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Examples Of Nature And Nurture In Catcher In The Rye

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Brandon Do Mr. Mitchell English III 30 April 2023 Holden’s Naivete The “Nature vs. Nurture” debate is a widely known phenomenon that tackles the question of whether someone is more influenced by biological predisposition, or if one is influenced by society. A significant point for the “Nurture” side of the debate is the influence that peers close in someone's life have on said individual. Many teens nowadays show the importance of nurture through what they learn in media, with media allowing knowledge to be attained easily. Even so, with more knowledge than ever, even the most intelligent professed alumni can be naive, usually in their own ways. Like, Holden for example. Holden demonstrates his naivete regarding ideas of sex and intimacy in the book which was caused by his childhood as demonstrated through his interactions with the men he describes in the novel. …show more content…

While the naivete of the aforementioned is seen as generally negative, Holden demonstrates something beautiful, a self-righteous innocence. To explain, Holden always says he becomes “excited” when he talks of his beliefs about sex and intimacy with every character he interacts with in the novel. His compass on what is right and what is wrong never seems to stagnate. This basic and self-righteous idea of how sacred sex and intimacy must have completely been brought about by his childhood and thus is full of childish beliefs. He wants his ideas to come to fruition and mentally criticizes people who do not believe or do what he thinks is right. His “phony” lawyer dad and the disappearances of his two brothers have left Holden alone, with no healthily attached role model male figure in his life that he can look up to in his life. To conclude, his childhood has left him with this naivete and has also left him to tend to these fanatic and ideal beliefs of sex and

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He tries to give himself up for this cause of saving children but he shows that he is not mature enough be able to make a meaningful impact in this perceived problem. It is clearly shown that Holden believes that there is a problem in society. He believes that children need to keep their innocence. He feels that loss of innocence negatively impacts people and feels that he has to save them. We can first see his personal issues about the lack of innocence when he discovers that Stradlater and Jane Gallagher had sex casually with no intention

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As the book starts Holden describes his childhood and how he has been kicked out of several school and once more again from his currently school, giving a sense of irresponsibility and no care in the world. Holden later on mentioned slowly the loss of his brother due to leukemia and how he reacted outrageously by breaking the windows of his garage home. As a reader one would view that behavior as abnormal, but Peter Shaw descried it as a normal behavior for a fictional character in the 1950s and by mentioning that Holden, “is presenting in a somewhat different manner than are the sentimentalized young people in other novels if his period” (par. 3), admitting that Holden was somewhat of an outcast of a character even for its time he is still considered normal. Shaw also challenged the reader’s view of Holden by emphasizing that Holden is not a real person, but a fiction character developed in the 1950s and in fact a mad psychological character is normal and made the reading rather more interesting and acceptable during that time. As readers someone may come across as understanding Holden’s behavior due to a loss and everyone mourns differently and as Shaw said, “ the one period of life in which abnormal behavior is common rather than exceptional” (par.

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Holden’s growing up seeing irresponsible drug use, affected the normalization of it which affected his use of drugs as he matured. Seeing these actions by his mother daily enforced this trauma upon him. This shows how his mothers drug addiction, in his childhood home, affected Holden to normalize this idea while maturing through his life. Salinger expresses how childhood trauma affects Holden's mindset when growing up through his character interactions in more ways than one. When faced with intimate situations and sexual interactions among women, Holden becomes frightened.

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983 Words | 4 Pages

There are three main things that display Holden’s loss of innocence: his excessive drinking and smoking, leaving for three days and not contacting anyone, and Sunny the prostitute. When Holden is drinking and smoking, it shows how much h doesn’t care about his own health and how he’s more mature than others his age. When he doesn’t contact anyone it shows how he believes he can take care of himself and is an adult, much like when he interacts with Sunny. Holden helps many of the children who he meets keep their innocence because he has lost his. In An Analysis of the Adolescent Problems in The Catcher in the Rye, Lingdi Chen says that Holden sees the protection of children’s innocence as a primary virtue and that he enjoys being with Jane Gallagher and Phoebe because they are innocent and youthful.

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It is very closely related to his struggle against growing up. Holden’s enemy is the adult world and cruelty and artificiality. The people he admires all represent or protect innocence. He thinks of Jane Gallagher, for example, not as a

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Holden represents the typical teenager. He demands his independence and refuses to view himself as anything but invincible. In his mind, he has life figured out and everyone around him is simply stupid. He fails out of multiple schools and cannot manage to find friends because he is looking for his environment to cater to him. He does not want to put in the time or effort required to succeed.

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Holden’s failure to embrace the masculine stereotype is epitomized in his idealized and naive views on romance and sexulaity. When Holden enters the upscale Edmont Hotel and sees a young couple on a date, he remarks, “I think if you don't really like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all …. It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes” (Salinger 70). Holden’s belief that a man should not engage in a casual relationship with a woman unless he truly loves her, stands in stark contrast to masculine standards which encourage and congratulate men’s sexual exploits. Holden’s asexual beliefs

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During Holden’s visit to his family’s home, he converses with Phoebe who asks him what he likes. Holden struggles to come up with an answer and instead thinks about James Castle, a student Holden knew at his previous school Elkton Hills, tragic suicide by jumping out of a window. When first describing James Castle, Holden recalls that he was a “skinny little weak-looking guy, with wrist about as big as pencils.” (188) The fact that Holden’s first instinct was to ridicule James with insults which mock how he does not appear traditionally masculine, illustrates that Holden is deeply influenced by patriarchal values to the point where it modifies his behavior.

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In his literary criticism, The Fallen Idol: The Immature World of Holden Caulfield, Peter J. Seng, writes, ‘His mental breakdown is a direct result of his inability to come to terms with adult reality. Consequently he invents other fantasies, tinged with paranoia”(Seng 3). Seng claims that Holden’s immaturity is the direct result of rejecting adulthood. However, the main reason for his immaturity is best explained by the past events that shaped Holden into the cynical and damaged teenager. Seng claims that “What disturbs Holden about the world in which he finds himself is adults and adult values.

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Holden wishes that people could keep their good qualities by “sticking them into glass cases and leaving them alone.” (Chapter16). While he realises that this is just a fantasy, it does not stop him from wanting to protect the children from falling into the emotional and mental distress of personality changes that occur in the journey from childhood to adulthood. This ties into the

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Holden is a virgin, and he is very uncomfortable with the idea of sex. He sees sex as something that is dirty and corrupting, and he is repelled by the idea of losing his virginity. Holden reveals that he has “had quite a few opportunities to lose [his] virginity and all,” but he “never got around to it yet” (Salinger 92). Holden claims to have had many chances to lose his virginity but his attitude towards sex reflects his desire to hold onto his innocence.

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Holden holds a narrow-minded perspective of the adult

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Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the

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563 Words | 3 Pages

Holden has had several opportunities to have sexual intercourse with another female yet he keeps avoiding it, therefore unlike the rest of the teen population who have had intimacy with another being, he is an outcast, an alien. In this case, Holden is alien to sex and what intimacy truly is; his little knowledge on this is causing him to avoid going through with having an intimate relationship or sex with someone, even a prostitute who will charge him more than what she was worth. Fear can also play a role in alienation from society. Holden has a fear of human behavior and arguably even sickened with the human behavior.

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2081 Words | 9 Pages

To add on, Holden is not one to follow society’s rules. Holden is not the person to be engaged in what society calls “normal” because he is not necessarily a “normal” kid. Meaning, society believes kids around his age are interested in football games(3), going on dates (26), or just going to school (35). Society believes teenagers should attend school, and in Holden’s case, High School.

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