The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger tells a story about a troubled teenager named, Holden Caulfield, who struggles with the fact that everyone has to change and grow up. Holden Caulfield has changed his perspectives in a few areas throughout the novel. He struggles with change, growing up, and expressing his feelings to other people.
From the beginning of the novel, Holden isolates himself from society by ignoring helpful advice and holding on to his desire that everything in the world must remain unchanged. In the second chapter of the novel, Holden intentionally ignores Mr. Spencer’s advice, “life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules,” thinking to himself, “Game, my ass” (8). Holden does not agree with Mr. Spencer’s moral that life is a game that should be played by the rules because Holden considers everyone to be phonies and he does not want to be like everyone else. By isolating himself, Holden creates a resistance to change. Holden is fond of the Museum of Natural History because Holden explains that, “the best thing though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody moved…Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you” (121). Holden is the type of person who cannot deal with conflicts and changes in life. He does not want to go into adulthood because he wants to stay in his teen years. The museum shows a perfect vision of life that Holden wants to live in because it illustrates his desire for everything to become unchanged. Holden is not very sociable instead he isolates himself from people and the world. He wants everything in the world to be the same and does not want to be a phony.
Holden Caulfield changes his perspective about growing up. In chapter 24, when Holden visits his former teacher, Mr. Antolini is very worried and suggests that he thinks Holden is “…riding for some kind of terrible fall” (186). Holden ignored the helpful advice that was given by Mr. Antolini and found something negative to complain about. Holden’s ignorant behavior stops him from changing his life, but later in the novel, Holden thinks about going back to school and doing better than before. In chapter 25, Holden sends Phoebe a message to meet him at the museum. Holden tells her to ride the carousel and as Holden watches Phoebe, he sees her grab for the gold ring, and he becomes terrified she will get hurt. But Holden realizes, “the thing is with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you just have to let them do it, and not say anything…” (211). At this point, Holden realizes he needs to move on and go into adulthood. He realizes that Phoebe will have to move on from her childhood soon as well because she is already willing to take risks. In this chapter, Holden learns that life continues. He cannot do anything to prevent everything from changing. In this chapter, this is where he starts to think about getting his life straight and realizes he needs to change for the better.
Holden tells us he is a “troublemaker;” however, as time goes by, Holden becomes more sensitive. At the end, he worries about how talking about all his memories only makes him reminisce people. Holden does not like reminiscing because he does not like to think about his past. He warns the readers not to talk about the past because it can hurt you. Holden shows wisdom regarding to the little kids in the mummy exhibit. Holden is concerned it could scare the kids who are too young. Holden never shows a sensitive side because of his manipulative and immature actions. In the beginning of the novel, Holden was introduced as unsophisticated and hates the adult world, but as time progresses, he becomes more sensitive towards people and his life.
Numerous things occur during Holden’s transition from childhood to adulthood. Holden’s interest in the ducks shows his curiosity about what will happen to him when he moves on to adulthood. Holden tells the cab driver, “they can’t just ignore the ice. They can’t just ignore it.” (82). The reason that Holden urges the cab driver to tell him about the ducks is that Holden truly thinks what happens to the ducks will happen to him. This relates to Holden because he is afraid he will not survive through the conflicts in life. When Holden did not feel well, he went to the bathroom in the Museum and tells the reader, “I mean I could’ve killed myself when I hit the floor, but all I did was land of my side. It was a funny thing, though. I felt better after I passed out…” (204). This event was important because after his fall he realizes how important life really is to him. Holden starts to worry about his future and what his life will look like. He compares the ducks with his life because he believes what happens to the ducks will certainly happen to him. Now he is afraid because he thinks he cannot go survive the troubles in his life.
Holden Caulfield has a conflict with change, growing up, and expressing his feelings to other people. He does not want to change and go into adulthood because he does not want to be a phony. Later in the novel, he starts to think about his future and realizes he needs to grow up because everything is meant to be changed.