Examples Of Maturity In Catcher In The Rye

Holden’s Change in Maturity

In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy changes a lot from the beginning to the end of the story. Towards the start, Holden always thinks negatively about everything. Even things that are happy, he would find a way to make it negative. He also never likes people and repeatedly thinks everyone is a phony. But towards the end of the story, all of his perspectives change and Holden becomes a much better and positive person. 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

Towards the beginning of the book, Holden calls everyone he sees a phony and would not appreciate anything in life. In the beginning of the book Holden says, “Grand. There's a word I really hate. It's a phony. I could puke every time I hear it” (9). This is an example of how he could make a word like “grand” have a negative effect on him. He almost acts like a child in the beginning of the novel. But later on in the story, Holden’s growth in maturity is very vivid and obvious. An example of Holden’s change in maturity is at the very end of the story when Holden realizes many important things about life. In the last page of the book, Holden thinks to himself, “About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (214). This is a very important moment for Holden because he understands the importance of friends and the importance of holding on to the ones you love. In the beginning of the book Holden calls everybody a phony. But now that he has matured, he understands that some people are not phonies and holding on to the ones you love or make connections with will make you a more positive and better person. Even the people he did not like, he misses, because

Holden starts to think about his future and what he wants to do in his life. He has many moments where he is daydreaming about his future and what he wants to be in life. As Holden explains, “ I decided I'd just see old Phoebe and sort of say goodbye to her and all, and give her back her Christmas dough, and then I'd start hitchhiking my way out West… and they'd pay me a salary and all for it, and I'd build me a little cabin somewhere with the dough I made and live there for the rest of my life. I got excited as hell thinking about it. I really did” (198). This shows he has grown up to be able to plan out his future and be able to try to reach the goal he has set for himself. He plans out his whole life. His future job, home, and living environment which is what an adult would do. In the beginning of the book, Holden never really has a purpose in life. He is failing school, and isn’t happy with his life. But planning this much into the future makes him happy and positive. Another way that Holden plans for the future is by setting a goal for himself that will make him happy. Holden hates phonies and knows that the only people that are not phony are kids because they still has their innocence and imagination which made them who they are and nobody affects who they are. As Holden talks about his dream of, "I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only