How Does The Catcher In The Rye Change

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” Change is only if the person wants to change; people will not change if they don’t want to. According to Holden, certain things should never change and should stay the way they are. Change starts with the person who is willing to change. Many people change when they’re around different people, do different hobbies, or have a more positive/negative outlook on life. In book The Catcher and the Rye, Holden has changed ever since his brother’s death. Holden was a decent kid who loved his siblings dearly. Later on, his brother Allie died from cancer and this changed Holden for life. From that point on, Holden could not look at his brother’s belongings the same and started slacking in school. He became more to himself and started bundling his feelings inside of him. From the result of this, Holden had transferred from different schools more than once and got kicked out of Pencey for not doing his work. The reader can tell by reading this, that Holden is somewhat sad to leave the friends he made, but he had been used to this by now. He felt more
of a disappointment to his parents and the teachers at school. Holden’s attitude went from being a happy, content teenager to a negative outlook guy who slacked because of his brother’s death. As I grow up, I see the people around me changing; not only them, but myself too.
I’ve changed because of the different friends groups I have been. Statistics show that the top five people a person hangs around is who the person acts like. This statistic is true because the friends I have are mostly always happy, laughing, not getting caught up in other people's’ lives, and having hope for their future. Rather than my old friends I use to hang around, they were negative, talked bad about others, judged people for not having luxury items others had. Now that I have new friends, my family have told me they have seen a big attitude change in my life. Even though we all have our bad days, I’m more optimistic, helping others, laughing and not being rude to other people. Sometimes change is good for a person and helps them reach the things they want to
achieve.
At a FCCLA conference, there was a guest speaker there that talked about the power of being positive. The theme he talked about was unmasking the power everyone had within them. One thing he said to all of us that stood out to me the most was when he talked about this guy who followed his dream and it was to draw for the muppets. Everyone around him told him he could not do that because it was not realistic and told him that he needed to get a job in something that was safe, and something he could always have a job in. He ignored what everyone told him and he chased his dream. Not too long ago, he began drawing for the muppets. The guy said at the end of his presentation that the goal to success is happiness. People have to find their happiness first before they can get what they want. Changing one’s attitude can always be for the better.
Not everyone changes if they do not change anything in their life. Not all change will hurt people; it can be simply better if one changes something in their life. Even though Holden’s change wasn’t that great, he can always change something in his life to make it better. Holden can bring himself around more smart, optimistic people and that would help him to become more positive and happier. People need to take in the consideration of change because it’s not always a bad thing!