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The Significance Of Holden's Journey In Catcher In The Rye

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Holden Caulfield, in the book The Catcher in the Rye, goes through many different emotions on his journey, and consistently tries to be an adult, even though he is only 16. He starts at school, like most kids go through, but soon leaves and tries to act like he is older than he really is. Holden, being only 16, itches for adulthood by leaving school, trying alcohol, and trying to protect little kids from something he should be protected from. School is tough, and no one wants to go through it. Some kids suffer through it, and some rebel and rarely do work, or even try. 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. I'm trying to help you, if I can" (Salinger 18). Arguably the most important part of someone's childhood is school. By Holden trying to avoid it, and eventually completely leave it and go off on his own in new york says that he does not want to be a child, and do childish things. …show more content…

says that people under the age of 21 can not have alcohol. This means kids in high school are not allowed to have any alcohol. Holden decides that he is no longer a child under the age of 21, and consistently asks for liquor. He even gets offended when a waiter makes him get his identification out. The waiter announces “do you have some verification of your age? Your driver's license, perhaps?” (Salinger 78) and Holden has to order a soda. Holden's obsession continues here with only adults being able to drink. Children do not drink, or at least not in public, and he tries to be something he is

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Holden Caulfield’s early loss of innocence causes him to fiercely guard the innocence of others, resulting in pain for him when he realizes that his attempts are futile. Holden’s negative experiences with the adults in his life lead to his valuing the idea of innocence. Despite his bad role models, Holden clings to the concept that integrity is the most important quality in a person. While reflecting on one of his old boarding schools, he expresses his dislike for its “phony” headmaster, Mr. Haas. He complains, “[O]ld Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to school.

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He thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he's a kid until he realizes it doesn't last forever. Another instance of this is when Holden explains to the reader where he says “You take a really smart girl, and half the time she's trying to lead you around the dance floor, or else she's such a lousy dancer, the best thing to do is stay at the table and just get drunk with her. ”(Salinger PDF 44). Holden messes around in things he shouldn't do or even care for but it affects him.

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At one point, he visits a past teacher, Mr. Antolini. After Holden explains everything that happened when he was expelled, Mr. Antolini says he had a feeling Holden was going to have a hard, terrible fall. He also says, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” This meant Holden’s fall would be more terrible if he didn’t learn to grow

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In the story The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. This story is about a teenager who feels misplaced in life and is unhappy with his surroundings. The main character, Holden Caulfield, hops around from school to school taking us on his adventure from school in Pennsylvania to his house in New York City. If Holden, or a child like him were to attempt this by themselves today they wouldn 't succeed like Holden did. In the story Holden does many crazy things that a teenager wouldn 't be able to do .

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Was Holden successful in his Journey This is an essay on whether or not Holden Caulfield is successful on his journey throughout the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by Jerome David Salinger. This book shows how hard it can be for teenagers that are going from an adolescent to adulthood. Holden, who is sixteen years old, has been kicked out of several schools. Pencey Prep. was the latest.

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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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Within the most arduous interlude of one’s life, – the transitory period from childhood to adulthood – one must discover oneself as an extension of the surrounding world. Acknowledging the world’s woes are requisite in becoming an adult. The struggle in accepting this reality is evident in J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which presents the prelude to Holden Caulfield’s admittance into a mental institute. His conflict with himself and the adult world is the epitome of the novel: Holden yearns to preserve innocence while vituperating adulthood. Although he initially sees the two as an unfulfilling dichotomy, Holden slowly reassesses his perspective to see that both can coexist and that his presence within it is plausible.

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As a teenager facing adulthood, everyone longs for their childhood back. With all the stress of high school, getting into the right college, and just starting to understand romantic relationships, sometimes teenagers just want life to go back to what it was like in elementary school. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden experiences these feelings throughout the novel. Holden refuses to accept the fact that he is growing up forcing him to be kicked out of multiple schools and running away to live in New York City. Holden refuses to accept becoming an adult which causes him to become depressed.

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Holden relies on other people to tell him what he should do with his life and where he should go. Holden shows that teenagers and adolescents are confused about growing up and he ultimately shows how difficult it is for children who don’t have anyone to go to, to

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Adulthood is when we mature into a person that continues to live life in reality as we let our childhood and adolescence become a faint memory. The memories, however, taught us lessons of acceptance as we cannot always shape the future. Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye takes a journey through the rite of passage by experiencing the innocence of youth and the phoniness of adulthood.

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These two struggles are what causes Holden to realise his purpose is being a catcher in the rye. His struggle to adulthood is quite evident. Holden states that the adult world is a nasty and horrible place, he thinks that the adult world is very phony, fake, and corrupt. These are words he uses quite often to describe the adult world, proving that he despises the thought of being an adult.

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In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden demonstrates the struggle of transitioning between childhood and adulthood by revealing his hassle to grow up. Maturity comes through being an adult and growing up is all about becoming more mature. Throughout the book, Holden goes through numerous conflicts and problems. In the beginning of the book, Holden is gives information about himself.

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He has trouble growing up and accepting life as it is. Holden thinks adults are "phony" which makes him hate the fact of growing up and staying innocent as much as he can while he is old enough to become an adult. He is frustrated with the world and people which makes him act with anger. His innocent childish dream is to be the Catcher in the Rye, to catch the kids before they become phonies like Holden says about adults. The moment he realizes that he cannot keep kids from falling or in other words, from growing up and becoming adults, he, reaches adulthood, and takes a big step towards it at the end of the novel.

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Catcher in the Rye In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the narrator and protagonist Holden Caulfield a sixteen year old junior undergoes a series of changes. Holden learns multiple life changing lessons; one of them is you must grow up. In the beginning of the novel, Holden starts out as “that kid”; the one with the parents who expect him to get into an ivy league school, and end up with a kid with no intentions of doing so. At the beginning of the book it is very apparent that Holden lacks motivation; he also has hit rock bottom.

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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.

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