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How Does Holden Mature In Chapter 2 Of The Catcher In The Rye

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In the book the CATCHER in the RYE by J.D. Sainger, the author uses diction to show Holden's immaturity in chapters 2 and 3. Holden is an adolescent who wants to be a kid. He acts the way of a child, a 12 year old. Holden acts that way because he wants to go back, after the age of 12 you become somewhat of an adult. The old ways will always feel different, as home can never feel the same when you go back. In chapter 2, Holden is disrespectful and immature to his history teacher, Mr. Spencer. In chapter 3, Holden is immature in his dorm room, messing and goofing around like a child. Firstly, a famous quote is “you can never go home again” by Thomas Wolfe. This can resemble the life of Holden, he is a kid that is not the smartest flunking out of school in his junior year after going to 4 different schools. …show more content…

Holden is content with failing because he wants to be a child. When people are adults, life is hard, you have to pay taxes, work, and have a budget. As a 12/13 year old, you do not have to think about adult things. Holden can always read his brother's books made for kids, drink hot chocolate and not pay attention to anyone if he is or acts like a 13 year old boy. Also, Holden is talking to some sort of grandfather figure, Mr Spencer. Holden had absorbed nothing in the class of Mr. Spencer, flailing it trying to get sympathy points by writing how hard it was in class for himself. While Holden says “I feel some concern for my future. but not too much” (17) he is acting like a young one, like everything is alright but it is not. Mr Spencer and almost everyone else will have other thoughts like scolding Holden for knowing absolutely nothing and can only wish the boy good luck as that is the only thing he can do. Nothing else will get through to Holden, he is outside of his reality as a

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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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Holden rebels more than most. He has been kicked out of at least three different schools. His teacher, Mr.Spencer, has a confrontation with Holden where he explains how his future is important and he needs to start concerning for it. He explains how he cares about him: "I'd like to put some sense in that head of yours, boy. I'm trying to help you.

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Also there is another part where Holden seems like he does not even know what he likes or not for like in this quote “I hate movies” (chapter 6) , he hate movies but often talk about and goes to them this shoes how unreasonable Holden

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He is traveling through the city and realizing how tainted the real world is. As Holden is exploring the history museum he says, “You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write ‘Fuck you’ right under your nose”(Salinger 224). This quote shows how much Holden has grown socially. He understands that the world he lives in is not the same pure one he saw when he was a kid.

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In my opinion, Holden is a typical teenager. In the novel, Holden seeks for independence, questions about religion that people believed, and gone through all the hard times. Throughout the entire novel, Holden barely thinks about his parents, not even doubting if his parents would ‘kill’ him if they know he gets kicked out of Pencey. He can relate to teenagers these days because teenagers are usually rebellious against their parents and do not listen to their parents most of the times. Holden 's parents do not show up in the novel, showing that his relationship with his parents is not perfect, just like others.

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This shows how Holden is still trying to keep a hold of his inncence and not just let everything go and turn into a normal adult. He does this as he does not like change as he does not want to grow up and be an adult. This relates to the real world as people might get scared or depressed once put into the complex world of the

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J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" is a classic coming-of-age novel that explores the themes of alienation, loss, and the transition from adolescence to adulthood through the eyes of its protagonist, Holden Caulfield. The character of Holden is complex and multi-dimensional, and his journey throughout the novel serves as a powerful representation of the struggles and challenges that come with growing up. One of the most striking aspects of Holden's character is his deep sense of alienation and disconnection from the world around him. Throughout the novel, Holden is highly critical of the adult world and the "phoniness" of the people in it, and he feels a strong sense of irony and sarcasm towards the superficiality and hypocrisy that he perceives in others.

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Holden really steps out of the norms during this time. Since everyone was doing the same thing, while Holden was not, it was very strange and hard for others to connect with him. The adults in the world didn’t understand what children like him wanted and children like Holden didn’t understand why the adults were following certain ideals. This led to Holden thinking the adult world was phony. The quote by Godwin as stated above is something that leads Holden to do what he does.

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This is reflected in his dialogue and how he narrates the story, ultimately moving along from point to point, but constantly digressing and taking steps backward to explain completely unnecessary details. Holden accomplishes in one “chapter” what he could in half a chapter due to his squandering. In a more blatant way, the actual plot of these chapters is that Holden has flunked out of his current school, Pencey Prep, and moves on to life by himself in New York. He goes through a plethora of changes as a result of the new layers of stress and challenges added to his life by this new and unfamiliar setting. There is a severe duality that can be picked up in Holden’s behavior, a clash between his younger, naive complaints, and his wish to act maturely and be perceived as an adult.

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He exhibits that he is feeling defeated by his emotional state and is no longer willing to apply himself. While Holden is having a conversation with his History teacher, Mr. Spencer, he is asked, “Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?” Holden’s replies, “Oh, I feel some concern for my future, alright. Sure. Sure, I do.”

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Furthermore, Holden starts to hate all the adults or loses faith in them, calls them phony. Holden has a second thought of becoming an adult he loses hope in his future and it seems to him nothing in the world matters to him anymore. We can see that throughout the book. He smokes, gets drunk, and does daring acts like getting a prostitute in his room. He also tries to escape all this guilt and grief by wasting time with unnecessary people he calls phony.

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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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Although Holden is a very intelligent character he finds the hypocrisy and ugliness in the world around him and quickly associates it with the adult world. Holden is a very introverted character who hesitates throughout the book to share information about his life . J.D Salinger makes sure to portray Holden that way to

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