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When Childhood Gets in Your Way
Being a young adult, teens are limited to the things that they can do. This includes going to dances, hanging out with friends, and sometimes being peer pressured into doing something whether or not it is right. There are also some young adults that do as they please. One of these teens is Holden Caulfield. In The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield learns about adulthood, and keeps on trying to find his true self. During this time, he does as he pleases, but there is one thing that he cannot seem to do. This is to cross the line of childhood, and enter adulthood. Once Holden leaves Pencey Prep, near the beginning of the story, Holden has gone around trying to turn into an adult, but he can't because his childhood is holding him back. Holden Caulfield's inability to be ushered into adulthood hinders him from being content with himself because his point of view shows that he is protective, self-contradicting, and feels inconsequential.
The Catcher in the Rye
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S. D. HoldenSince it was hard for Holden to turn into an adult, he thinks about helping those who have not yet encountered adult activities by imagining ways to protect those children. As Holden is roaming around New York, he starts to think about how innocent childhood actually is, but once they have to experience adulthood they change their perspective dramatically. He does not like this and this causes him to be protective of children. Being protective shows that Holden cherishes childhood, and since he has to leave it he doesn't feel like he is ready to let go. After listening to a boy singing, "If a body catch a body coming through the rye" (Salinger 115) from earlier in the novel, Holden...