Does Holden Mature In Catcher In The Rye
Growing up is generally not considered easy or desirable. In J.D Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old boy on the precipice of adulthood. He is resisting growing up despite the allure of sex and alcohol, but he despises the thought of entering a phony world. For Holden, his life is stuck in a never ending cycle of misery, alcohol, and a desire to hold on to his childhood innocence. His own life up to this point has been very rough - his beloved younger brother Allie died of pneumonia, a classmate jumped out of a window, and he has gotten kicked out of yet another school. He yearns to be a protector of childhood innocence. It is only after beginning to accepting change, relinquish his protective instincts,
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Phoebe has just found out that Holden is running away and refuses to take her along. Holden decides to stay in New York City and take an angry Phoebe to the zoo to cheer her up. There, he reminisces about the carousel saying, “When she was a tiny little kid, and Allie and D.B. and I used to go to the park with her, she was mad about the carousel. You couldn’t get her off the goddam thing” (210). Since then, Holden has not been able to have those happy memories with his brothers after DB becoming a screenwriter in Hollywood and Allie’s passing. Despite being angry with Holden, and objecting because of her age, Phoebe rides the carousel. On the carousel, Holden observes her and the other children grabbing at the gold ring. He recognizes the danger, but also comes to the realization that children will always be children saying, “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (211). As an adult, he must let the children take the risk instead of trying to protect them. Through the novel, he has slowly changed his outlook on protecting children. Holden has come a long way since telling Phoebe about his dream of being the catcher in the rye and now recognizes that he cannot be the kind of protector he dreams
Phoebe has just found out that Holden is running away and refuses to take her along. Holden decides to stay in New York City and take an angry Phoebe to the zoo to cheer her up. There, he reminisces about the carousel saying, “When she was a tiny little kid, and Allie and D.B. and I used to go to the park with her, she was mad about the carousel. You couldn’t get her off the goddam thing” (210). Since then, Holden has not been able to have those happy memories with his brothers after DB becoming a screenwriter in Hollywood and Allie’s passing. Despite being angry with Holden, and objecting because of her age, Phoebe rides the carousel. On the carousel, Holden observes her and the other children grabbing at the gold ring. He recognizes the danger, but also comes to the realization that children will always be children saying, “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (211). As an adult, he must let the children take the risk instead of trying to protect them. Through the novel, he has slowly changed his outlook on protecting children. Holden has come a long way since telling Phoebe about his dream of being the catcher in the rye and now recognizes that he cannot be the kind of protector he dreams