Holden Caulfield Adulthood

There is one experience in life that everyone can relate to. Whether it was pleasurable or not, no one can deny the fact that they have not been through it. This experience is that of growing up and change, a time in all of our lives where it is such a complicated yet natural process that kids just ‘go with it’. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield suffers from the same complexity in his life. Holden is struck with events throughout the book questioning his maturity and emotions.

In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, Holden Caulfield recounts his experience in New York City after his expulsion from his third school. Holden, the central character of the novel, describes all characters he meets descriptively, yet he never provides an explanation of his motives. Luckily, Holden’s personality is reflected through the various symbols throughout the novel. J.D Salinger uses symbolism to create an intimate connection to Holden’s unique emotions in an ever changing society. To begin, we first gain insight of Holden’s character through his odd taste in choice.

Holden Caulfield. A troubled teenager who has experienced tragic events in his life such as the loss of his beloved brother Allie and getting kicked out of school four times for failing a majority of his classes. However, Holden’s biggest fear in The Catcher in the Rye is acknowledging adulthood and growing up. He believes that adults are inevitably “phonies” and as a result they stand as a symbol of everything that's wrong in the world- his world. Slowly, Holden starts to understand the concept of adulthood and has a chance to face his fear of growing up as his sister Phoebe sheds some light in his complicated life.

Oscar Wilde said : “Be yourself, everybody else is already taken.” In his book, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger expresses this quote through the adolescent life of Holden Caulfield. The novel begins with the narrator being kicked out of his private high school for failing all of his classes but one. Leaving campus, he heads to New York City; which ironically is the city of dreams. J.D. Salinger uses symbolism in the form of a hat to represent the notion of individuality.

While doing Stradlater’s assignment, Holden mentions his younger brother, Allie. Recalling Allie and his baseball mitt, Holden said, “he’s dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You’d have liked him” (Salinger 49). Holden showed a contrast and contradiction with this quote.

Reflection Holden Caulfield, the main character in J.D Salinger’s book The Catcher in the Rye, goes through many tough challenges in life trying to figure who he is. He constantly pretends to act old than he is, but inside, he is scared of growing up. He is also scared of those around him growing up losing their innocence. To symbolize Holden Caulfield and his fear of adulthood, I drew Peter Pan, a Walt Disney character known his choice of never growing up and staying young forever.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel that was written by J. D. Salinger in 1951. It was first published by Little, Brown and Company and was originally written for adults, but became popular among teenagers for its teenage main character, who deals with problems a large number of adolescents face in their transition into adulthood. It is not a difficult book to read, especially considering it is only 234 pages. The story revolves around the protagonist, a 16 year old boy named Holden Caulfield, who recently flunked out of a prestigious preparatory school.

Holden Caulfield’s constant questioning of the ducks at the pond, a recurring motif in The Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, gives a clue as to what is inside Holden’s mind. But many commonly perceive this clue, as a clue that Holden is trying to stay away from adulthood and its obligations. Throughout many parts of the novel, this perception that Holden does not want responsibilities can be applied, but is not accurate. While it may seem like Holden does not want the responsibilities of adulthood, he is actually afraid of not knowing what the future brings him.

A Toilet Is More Admirable An admirable character is best defined as an respectable man who takes pride in his dignity and applies himself to his best ability in all situations. Now picture this, a young man of potential talent, whose family pays an extraordinary amount for him to go to a private school, and has a little sister that looks up to everything he does. The picture describes the prelude of an admirable character until the picture finally clears up and instead of seeing an admirable character, you see a young man who instead of excelling in school, drops out because of poor grades, lies to practically everyone including his family, and calls prostitutes to a hotel room using his parents money. Does this example sound like an figure

In the book, catcher in the rye, The hunting hat Is one of the main symbols. It symbolizes confident it’s the texture of holding tom is one of the main symbols. It symbolizes confidence self-esteem and protection of Holden’s emotions. In catcher in the rye Holden uses the red hunting hat to show comfort for himself and protection to his little sister ( phoebe ). When holden wears the hunting hat he feels comfortable slanger writes , “ anyways i put on my new hat and sat down and started reading that book out of africa ( page 19 ) ” when holden puts on the hat he is more comfortable then when he doesn’t have on the hat on.