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.
The innocent actions some take later in life will reward some, and deteriorate others. Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger delays his evitable process of growing up partly because of the tragic events that transpired earlier in his life and his ignorance to reality. However , Chris Mccandless differs from Holden in the fact that he fully understands reality but protests to greed of humans and the material possessions of man and still facing the gruesome consequence of his immaturity. Seymour Glass does not relate to the accepted adult community and further isolates himself from his peers. Although he appears immature, he actually is struggling from PTSD from the war and the picture his has for the violent adult man.
Shouldn’t someone who acts tough and often brags know that they will never become a phony? The answer would be yes if Holden wasn’t so insecure. Holden’s childish ways cause him to never mature and figure out who he is as a person. We see many signs of Holden insecurities throughout the book, like the fact that he contradicts himself. An example of this would be when Sally and Holden are in the taxi and he tells her he loves her, he then counties to say, “It was a lie, of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it” (Salinger 139).
Holden on Phonies Holden Caulfield constantly contradicts himself in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, this is best seen on his views towards phonies and he himself unknowingly being a phony. Throughout the book Holden mentions the phrase phonies several times as a way to describe someone who is fake, hypocritical, or pretentious. For instance, Holden thinks that Mr. Haas, the headmaster at Pency, was the most “phoniest bastard” he has ever met; Mr. Haas always puts on a act when he’s meeting parents (21). When people are phony it “drives [him] crazy” because he just wants people to be real (21).
I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. ” Holden often states that most of adults are phony, and he strongly dislikes them. He dreams of saving children, but in reality falling from a cliff is a metaphor of them becoming phony adults, losing their innocence, childish honesty and the way they look at the world. The way he explains his dream to Phoebe, shows us that he doesn 't have actual plans for the future. He knows that what he
Dallas/Dally Winston has a very subtle way of expressing how he changes over the course of the novel, The Outsiders. At first impression, he seems rude, bad-mannered, and mean. He seems to not care for anything at all in the world. But later on, as you get to know the greasers, a reckless group of boys that stick together no matter what, Dally gets to learn how to care and how not to keep emotions bottled up. Dally grew up on the wild side of New York.
He believes that everyone is pure and innocent as a child, but they lose their perfection when they grow up. This causes more problems for him, as he believes he cannot grow up either. If Holden were to move to Kwajalein he could put aside all of his struggles and live a full life as a Kwaj
Some examples are responsibility, respect to elders and etc. Human nature is not an averaging of people’s behavior but rather is revealed as we cultivate excellence. Dr. King states, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true
How would you know you weren’t being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn’t.” (Salinger, Catcher in the Rye, 92) His constant need to defy norms and ridicule materialism defies the Dream to such an extent that it almost seems like he is mocking the dream. He chooses to evade the pressure of making it big in life contrary to his classmates.
He thinks of it as a very phony and painful world. Salinger sends the message that growing up is very painful and phony and that the young should be saved from this complex aspect of life. Growing up is a very complex idea. Not everyone wants to go through it’s process, especially Holden. He resists the process of maturity and fears change.
Hypocrites conceal their true identity to judge others based on their own ideals, yet neglect to follow the same values themselves. The book The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, is a coming of age story featuring a character named Holden Caulfield. Holden has recently been expelled from his school, Pencey Prep, when the story begins and follows him on his procrastinated journey home. Holden believes that everyone should abide by his standard of be who they really are, and anyone who is slightly dishonest or genuine is a “phony”. Throughout the novel he constantly judges other people and the world from his perspective of how everything should be, yet he fails to realise his own flaws.
Before he leaves though, he "yell[s] at the top of [his] goddam voice, 'Sleep tight, ya morons ' " (68)! Although it is a shame, any reader can see that Holden seems to have nothing going right or in a positive way all because of his negative attitude. Therefore, this attitude leads him to almost care about nothing. Though Holden may seem to be a lost cause because of his negative attitude, he thankfully has an epiphany that changes his view towards the world because he realizes that people have to grow up. When Holden visits his younger sister, Phoebe, he is happy to see her, but when they begin talking their conversation turns negative.
J.D Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye, follows the main character, Holden Caulfield, and his experiences that lead him to be talking to a mental therapist. Told through Holden’s eyes, his profane and blunt explanations of major moments in his life allow readers to see that Holden is not crazy but is actually struggling with transitioning from child to adult. Throughout the story, he fondly remembers his early childhood and is trying the best he can to run from adulthood. He fears that he, like so many around him, may become phony when he becomes an adult. This fear drives his actions and gives him a feeling of hatred toward phony adults and a feeling of obligation to shield children from the harsh adult world.
The book Catcher In The Rye Holden Caulfield is a 17 year old boy who wants to be mature and not be treated as a child. Throughout the book he tries to build relationships or has build relationships but those relationships does not last because he think that those people are phony. Those people include Sunny the prostitute, Sally Hayes his ex-girlfriend, and even his own brother D.B. Trying to build a relationship with a prostitute isn't very smart. Holden learns that the hard way when he tries to get a prostitute named Sunny to be in a relationship and to run away with him. But when Sunny tries to charge Holden an extra five dollars and he refuses to pay it, she comes back with her pimp and they rob Holden of his money.
Society is simple. One does not get to choose when he/she grows up. Society tells him/her when to grow up. Society reveals to its children, when the proper time is to grow up. Usually, it is too soon before a child is ready.