The Maturity Gained in the Journey from Childhood to Adulthood

Romans 12:14-18 says, “Emotional maturity is demonstrated by how kindly you treat those who mistreat or misunderstand you”. This is shown in novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. In the novel the main character, Holden, is misunderstood by many people and he always feels alone. Later in the novel, Holden learns to overcome these ill feelings and he starts to miss the people he used to hate. Holden’s increase in maturity as the novel progresses classifies The Catcher in the Rye as a bildungsroman. The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger can be classified as a bildungsroman because it has the theme of wanting to preserve innocence, Holden gives up his desires to make others happy, and he regrets old decisions he made.
The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger can be classified as a bildungsroman because it has the theme of wanting to preserve innocence. He shows his desire to preserve innocence when Phoebe asked him what he wanted to be when he was older. He said, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. “(224). He wants to preserve the children’s innocence. He lived in New York alone for a couple of days and he saw many bad things happening. He wants to preserve the children from seeing these bad things form happening. In the beginning of the novel Holden was indifferent and has no goals, he does not even care that he is flunking most of his classes, however he has changed now. He has cares about preserving innocence and he has a goal in his life. Instead of being aimless he is starting to gain a new perspective on his life. This shows a change in...

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...ance, I think I even miss that goddam Maurice. It’s funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (277). He regrets the actions he did; he misses the people he used to be mean to. He always insulted Stradlater and he used to think Ackley was very dirty and disgusting. He always treated them poorly and never valued them as friends. When he was at Pencey one of the last things he did, before he ran away, was insulting Stradlater and starting a fight with him. He even misses Maurice, a pimp that stole five dollars from him. He is forgiving the people who mistreated him and misunderstood him, this shows that he is maturing. In the beginning of the book he hated everyone, even people who wanted the best for him, but now he has gained the maturity not only to miss the nice individuals in his life but also the ones that hurt him.