Childhood and adulthood were not factors of age but states of mind “ (Axel shakar). You have fun as a child but adapt to the new world as an adult. In J.D Salingers “ Catcher in the rye” adulthood, childhood and change all play a major Role in young 16 year old Holden Caulfield’s life we will see how this affects him.
Holden’s obsession with childhood and innocence causes him to act like and makes him a pessimistic character in this novel. Young holden Caulfield keeps himself Far from phony type people due to the fact that he doesn’t want to adapt to Adulthood and develop adult-like qualities because he is scared of change. He is a judgemental Character in the way that he is always watching people and what they do. He watches people who he calls phony but doesn’t know he is changing to a phony character himself. Holden does not want responsibilities and avoids phoniness and adulthood choices because he doesn’t care for them. This will slowly affect Holden later on in his young stressful life. It is hard because he is in the middle of childhood and on the edge of becoming an adult man.
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Young protagonist Holden Caulfield is a judgmental character who is struggling to adapt to the corrupt world of adulthood. Holden’s obsession with childhood and innocence causes him to be a judgmental character who struggles to connect with Coley the seemingly corrupt adult world. Young Holden Caulfield has knowledge on sexuality but when the time comes he always declines the offer of sex by saying: “If you want to know the truth, i’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all but i’ve never got around to it yet. Something always happens. (ch.13) This shows that Holden has good judgement on the transition from Childhood to adulthood. He knows that having sex will turn him in to a phony person. He does not want to turn into an adult and have to grow up nor have adult-like qualities and responsibilities. Young holden also wants to separate himself from phonies like Stradlater as Holden shows that he respects women and does not want to commit sexual assault. He often is depressed and having sex can not make him happy. His virginity is a symbol of the transition from childhood and adulthood. It means if he loses it then he has become a man and is doing adult things and making adult choices. Which will also make him a phony which he is scared of the most Holden does not want to become and phony as much as he does not want to become an adult he looks down on those that have no respect and give women no value or chances in life. Holden Caulfield is really struggling and is very judgemental on staying a child and not becoming a adult
He states that: “God, I love it when a kids nice and polite when you tighten their skates for them or something. Most kids are. They really are” (ch.16) This quote represents and shows that young Holden is attached to childhood and does not want to grow up. His judgement on children is a bit weird because He truly believes that All childs are nice but that is not the case. His attachment to childhood is shown because Holden becomes very happy when children do little things and shows his child-like qualities. Holden does not want to grow up because he does not want to become a phony. He believes all adults are phonies and he doesn’t like them. Young Holden doesn't know that he is slowly going to have to adapt to this new life in Coley adulthood and he will not have a choice or not this could also spark depression into his life. He later on discusses that he wants to become the catcher in the rye. He finally finds out that he can stay a kid forever and children are presented as cute and nice but not all of them are. The fact that Holden is only able to connect with children and see value in children shows that he has no desire for the adult world.
His obsession here displays his judgmental nature of adulthood overall. He has no connections with grown-ups and has no interest in forming friendships or relationships with any one in the adult world. Instead, his obsession and judgmental character keeps him from growing and accepting the inevitable change that occurs in life. Holden is slowly developing into an Adult and does not realize he will later on deal with these responsibilities and consequences as he is turning into a young man and even a phony. Since the beginning of J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye The protagonist Holden Caufield is rejecting change and is scared of adulthood. Holden rejects change in this story multiple times sometimes it shows in many different ways Holden Caulfield states: “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was Nobody move… Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you” (ch.16)
The museum is a symbol of Holden rejecting change. The change he is rejecting is a change that can be hard for a lot of people including Holden the transition is from Childhood to Adulthood. He loves that the museum stays the same but yet he is scared to go in because he doesn't want to see anything change there. This is another symbol of Holden being scared or becoming an adult and better yet a phony person. Becoming a phony person is what Holden is trying to reject the most. He does not want to become phony and wants to separate from the phony like people in his life. Holden doesn't care for phony like people and does not want to have to deal with responsibilities Coley and most have to suffer from consequences he doesn’t want to have to deal with any of these adult problems that could affect him in negative ways. Holden has a strong relationship with his sister Phoebe and when asked about what he wants to be in the future on replies with the following statement: “Anyways i keep picturing all these kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, nobody around nobody big, I mean except me and I'm standing on the edge of some crazy 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. That’s all i’d do all day. I’d be the catcher in the rye. This quote really shows Holden's perspective on his obsession with childhood and how he will not just reject change for himself but for every other child he thinks he will catch and save.
Holden believes that he can become the Catcher in the Rye and protect all kids and keep himself safe from what he says is the corrupt world of adulthood. Because of Holden's choices on wanting to stay away from phony people and stay a child and enjoy childhood for as long as he can he usually feels lonely. Holden wants to save kids from adulthood so he can have friends and surround himself with non-phony people which he thinks are young children. He doesn't feel comfortable knowing that he can become phony and he wants to keep away from that and keep kids away from that. He slowly discovers he can’t save everyone and finds out that kids can become phony as well and gives up on wanting to become the Catcher in the rye. He realizes he is becoming phony and kids can do it and Holden Caufield doesn’t know what to do now or what to live for which causes him to feel lonely and depressed. Avoidance plays a big role in Holden Caulfield’s life one indication is his addiction to childhood and innocence. Holden has many traits, one is his avoidance and his innocence, Holden later on says: “ I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life” (pg. 16) This Quote represents one of Holden Caulfield’s traits and strategies to Coley keep his childhood and his innocence.
One reason Holden Caulfield tells himself he is the best liar is because of his parents not really allowing Holden to let people know about their lives. This is similar to why Holden lies because Holden is not always honest to his peers or people he meets about his age and name. He lies to try to make friends and not allow people to see his child like qualities. He wants to keep his peers and other people he meets to keep guessing about his true identity. He lies to direct the attention away from himself and to also keeps himself away from trouble. He lies to keep himself away from other phony people and to not get caught up with all of their adulthood problems and consequences. He came up with an amazing lie to get away from mrs. morrow that's just one example to use his lying ability to get himself out of trouble. Holden loves his innocence and childhood when he gets told the hard facts about life he lies, and he lies about everything to just about every person he comes across to. Holden is trying to keep his childhood for as long as he can and hates change Holden says: “That's one nice thing about carousels they always play the same song”( ch.25) This is a symbol of Holden avoiding change from childhood to adulthood and he does not want to make that transition because he is afraid of having to deal with responsibilities and consequences as a young man and a young adult. He also is avoiding becoming a phony like the other phony like people he has met during his lifetime. This represents That Holden is in his comfort zone and he is addicted to staying the same and nothing changing in his life he doesn’t want to see other people, places and even other objects to change.
There have been many symbols of Holden not wanting objects to change he was afraid of going into the museum because he did not want to see anything inside of there to change or just be different. He has child-like qualities in the way that children Love the same things all the time and enjoy the little things and laugh at things that are not funny for the phony like adults. Holden enjoys play parks and the Coley small things that make him laugh he thinks that children look the best when they sleep and they are the most nice and kind types of people you would ever meet but in reality is a false claim and Holden leter on discovers this and he changed his entire mindset on life and what he believes. Holden is not ready for his life as an adult and he will struggle but it shows how he has been avoiding his transition to being a young adult. Holden’s obsession with innocence and childhood causes him to be a pessimistic character. Holden is so obsessed with childhood he sees himself as the Catcher in the Rye and wants to keep kids safe from the corrupt world of adulthood. Even though young Holden Caulfield wants to do everything he can to avoid adulthood and become a phony, the bottom line and reality of life is everyone is going to have to face adulthood even if it hurts you mentally and physically.
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