Catcher In The Rye #3

The main goal of “Catcher in the Rye” was to illustrate the struggle of growing up. Holden was technically a grown up, for that was how his age classified him. Yet, he was still a child when it came down to his maturity and behaviors. When talking with others that he didn’t want to talk to, like Ackley, he’d sometimes begin doing things to annoy them. Due to being bored with Ackley, Holden pretended to be an blind child and said, “Mother darling, give me your hand. Why won’t you give me your hand? (page 21)”. Instead of being able to deal with a boring ten minute conversation he decided to act immaturely even though he was an older boy. Also, Holden has been kicked out of many schools due to not caring and not doing any work. A mature kid would do all their work or at least do the best they could in order to graduate and move on to something better. Holden doesn’t take his life seriously enough and acts like a fool at school, which only gets him kicked out. Also, Holden proves that he is scared of growing up when he refuses Sunny. He tells the elevator boy that he wants a “girl” to come to his hotel room late at night. Sunny shows up and begins her routine, but Holden stops her and says he has just had a surgery so he asked her, “Don’t you feel like talking for a while? (page 95)”. I’m not saying his reaction was immature, because it was a very mature stance for him to take. Yet, part of growing up is encountering new experiences, which here he refused one that has been seen as a rite to adulthood for decades. Another way Holden shows the struggle of growing up is when he misunderstands the lyrics of a song. He believes the lyrics are “if somebody catch a body in the rye”, yet Phoebe proves to him the lyrics are “if somebody meets a body in the rye”. The way he interprets the lyrics is that someone’s job is to prevent children from falling over the cliff, where the cliff symbolizes adulthood. Holden knew he had to grow up and it was the experiences that he encountered that pushed him through his struggle of growing up.