CAtcher in the Rye
Coming of Age
Like most teenagers, Holden's fears change. He is growing up and must conform to the ideas of how adults are supposed to act. He is mostly scared about the unknown nature of adults. He doesn't understand the ideas around him, like sex and drinking as an adult, yet he still calls people "phonies" and criticizes them even though he does them too. Unlike teens though, Holden doesn't want to grow up at all. He is too attached to the innocence and honesty of childhood, and cannot see himself going into a world that is so hypocritical and that has a false image over it.
NEglection
Teenagers are the epitome of attention. Teenagers want to fill needed or feel like they have made a difference in the world because they are neglected by the rest of society. Teenagers want to have somebody by their side to take care of them and be with them. Holden Caulfield is known throughout the book as always trying to find a companion. Unlike teenagers though, Holden uses his loneliness as a way to protect himself from society. This is why when he calls Jane Gallagher he hangs up because he doesn't want to know that Jane has changed and the depiction of her identity to be washed away by how she is now. "I thought of giving old Jane a buzz, to see if she was home yet and all, but I wasn't in the mood" (105).
Social Relationships
Every teenager has the mental desire for relationships, but Holden Caulfield is scared of relationships. Although he ends up meeting people throughout the story, he doesn't stay with them long. This is due to the fact that Holden doesn't like change, as seen in the Museum of Natural History. "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move... Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you. Not that you'd be so much older or anything. It wouldn't be that exactly" (121). Holden isolates himself from relationships because people are always changing and they challenge Holden to self evaluate himself, as he commits the sins of the adult world.
Deception
Holden states throughout the novel that he is a terrific liar. "I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life" (16). He talks about the adult world being a bunch of phonies, and yet he deceives others through his lies. Holden is a hypocrite like the adult world he describes, and deceives himself. Like teenagers of this world, Holden is too scared to acknowledge his own insecurities, and instead points out others faults.
Important Symbolism
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"Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance?" (81).
DUCKS: The teenage perception of freedom and hospitality. Teenagers in society want to gain freedom from the adult world, and they desire the care that children get from their parents. Holden is curious about the ducks because they always leave the pond and comeback. This entices his curiosity because he wants to go back into his childhood where he doesn't need to conform to adulthood. Also, it is Holden's secret desire to find a home during the "bitter winter," as he has parents that neglect him.
POND: The pond is the symbolism of life. When the pond is frozen, it is the adulthood in which Holden wants to be free of and leave like the ducks, but when the pond is not frozen, it is the childhood in which Holden longs for to stay in.
DUCKS: The teenage perception of freedom and hospitality. Teenagers in society want to gain freedom from the adult world, and they desire the care that children get from their parents. Holden is curious about the ducks because they always leave the pond and comeback. This entices his curiosity because he wants to go back into his childhood where he doesn't need to conform to adulthood. Also, it is Holden's secret desire to find a home during the "bitter winter," as he has parents that neglect him.
POND: The pond is the symbolism of life. When the pond is frozen, it is the adulthood in which Holden wants to be free of and leave like the ducks, but when the pond is not frozen, it is the childhood in which Holden longs for to stay in.