In the book, The Catcher in The Rye, Holden Caulfield narrates his journey from his expulsion from high school to New York. In the beginning of the book, Holden Caulfield is very apathetic to his academics and fails out of school; however, by the end of the book, Caulfield begins to realize this through his conversations with his teachers Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini. A major change Holden experiences are when Phoebe asks to run away with him. He denies her request aggressively and makes her cry which goes against his beliefs of keeping the innocence of children intact and refraining from stopping their fun. Caulfield also changes in his philosophy of being “the catcher in the rye” when at the carousel, he says that he feels children should be left to grab the gold rings at the carousel. These and many other reasons are why Holden Caulfield is a dynamic character in The Catcher in The Rye.
Early in the book, it is evident that Holden is very indifferent when it comes to academics. He wrote in a letter to Mr. Spencer, “It is alright with me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway,” which shows his obvious lack of interest into succeeding academically. Holden also tells the reader that he has been to many different schools because of his academic
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Holden has always believed in saving the innocence of children and being “the catcher in the rye.” By the end of the novel, Caulfield realizes that he can’t do that all the time. He learns that he cannot save the world, so to speak, or cannot always be the catcher in the rye. At the Zoo, Phoebe rides a carousel and the main goal is to reach for the golden rings with the risk of falling off the horse. Holden, sitting in the rain and overcome with emotion, discovers that he doesn’t need to save anything, the fun is in the risk, and that makes him very