Growing up is a vital part of life. But what does becoming an adult really mean? Many societies consider the 18th birthday the first step into adulthood, others the 21st. However, there is another definition, “An adult is a mature, fully developed person [who] has reached the age when they are responsible for their actions.” * This means that age plays less of a role than many people think; it is really maturity that is important. This is very clear in The Catcher in the Rye and Peter Pan. J.D. Salinger writes the first, and it is the story of Holden Caufield, a teenage boy in the 1950s, who, after his 4th high school expels him, runs away, and in the process, grows up, becoming an adult. J.M. Barrie writes the second, and it is the fantastical story of Wendy, a young 8-year-old girl, who travels to Neverland, a magic place where no one ages, with Peter Pan, a small boy who cannot grow up. In both, the protagonist is at first a child who never wants to become an adult, but eventually comes around and understands the importance of growing up. Holden and Wendy, respectively from The Catcher in the Rye and Peter Pan, both start childish, have an event that triggers their will to grow up, and finally at the end both want to be adults in some way.

Both Wendy and Holden Caulfield start in their respective novels as childish kids, with no will to ever grow up. Firstly, there is Wendy. In the third chapter of this novel, she meets a young boy named Peter Pan, and after helping