How Does Holden Mature In Catcher In The Rye

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. Holden hates being talked to as if he a child, and he just wants to be treated like an adult. Partly why he runs away from boarding school

When he says things like “ Boy, I couldn't've sat there another ten minutes to save my life.” (page _25-160) he means that he is telling you how unbelievable whatever is happening is. For instance if you replace the word boy with”Im telling you,...” It would have the same meaning. Holden is trying to express this feeling throughout the book like when he says, “Boy, you can't imagine how sorry I was getting that I'd stopped by to say goodbye to him.” (page _15/160) He is in awe within himself that he stopped by to say goodbye to his old professor kind of as if he isn't believing himself. Or on page _9/160__ when Holden exclaims that, “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." Holden is saying boy almost as if he is trying to convince you that life is a game, he isn't calling the reader boy just for a funny nickname. Holden Caulfield wants to be believed. He doesn't know if anyone trusts him or believes what he says so he exaggerates t have a greater impact on his listener. That might play a role in why he says “boy” so many times. When Holden says, “Boy, she was good-looking.” on page (_63/160_) he is implying that it was unbelievable how good-looking the lady was. Also the statement “...she was good-looking.” is a very vague statement but it is being amplified by Holden saying