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.
“If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don’t watch it, you start showing off. And then your not as good anymore.” (Salinger 140) Holden hates how phony adults are, and how they are all acting a part. He will always take a dislike to his own childhood experiences, but he does everything he can to protect others from experiencing bad moments. Holden never had the childhood he dreamed of, and he holds onto the hope that he can provide innocence for Phoebe.
Holden 's life issue is his need to be, “The Catcher in the Rye”, his life lesson is how he overcomes it. At the end of the novel Holden comes to the understanding that everyone grows up. At the end of the book Holden accepts that he doesn 't need to be little kids protectors and that Phoebe wants to grow up and be an adult. Even though he didn 't grow to his full potential at the end of the novel his progression is made apparent by the quote “Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214).
The only motivator that Holden has to continue living is his younger sister, Phoebe, who is extraordinarily intelligent for her age. After he gets kicked out of Pencey, Holden is lost in life. He speaks to many people, seeking advice and comfort, but they are not able to help him find a human connection. Holden’s depression increases throughout the novel, almost to the point of suicide. He criticizes many people and ideas, labeling them as ‘phony’.
In The Catcher and The Rye by J. D. Salinger the main character (Holden Caulfield) says the term Boy over one hundred and sixty times. The book is written to a younger crowd so to connect to the younger crowd he needs to use slang like “boy”. The lingo used in The Catcher and The Rye is directed to young men and women but still has such intellectual concept. Holden is afraid he is losing his innocence so in defence he needs to call himself boy just to reflect that he is still a ‘boy’. He als has a huge capacity for wonder and wanting to be believed so that is another reason he says “boy” all the time.
He faces many problems throughout the book, and is always trying to save kids innocence. Holden also wants to stay a kid and not grow up, however he finds out that he can’t do this by the end of the novel. Some people may think that Holden wasn't successful throughout his journey, however, one could also see how he was successful in his journey. By the end of the novel, Holden was able to find out that he couldn't save kids innocence, he couldn’t be a kid forever, and he sees that even though the world is filled with evil, he can accept it, or at least live with it.
Holden says that all he want to do is be the catcher in the rye protecting children from falling. The whole novel Holden makes observation around him that are taking away from children's innocence. This is what upsets him the most the fact that everyone will eventually have to grow up. While he is trying to go get Phoebe he is reminded this in the following quote. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall.
In The Catcher in the Rye, that decision is when Holden decides to have Phoebe meet him at lunch during her school day. This decision sets up the story for the climax, which happens directly after that. If he did not choose to meet with Phoebe, he would have probably gone through with his crazy plan to hitchhike out west to California. As a result of this choice, Phoebe causes Holden to have an epiphany about the fact that he should not be worrying about trying to grow up super fast and do things he is not ready for. This signifies the end of his emotional hardships, which can be observed through the quote “I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth” (Salinger
How Holden matured People go through rough stuff in their lives, such as losing a close sibling. It seems impossible to pull yourself out of the pain and guilt of your loss. It appeared Holden was in the same predicament, but through his experiences in the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger he learns to grow up. Aside from being very immature, holden refuses to grow up and dislikes people who have grown up.
Part of the reason Holden does not call his sister, Phoebe, is due to his “parents being the ones that answered the phone” (77). Holden finds protection in avoiding talking to anybody, which results in isolation. This event contributes to plot development as after refusing to call anybody, Holden continues to make excuses for things he should be doing, but does not. With each of Holden’s excuses, new adventures arrive, thus thickening and developing the
While many argue that Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye does not deviate from the traditional anti-hero attributes and, therefore, does not display any prominent change, an argument can be made to the contrary. Holden Caulfield goes through some noticeable character development and is in a better place emotionally at the end of the book because he speaks with Phoebe. His meeting with Phoebe and Phoebe’s message to him shows him a youth’s perspective on his world, rather than the superficial sincerity of his elderly professor and his favorite teacher that makes advances on him. Additionally, him being able to successfully communicate with a member of his own family puts him in a better place. His time with her lets him see his own self-image of a “catcher in the rye.”
(116)”. When his little sister Phoebe found out about this, she begged Holden to let her go with him because of the strong connection they had that was gonna go to waste if Holden left home. “Why can’t I? Please, Holden! I won’t do anything— I’ll just go with you, that’s all!
As a small child, the chances are still against her, but since Phoebe desires to play it, Holden figures he should allow her. The force pushing Phoebe to become older and Holden to become an adult, is inevitable. This realization makes Holden cry. But rather being tears
How can someone shield themselves from adulthood? In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is an antisocial teenager who is constantly flunking out of schools. Holden has a hard time socializing with others and finding people he likes. Flunking out of his third school in a row, Holden decides he needs a break from school before he returns home to disappoint his parents. Holden decides to go to New York City and try to have a good time before his parents realize he has flunked. During his stay there, Holden sees what it's like to be an adult and decides that he is not ready to grow up just yet.
Holden realizes the fallacies in his plan to run away in lighting him that it 's not so scary to grow up. Phoebe wanted to "[go] with [Holden]," but he made her stay by "not going anywhere" (Salinger 226) (Salinger 228). Holden realized that his plans effected someone other than himself who he cares about, making him not want to go. Because his sister wanted to go, he would be making a mistake because it concerns Phoebe. "I 'm going home" Holden said as he recognized what he would be doing if he actually ran away (Salinger 228).