Holden’s Modern Day Mission The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a story about Holden. Who relates the story of what happened the previous December when he was still sixteen and a student at Pencey Prep. He tries to save the innocence of children and he does not want kids to go into their adulthood. He wants to protect them. In modern society Holden’s mission would be to stop young people from losing their innocence even though he would face many obstacles in achieving his mission and would ultimately find that his crusade was not worthwhile. Holden's mission in modern society might be to educate young teens from abuse of drugs and alcohol. Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, young teens do not use good judgement. These …show more content…
It is very important for young people to lose their innocence to grow older and understand the world around them more clearly. If they don’t lose their innocence, life will not be the same. They will have less knowledge than other people and they will separate from their society. Without the loss of innocence, young people would think the world is a very cruel place. In The Catcher in the Rye at the end of the book, Holden says, “I could probably tell you what I did after I went home, and how I got sick and all, and what school I’m supposed to go next fall”(213). Holden tried to protect his own and other people's innocence, so he did not lose his innocence. Because he never matured, he eventually ended up in an asylum. People thought he was crazy or something. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden says “ I mean, how do you know what you’re going to do till you do it? The answer is, you don’t”(213). This quote explains that if young people do not have experiences that cause them to lose their innocence, how would they know how something feels? For example, If a person were walking on the road and saw someone getting hit by a car and dying, he or she would experience those certain feelings like fear, hopelessness, stress, and not being able to move. They would lose their innocence by watching someone die, but gain some knowledge. If they hadn’t lost their innocence and had not seen him die, how would they know how it feels when someone dies? Even I, personally, think young people have to lose some of their innocence at some point in their life to mature Therefore, Holden’s campaign is not