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Catcher In The Rye: Bildungsroman Analysis

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An important part of a person’s life is when they finally learn how to be more mature and have basically come of age. When a character achieves this quest in a story it is called the Bildungsroman. In this genre of literature, the story displays and demonstrates how the character grows up and becomes an adult. They learn how to be mature in important situations and most importantly they are able to leave behind their ties to their childhood. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is very immature throughout most of the story. He refuses to give up his childhood and he is anxious to see what the future hold for him. Towards the end of the book, the reader is able to catch glimpses of Holden’s new found maturity. He is starting to understand that growing up is a big responsibility and is finally ready to take on that challenge. Although he has not completely matured, one distinct moment at the end of the book lets the reader know he will reach complete maturity in the near future. In J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, the author …show more content…

The reader is clearly able to identify how Holden has grown up and what his future is going to be like for him. Of course Holden still occasionally speaks and acts like a child in the final few pages of the book. Even though he still has some child-like behaviors, readers are able to overlook that fact and see how Holden is growing up and maturing. His experience at the carousel proves to everyone that he is able to abandon his past and childhood and move forward. Also, Holden will hopefully be able to overcome his depression and get past traumatic experiences like Allie’s death. He will be able to handle the situation like an adult and be mature when negative events occur. Lastly, with Holden’s new found sense of maturity and abandonment of childhood, he will hopefully be able to find more happy moments in life like his experience with Phoebe at the

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The Catcher in the Rye In the novel The Catcher in the Rye J.D Salinger writes about a teenager struggling to find his place within the existence of the reality of others. Salinger creates shocking events that lay out the foundation of the the main character Holden Caulfield’s life in the novel. Salinger uses Holden’s characteristics throughout the novel such as Holden’s stubbornness to establish a much bigger theme in the book along with many other symbols.

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adulthood. Holden constantly acts childish when leaving schools, wasting money, starting arguments, and flunking his classes. When he is sent off to different schools, he is also being forced into adulthood. He is all alone far away from his family, and it is up to him to make decisions for himself. “It was too late to call for a cab…..

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He faces many problems throughout the book, and is always trying to save kids innocence. Holden also wants to stay a kid and not grow up, however he finds out that he can’t do this by the end of the novel. Some people may think that Holden wasn't successful throughout his journey, however, one could also see how he was successful in his journey. By the end of the novel, Holden was able to find out that he couldn't save kids innocence, he couldn’t be a kid forever, and he sees that even though the world is filled with evil, he can accept it, or at least live with it.

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In “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teenager experiences the transition from the tender years of childhood to the challenges of adulthood. Throughout the novel, Holden’s narration of “The Catcher in the Rye” indicates a cynical and skeptical view of the world around him. Past events, such as the passing of his beloved younger brother, Allie, have left him traumatized, and as a result, Holden faces the adult world with a cynical and bitter view, holding a tenacious grip on childhood and expressing distaste for anything that may corrupt what he perceives as childhood innocence. Later in the novel, Holden, while watching his younger sister reach for a golden ring on top of a carousel, realizes that his desire to preserve

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Holden grows and matures throughout the story by increasing his responsibility for his family, changing how he thinks about the world, positively thinking about the future, and admitting the truth. One way that Holden matures in this novel is

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J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is considered a coming of age novel. Throughout the novel, Holden, a confused teenage boy, matures and understands more about himself. Salinger conveys Holden’s increasing levels of maturity by using a variety of symbols. The ducks in central park, the red hunting hat, and the carousel ring symbolize the the development of Holden’s adulthood.

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By the end, Holden has compassion and is matured. As one can see, maturity is an important process in a person’s life. Growing up is inevitable because life is full of eye-opening experiences and life lessons that helps one

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Furthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.

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In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden demonstrates the struggle of transitioning between childhood and adulthood by revealing his hassle to grow up. Maturity comes through being an adult and growing up is all about becoming more mature. Throughout the book, Holden goes through numerous conflicts and problems. In the beginning of the book, Holden is gives information about himself.

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Holden begins trying to be older than he actually is, still scared to lose innocence he grasps so hard to be a different person. He is a teenage boy in a grown up’s world. Trying to be an adult isn 't as easy as it seems and Holden is starting to learn that. “She had a terrifically nice smile. She really did.

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Holden’s Struggle To Find Himself: Throughout the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles to find himself and who he truly is in order to be happy. His struggles relate to many things that he does or say in particular. Holden lacks with a social status with women and his family, whether it’s a relationship or being antisocial. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the complexities and struggles involved with both physical and emotional relationships.

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Holden realizes she is going to grow up and he cannot affect that and he should not either because that would get in the way of her development, and that is not what mature person would do, and he does not therefore he has indeed matured by this point in the novel. Holden learned to accept loss of innocence and grew in maturity throughout the novel. At some point in people's lives everyone matures, and learns to accept that they are going to grow

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In this novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is the narrator that goes through a variety of problems. He has dilemmas, but meets/reconnects with people on his quest of life. This novel is more than just a simple story about a protagonist and his life events. This novel follows the structure of bildungsroman. There are four parts to it- character’s growth in social structure, a form of loss, process of maturity, and if the character ends in a new place of society.

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