Holden Caulfield's Maturity In The Catcher In The Rye

Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield sways between maturity and immaturity. While Holden is extremely observant and often has thoughtful views on the world around him, he continues to act rashly and immaturely at times, letting his emotions get the best of him. As critic James Bryan puts it, Holden “is poised between two worlds, one he cannot return to and one he fears to enter.” Holden Caulfield embodies the limbo between the worlds of childhood and adulthood by play-acting at both adulthood and childhood, never fully embracing either. An indicator of Holden’s facade is his constant attempts to be seen as mature. Throughout the novel, Holden tries and fails to act older than he is. One of the most common examples of his masquerade as an adult is when he lies to get alcohol. He continuously uses alcohol as a tool to make him seem older than he is. Holden even comments on how he acts older than he is, saying, “I ordered a Scotch and soda, and told him not to mix it- I said it fast as hell, because if you hem and haw, they think you’re under twenty-one and won’t sell

One example of this is with sex. Holden claims that, “Sex is something I just don’t understand” (Salinger 71), yet he appears to be very mature about it compared to his peers. The fact that he is aware enough to claim he knows nothing shows how observant he is about the subject. He also stands up for Jane to prevent her being used for her body and respects women’s consent. Holden says, “The thing is, most of the time when you're coming pretty close to doing it with a girl… she keeps telling you to stop. The trouble with me is, I stop” (Salinger 103). While he views the act of stopping as childish and silly, it is the mature thing to do. This reveals that, like when he masquerades as an adult, he still retains a part of the other world in him that he cannot seem to