Holden has been told many times to grow up, like mr.spencer told him to stradlater told him and carl luce etc. holden isn't legally a adult but he thinks he has adult features such as gray hair, and he's tall. With Holden and Phoebe Holden’s the child and Phoebe is the adult. The reason why Phoebe is so mad at him for getting kicked out of school is that this happens a lot and she had faith in him.…
Holden said yes and lied about his age. The when the prostitute came to his room, he changed his mind and asked her to leave. Another example of Holden’s hypocrisy is that he criticizes people but still asks them to sit down and have a little drink and talk! The only good thing that he does is that he visits his sister Phoebe once in awhile. He says she’s the only person he truly loves. It doesn’t stop here, he made numerous mistakes throughout the novel. One mistake he made is, when he was kicked out of Pencey, he didn’t tell his parents and when the found out that he was kicked out, he got in more trouble. Thinking before making a decision is a good thing to do. Another example is when Sally was crying, he started laughing for no reason, and that made Sally feel even worst. He needs to think about the consequences before doing something…
When he is at the carousal with Phoebe, he says, “if they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (211). What Holden means by this, is that you cannot stop people from growing up. The only way to stop aging and stay a child forever is death. Holden was so caught up with Allie’s death because Allie no longer is growing up, and he does not have to face the hardships of being an adult. Allie does not have to live in a society “surrounded by phonies” (13). Holden finally comes to terms with the fact that he must grow up and move…
Holden believed he could help kids, saving them form losing their innocence. He wanted to be the “catcher in the rye.” But he now knows he can’t, kids have to grow up. We all grow up and there is nothing we can do about it. He finally accepts that, he come face to face with himself. Holden is growing up. He accepts the hard cold truth about adulthood. Eventually kids will learn they have to grow up and they will finally acknowledge it just like Holden did. For once Holden is happy, before he was unstable but he has an emotional release. The carousel shows adulthood, you have to let them make mistakes to…
Just like the lake in a midway transition, Holden is between childhood and adulthood, and cannot seem to let go of his younger years. This is regularly proven when something goes wrong and he does something more adult in Holden's mind view such as repaying the prostitute. After the events, he often thinks he deserved it or just wanted to end it all. It can be regularly seen when something does not go the way Holden intended, he will often verbally beat himself up about it which shows Holden does not have very good self-esteem at this age. Interestingly, Holden also mentions "I didn't give much of a damn any more if they caught me. I really didn't. I figured if they caught me, they caught me. I almost wished they did, in a way." This can be interpreted to mean perhaps Holden wanted to transition into adulthood, but the grief of Allie's death was holding him back too much. Although at the end of the book, Holden has a realization about adulthood. During the carousel scene with Pheobe, Holden realizes Instead, of trying to catch kids or his own self from going into adulthood, he should allow them to make their own mistakes. He says, “I was sort of afraid…but I didn’t say or do anything…If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (232). Comparatively, it took a while for Holden to come to this realization. Moreover, it also helped…
At the book’s beginning, Holden Caulfield is characterized as jaded from his awful childhood experiences and cynical, with a disdain for all adults and their “phoniness”. With a propensity for exasperating nearly everyone he comes into contact with, Holden is alienated from society. Yet, as the novel progresses, Holden is spiraling downward. He is depressed and all attempts at making a solid connection are repudiated. Contemplating suicide and searching for a way to protect children from reaching adulthood, Holden is quite disconnected from reality. When he takes his sister Phoebe to a carousel, Holden realizes that he cannot save children from maturing. He understands that falling and getting hurt is part of growing up. Sexuality, cursing and other darker aspects of adulthood will be seen by children, as they are part of developing. Poor childhood experiences and alienation hardened Holden’s views on aging. However, once he realizes that maturing is not always a pleasant experience, Holden sees that his efforts in protecting children from adulthood were futile and he becomes temporarily happy before having a mental breakdown. Through his negative experiences and epiphany on adulthood, Holden attains an understanding of maturity and is saved from self…
Throughout the story Holden has been given many opportunities to show his mature side. He helped children by marking out the graffiti at his sister's school. He also talked to his sister about wanting to be The Catcher in the Rye is because he wants to help kids who are rushing into their adulthood and not enjoying their childhood. He wants to catch them before they make the jump into adulthood. Holden himself is a very unique character. He occasionally shows that he cares even though it is thought that he doesn’t care about anything. Holden often tries to hide his nice side in order to portray as if he doesn’t care. All of these are shown in the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger he goes into detail to…
Holden would be saving the kids childhoods from going into the world of adulthood. He does not want the kids to go into the adult world because it is full of phonies and responsibilities. Caulfield wants to guide kids into enjoying their childhood and having fun and not rushing into trying to become an adult. Holden himself is scared of becoming an adult because he states “If you weren’t here I’d probably be someplace way the hell off. In the woods or some goddam place” (Salinger, 131) meaning that he is scared of becoming an adult because it is full of responsibility and phonies. By being in the woods he would be far away from all the…
Because he struggles with becoming an adult, he faces problems with growing up. He realizes the pains and difficulties it brings to him, such as all the more responsibilities he must hold. In chapter 12 when Holden is having the conversation with the taxi driver about the ducks, Holden portrays to the reader that he is unaware of what will happen to him and where he will go. He relates himself to the ducks, not knowing what to expect of himself and how he should adapt to the adult world. In chapter 22 of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden talks about wanting to be the catcher in the rye and saving the kids from falling off the cliff, which in Holden’s mind is saving them from falling into the adult world. This shows that Holden can’t bear the pain of witnessing others leave their childhood as well as himself. However, at the end of the book Holden finally gains a realization that life will happen as it does and he can’t stop it. In chapter 25, Holden refers to Phoebe on the carousel when saying,”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.” This is the moment in the story when Holden finally realizes and accepts the fact of growing up. As compared to Dead Poets Society, not many of the characters deal with the pain of growing up, however in a sense Neil does. Neil has a passion for acting and it is the…
He hasn’t started being the catcher in the rye yet, but he has the power to save the youngsters. Overall, Holden is a normal teen like the others. Teenagers like to convey their thoughts, take risks, be kind towards others, and experience things. They want to reveal what they are thinking in an honest way. Furthermore, the advantages including the enjoyment from doing things is important to them, so they do whatever it takes to get them. Teenagers are eager in what they want to do, but don’t start until later. To conclude, a typical teenager like Holden has these…
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, spends a few days roaming around New York City as a result of recently being kicked out of one of the many schools he has previously been kicked out of. Throughout the novel, Holden consistently places himself into situations that impose pain upon himself. Eventually in the novel, Salinger writes about how Holden likes the man in the Bible “that lived in the tombs and kept cutting himself” (99). However, Holden likes the lunatic in the tomb because as literary critic James Lundquist states, “Holden is the lunatic in the tomb” (42). By continuously inflicting pain upon himself throughout the novel, Holden proves that he is indeed, like the lunatic in the tomb.…
Throughout the novel Holden fights to protect his innocence from the cruel society around him that is just so… phony. He hates all of society for the phony things it does, he hates sex because that may make him feel that he too is apart of the adult life, and he hates change because change is just a recipe for a child to step into the new life, the older more mature life. The one that comes with responsibilities that Holden is not ready to…
Anyone who reads Catcher in the Rye and watches Rushmore should be able to identify the blatant maturity levels of Holden and Max. Although a couple years apart, both share similar levels of maturity. Holden from the start has a I am the best attitude that is clearly shown. Expressed later on in the film, Max shows a lack of maturity in talking and acting around females particularly Miss. Cross. Where Holden’s maturity is shown in self pride and selfishness, Max’s Maturity is expressed in the ability to understand the situation of his love life. Towards the end of the novel, Catcher in the Rye, Holden shows a small amount of improvement on his maturity by telling us he is writing this story from a mental house. Max has a same occurrence where…
A coming-of-age novel is when a protagonist undergoes adventures and/or inner turmoil in his growth and development as a human being.…
The song “What’s My Age Again?” By Blink-182 strongly fits Holden’s immaturity and childish like manners when he Is out with Carl Luce. For an example, Holden kept bugging Carl about his sex life and what kind of girls he has dated. He says, “You still going around with that same babe you used to at Whooton? The one with the terrific-” (Salinger 144). Holden thought he was acting very mature, but in reality, people view him as childish. He does not know when to cut the jokes out and be more serious. Holden acts every age, but his own. In addition, the members of Blink-182 are contemplating why they’re acting so immature because, they say, “And you still act like you’re in freshman year/What the hell is wrong with me?” (Blink-182). In this song,…