How Does Holden Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

Generally in books when a character loses their innocence and learns how the world really is that character in considered to be mature. This can be seen in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which is about a family that lives in Alabama during the Great Depression. Scout is the youngest child in the family and in the beginning of the novel she is a girl who still has her innocence. As the novel progressed, Scout witnesses racial discrimination against the African Americans of the town. All the white members of the society would discriminate against them except Atticus, who is Scout’s father. Thanks to Atticus’s morals Scout learned about how the world is both good and bad and how some things are not right to do, which is how Scout learned

Holden’s answer was, “‘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. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye(191). Holden wanting to be the catcher in the rye is a good dream to have but it is also an immature dream because he cannot catch everybody that falls off the cliff, which can also be seen as trying to save the children's innocence. Holden believes at this point that he can save everybody and control everybody to keep their innocence, but he does not realize that is not how the world works. He does eventually realize this when Phoebe rides the carousel and reaches for the gold ring. Holden was afraid that, “she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off they fall off”(232). Holden not doing anything to stop Phoebe from reaching the gold ring shows how his thoughts have matured from when he wanted save everybody by being the catcher in the rye. At this point of the novel, Holden realizes that whatever happens, happens and that he cannot control anyone or himself from the