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The adults that Holden appreciates
As a general consensus, children are raised to trust adults. However there are some sinister and eerie adults out there that exploit the childish and test that trust.
Children are taught that the principal is their friend and that the police men are there to help. As a child one is taught, protected, and cared for by their parents. As those parents become older, there is a regression where the parent almost becomes the child and the child the parent. In J.D. Salinger?s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the adults whom Holden Caulfield appreciates are childlike and helpless.
While Holden was attending Pencey Prep, he formed a relationship with his history teacher, Old Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer was really the only teacher that Holden liked. While Holden was getting ready to go into Mr. Spencer?s bedroom, he said, ?His door was open, but I sort of knocked on it anyway, just to be polite and all.? (7). This showed his respect for Mr. Spencer and his privacy. It also showed that Holden had manners but had enough of a friendship with Old Spencer to talk with him in his own home. However, Holden felt a little uncomfortable with the situation when he actually saw Mr. Spencer, started talking to him, and felt a lecture coming on. Holden often thought about Mr. Spencer. While walking to Mr. Spencer?s room, Holden thought, ?? If you thought about him too much, you wondered what the heck he was still living for?. But if you thought about him just enough and not too much, you could figure it out that he wasn?t doing too bad for himself.? (2-3). Holden saw Mr. Spencer as childlike and helpless which made it easier for him to form a relationship with an adult.
Holden also found the same qualities that aloud him to appreciate certain adults in the old Secretary at Phoebe?s school. When Holden was arranging for his note to be passed on to Phoebe, he started talking to the secretary in the office. When the lady said that Pencey was a good school, Holden thought, ?Even if I?d wanted to, I wouldn?t have had the strength to straighten her out. Besides, if she thought Pencey was a good school, let her think it.? (202) Holden didn?t want to correct the old lady and embarrass her. At the same time, Holden thought, ?You hate to tell new stuff to somebody around a hundred years old.
It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.
Holden believes he can act like a grown up but is not ready to accept the responsibilities that come with being a grown up. After escaping the social normality happening at Pencey he runs off to New York City, on a mission to escape his responsibilities and feel like a kid again. “I don’t give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it.”( Salinger 15). Holden explains he could care less, yet he then states he cares sometimes. By stating
Holden’s endless journey begins when he received the call when he is expelled from Pencey Prep because of his low grades. Holden starts out as a college student that is damaged deep down his heart. The world before his journey was full of phonies as he commented, “Also at the threshold, the initiate will encounter a helper” (Ariane Publications 9). The helper usually leads the main character into the essential path before any accomplishments. In this condition, Holden’s former History teacher Mr. Spencer takes the role. He asks Holden,” Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?” (Salinger 20). He warns Holden about the difficulties that are waiting for him ahead but also pushed Holden forward to the journey. Even though Holden did refuse the journey by lingering at school after he got the expel letter. Nevertheless, the talk with Mr. Spencer may have aff...
First, he goes to Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, who provides advice for his life and his future and even says “I’m trying to help you, if I can” (Salinger, 18). Because Mr. Spencer gives realistic advice to Holden to prepare him for his future even though it is not obligated, Mr. Spencer can be considered a mentor for Holden. Before Holden packs and leaves, he says “I was sort of crying” and “then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’” (Salinger, 59). Although he becomes emotional when he realizes the company he is going to miss by leaving Pencey, he still acts immaturely as a result of an adolescent pitfall called invulnerability, when adolescents makes decisions without proper regard for their consequences (Adolescent Pitfalls). Holden finally leaves to take a train and reveals his love for riding trains at night (Salinger, 60). He is setting out on an adult journey by leaving Pencey, but he is still grasping to child interests by usually becoming excited to ride trains. Concluding sentence
J. D. Salinger's notable and esteemed novel, Catcher in the Rye, reflects the hypercritical views of a troubled teenager, Holden Caulfield, towards everyone around him and society itself. This character has a distinguished vision of a world where morality, principles, intelligence, purity, and naivety should override money, sex, and power, but clearly in the world he inhabits these qualities have been exiled. Holder desperately clings to and regards innocence as one of the most important virtues a person can have. However, he son becomes a misfit since society is corrupted and he yearns for companionship, any kind of connection with another to feel whole and understood again. Ironically, despite his persistent belittling and denouncing of others, he does not apply the same critical and harsh views on himself.
Have you ever pondered about when growing up, where does our childlike innocence go and what happens to us to go through this process? It involves abandoning previous memories that are close to our hearts. As we can see in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, we listen to what the main character; Holden Caulfield has to say about it. Holden is an average teenager dealing with academic and life problems. He remains untouched over his expulsion from Pencey Prep; rather, he takes the opportunity to take a “vacation.” As he ventures off companionless in New York City, we are able to observe many things about him. We see that Holden habitually states that he is depressed and undoubtedly, wants to preserve the innocence of others.
In his novel Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence when his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is faced with the reality of becoming an adult. Holden’s desperation to maintain his innocence and the manner in which he critiques those he deems to have lost theirs, emphasizes his immaturity and ignorance while highlighting the importance the author places on childhood.
Innocence lies within everyone in at least one point in their lives, but as reality consumes them, that purity begins to vanish slowly as they learn new experiences. In the coming of age novel set in the nineteen-forties, J.D Salinger writes about a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield who stands between a road that separates childhood from adulthood and is confused about which path to take. On a three-day trip in New York away from his family and fellow peers at school, Holden encounters many situations in which lead him to think twice about who he wants to become and how he wants to guide others who are in the same situation he is in. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger utilizes symbolism, vivid imagery, and slangy diction to expose Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of the people that he loves while alienating himself from the adult world he calls “phony.”
Protected by a cocoon of naiveté, Holden Caulfield, the principal character in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, therapeutically relates his lonely 24 hour stay in downtown New York city, experiencing the "phony" adult world while dealing with the death of his innocent younger brother. Through this well-developed teenage character, JD Salinger, uses simple language and dialogue to outline many of the complex underlying problems haunting adolescents. With a unique beginning and ending, and an original look at our new society, The Catcher in the Rye is understood and appreciated on multiple levels of comprehension. The book provides new insights and a fresh view of the world in which adolescents live.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
Holden tries to preserve his own innocence, and the innocence of others by not letting go of childhood memories and through his desire to suspend time. Holden views the adult world as corrupt and full of phonies. He admires childhood because of how it is free of corruption, and untouched by the adult world. IN order to preserve his own innocence Holden often attaches himself to childhood memories. The Museum of NAtural History is one of Holden’s favourite places . He mentions that his grade one teacher Miss. Aigletinger used to take his class there every saturday. While writing about the museum he says, “The best thing, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (121). This shows how Holden wants to preserve his innocence because he expresses how he likes how everything stayed the
There is one event that unites all human beings. This event is the process of growing up and becoming an adult. The transition into adulthood from childhood can be very long and confusing. As a kid most of them can not wait to become an adult but once you experience adulthood you miss your childhood. The novel Catcher in the Rye shows how a teenager on the break of entering adulthood can get scared. Through the main protagonist Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of adapting to an adult society. Holden is faced with many problems as some teens