Holden's Coming of Age in The Catcher in the Rye

From the story “The Catcher in the Rye” by Salinger, one can derive a question such as what are the adolescent problems one can confront on the journey from childhood to adulthood? Adolescent problems is evident to have a greater impact on the life of an adolescent as they influence their way of perceiving things and other people in society. The author presents the painful story a high-school adolescent by the name Holden Caulfield who is growing up in the world of depraved Ney York.

This paper is going to provide a literary analysis of the book with regard to the problems faced by Holden in his journey to adulthood such as the protection of innocence by Holden, his alienation from society, and his disgust for the phonies of the adult world.

The book directly begins with presenting the issue of Holden the protagonist where he is suspended from the prep»school of elite Pennsylvania and reflects on the life of Holden in his own fascinating language which has elevated pleasure and disregard in equal measure among the readers of the book.

Elite Pennsylvania prep school is Holden’s third school he has been suspended from thus he is reluctant in going home [0 his parents and decide to linger around Pencey which he describes to be full on phonies. Also, the novel presents Holden’s view of protecting the innocents particularly the children as a primary virtue which is closely connected to the struggles he goes through when growing up, Holden sees the adult world as his enemy as well as the cruelty and the artificiality.

Get quality help now

Doctor Jennifer

Verified

Proficient in: Holden Caulfield

5 (893)

“ Thank you so much for accepting my assignment the night before it was due. I look forward to working with you moving forward ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

For instance, he mentioned Jane Gallagher as his close friend whom he comforts her when distressed and the fact that Jane’s stepfather may have subjected her to sexual advances bothers him a lot. He perceives Jane as the girl whom they played checkers together rather than as a maturing young woman. Holden believes that children should be saved from falling into the knowledge of adulthood out of innocence which exposes his anxiety of maturity and his vision for protecting the innocence of children. This elevates his disgust for and strengthens his opposition to the adult world of phoniness. From the novel, Holden uses phoniness to describe the pretension, hypocrisy and the superficiality he feels surrounding him.

Holden claims that Pencey is full of phonies which is a reason he gave Phoebe for his third suspension out of school. He claims that all the students are a sign of phony except Robert Ackley and acknowledges that some teachers were nice however he complains regarding the ceremonies of the Veterans’ Day, Also, it is seen form the novel that Holden’s alienation is the major reason that he is in pain where he does not find a way to directly express his emotions nor discover the source of his troubler Holden dreadfully needs love and care but he is prevented by his protective wall from finding such interactions. Also, alienation can be seen to be the source Holden’s both source of problems as well as strength. For instance, he was propelled by his loneliness to date Sally however, he insulted and drove her away due to his need for isolation.

The troubles of Holden that emanates from his uncertainties is a typical characteristic of a teenager who is coming of age. The novel presents touching youth life reflections which should be reflected upon by budding teenagers By basing their lives on the life of Holden, adolescents can live a better life as well as make appropriate judgments by employing Holden’s life as an example of their own. The story “The catcher in the Rye” is therefore an inspirational text about a central character teenager that craftily blends humor and controversy illuminating the real adolescents’ nature of in the process.