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Imagined And Real Traumas Affecting Holden Cawfield

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Audrey Lutz English 9 period 5 Ms. Morris February 3, 2023 Imagined and real wounds affecting Holden Holden Cawfield undergoes a trauma at the age of 13 leaving him with irreparable scars. He has to deal with the reminder of his past choices and memories even after years of recovery. Holden has to suffer from physical wounds as well as emotional ones. While dealing with emotional scars he is affected by physical wounds that will stay with him for many years. Holden will also open old scars when protecting Phoebe. Holden also falters in life due to the emotional damage his parents did to him. Holden hates adults but loves children, even with his troubled childhood, he will still pick a trusty worthy child over a phony adult. Holden struggles …show more content…

He feels abandoned by his parents leading him to run away when conflict arises. “I don’t even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it” (Salinger 8) Running is the only thing Holden knows how to do-so he constantly runs from his problems. This shows the immature side of Holden. He deals with this unbalanced lifestyle of falling between childhood and adulthood. He shares his ideas on adults and how adulthood corrupts you. “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. “God, I love it when a kid’s nice and polite when you tighten their skate for them or something. Most kids are. They really are.” (Salinger 133) Holden is so attached to childhood. He doesn’t want to grow up and he does like children. Since he believes adults are phonies, children are the only thing he can rely on. Children are the only people who are blunt with their words, they are real and Holden loves that in

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