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Examples Of Growing Up In Catcher In The Rye

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Facing the struggles of growing up are Inescapable. The Catcher In The Rye is a novel about Holden Caulfield, a teen about to face the upcoming struggles of exiting adolescence and becoming an adult. Salinger, the author of this novel, intensified Holden’s struggles as he processed to transition out of his old life. Holden will not dwell on his own struggles but Salinger makes it impossible for Holden problems to be kept a secret. In the Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles with accepting the transition from childhood to adulthood, eventually coming to terms that growing up is inevitable. J.D. Salinger emphasized the struggle of Holden's uncertainty and curiosity of the future using the ducks by the lagoon in the novel. The …show more content…

The connection Holden held with this hat was strong, Holden felt as if he could escape the reality of growing up and the struggles that come upon it while he wore this hat. This red hunting had brought Holden a sense of security and protection from society's further influence on Holdens adolescence. Salinger wrote that Holden put his “red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, "Sleep tight, ya morons!" I'll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor” (Salinger 29). The red hunting hat gave him confidence and freedom to act how we wanted without thinking about any consequences that he could potentially face. Salinger makes it looks as if Holden has found an escape from the struggles of growing up, but really he just emphasizes how much Holden is really struggling and uses the red hat as his temporary …show more content…

Throughout the novel Holden questions what his purpose in life is and often wondered what he would become later on. Holden has no strict destination or thought of what he could be, all he knew was he was struggling and wouldn't wish the struggles he faced upon anyone. Toward the end of the novel Holden “kept picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them”(Salinger 93). Holden knew he wanted to protect children from going through all the struggles of adolescence and

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1340 Words | 6 Pages

Salinger uses visual imagery to paint a picture in the reader’s mind of each moment in Holden’s life. Since the story is in perspective of Holden himself, it only makes sense that the narrator is trying to explain each detail of every event that crossed his

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741 Words | 3 Pages

Salinger does a phenomenal job developing the red hunting hat into a symbol by emphasizing how important it was to Holden throughout the novel. When Holden is leaving the hotel, whilst walking out the door he grabs his coat from the hat check girl. He then proceeds to show her his hat. “I showed her my goddamn hunting hat and she liked it”(169).

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874 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the story, Holden struggles with the idea of growing up. He is scared to grow up, but ironically, he does many things that adults would or could only do, like go out to bars and drink alcohol. While reminiscing about home, Holden thinks about the lagoons in Central Park and what happened when “it would be frozen over.. and if it was, where did the ducks go?” (Salinger 13). This is significant because it is symbolic of Holden worrying about what will happen when he grows up.

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1493 Words | 6 Pages

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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656 Words | 3 Pages

The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” was about the journey of a adolescent boy finding his way to adulthood. In the book Holden Caulfield was unsuccessful in finding his way to adulthood. Holden’s attitude in the novel throughout his journey was very immature. He also can't accept the fact that innocence can’t be forever protected. Lastly, Holden calls everyone a phony when in reality he is the real phony.

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1022 Words | 5 Pages

Meanwhile, Holden is still stuck in the past. The change that is occuring in his life is affecting his current emotions and his ability to move forward. When forced with abrupt, unforeseen change, people desire to hold onto the familiar. Salinger uses the death of Holden 's family and friends to show the tragic change that he has to deal with.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

Holden also isolated himself from society by labelling the adult world as phony and fake. Instead of showing interest and cheering on the football team, he stands on the hill, watching from afar. Holden shows a lack of concentration when he lets down the fencing team by leaving the foils on the subway because he “had to keep getting up to look at this map,” (Salinger 2). Throughout the novel, Holden has many suicidal thoughts, like when he says, “ I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it,” (Salinger 57).

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1135 Words | 5 Pages

In JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield learns that running away from his problems won't fix them. Through his interactions with other characters and a moment of clarity, Holden sees the importance of finding a purpose, protecting, and caring for the people he loves. Holden deals with the difficulties of being a teenager and growing up in a world that can be hard to understand and handle. Holden’s brother Allie’s death, being expelled from Pency Prep, and the encounter with Mr Antolini are all events in the book that shape Holden. Salinger's book talks about feeling alone, figuring out who you are, and trying to find where you belong in the world.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

Growing up and dealing with the stresses of entering the adult world could be the hardest past of one’s life, especially without the right guidance. In The Catcher in the Rye, author J. D. Salinger shows how Holden struggles during this time. On top of his brother Allie’s death, Holden’s inability to fit in causes him to unravel throughout the book as the novel progresses. As Holden narrates his point of view, we could truly understand why Holden’s mental state worsens. Throughout the novel, Holden has moments that lead to his inevitable breakdown because of his different struggles with Phoebe, and his inability to get along with others.

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283 Words | 2 Pages

Salinger draws Holden into the idea of becoming a catcher in the rye, "I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going..." Salinger utilizes the poem and Holden's idea of a "catcher in the rye" to symbolize Holden's desire to protect kids from entering adulthood. This aspiration mimics that of Salinger's, who wished to preserve his generation's innocence after witnessing their

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643 Words | 3 Pages

Within the most arduous interlude of one’s life, – the transitory period from childhood to adulthood – one must discover oneself as an extension of the surrounding world. Acknowledging the world’s woes are requisite in becoming an adult. The struggle in accepting this reality is evident in J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which presents the prelude to Holden Caulfield’s admittance into a mental institute. His conflict with himself and the adult world is the epitome of the novel: Holden yearns to preserve innocence while vituperating adulthood. Although he initially sees the two as an unfulfilling dichotomy, Holden slowly reassesses his perspective to see that both can coexist and that his presence within it is plausible.

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435 Words | 2 Pages

The red hunting hat represents Holden’s allure/endearment to unique qualities in objects and people, that normally go unnoticed by others. The hat also symbolizes Holden’s individuality and unwillingness to conform to society’s

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837 Words | 4 Pages

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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830 Words | 4 Pages

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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693 Words | 3 Pages

Catcher in the Rye In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the narrator and protagonist Holden Caulfield a sixteen year old junior undergoes a series of changes. Holden learns multiple life changing lessons; one of them is you must grow up. In the beginning of the novel, Holden starts out as “that kid”; the one with the parents who expect him to get into an ivy league school, and end up with a kid with no intentions of doing so. At the beginning of the book it is very apparent that Holden lacks motivation; he also has hit rock bottom.

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