The Role Of Childhood In Catcher In The Rye

If all of society only ever had the worries of a toddler their whole life, we would never accomplish anything successful. Life is full of transition. But the most difficult of them all appears to be from not having a worry in your mind then, from a short span of time worrying what the rest of your life will be. This relates to J.D. Salinger’s infamous book Catcher in the Rye in that the main character, Holden struggles with many of these roadblocks. Along with the pains of growing up, Holden Caulfield strives to preserve the innocence of childhood amidst the worries of depression. Throughout the entire book, Holden makes it obvious that he is struggling with the process of growing up,, but the one time that makes it most apparent is when he meets the

There are examples of Holden having strong desires to protect what’s left of his inner innocence such as thee significant moment when Maurice offers Holden a stripper. Once Sunny the hooker arrives, he starts getting really uncomfortable. In fact Holden mentions how, “she made [him] so nervous,” when she was sitting on his lap (Salinger 97) . Although a random girl sitting on someone’s lap would make anyone feel uncomfortable, it wasn’t just that, that made him feel uneasy, it was the fact that she was there to have sex with him. This is similar to his attempts to ordering alcoholic beverages and being denied, but in this event he’s the one denying the favor. It’s almost as if he’s just all talk and corrupted by idleness once the time for action approaches. So then, why does he agree to have prostitute sent up to his room if all along he didn’t want one? This goes to show how much he wants to preserve his innocence, but, at the same time, he yearns for a woman’s attention. Salinger’s novel really makes readers think about how human beings attempt to protect their last bit of innocence yet, we all fail to, even God’s very first creations Adam and