Analysis Of The Book The Catcher Of The Rye By Quot....

The Catcher in the Rye, a novel written by J.D. Salinger, follows the short journey in which a teenage boy is coming to terms with his encroaching adulthood. Holden, the main character, has been kicked out of a private school for the third time. In New York, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Holden is reluctant to act on the obvious solution of returning home and feels discombobulation towards the consequences he might have to face. He reflects on the death of his brother and struggles from loneliness because his brother was the only person he really had a connection with. He now has no one around his age to reach out to.Salinger illustrates through the struggles of Holden that the hardest part of growing up the whirl winds a†¦show more content†¦Again it can be seen when Bernice, the blonde, asks, â€Å"Hey- how old are you anyways† and Holden tells us that it annoyed him and then responds, â€Å"Oh, Chris. Don’t spoil it. I’m twelve, for ch rissake. I’m big for my age†.(94) From this, we can understand Holden yearning to be taken seriously as an adult, but his childish acts always get in the way of positive reactions from adult and ultimately his acceptance as an equal. In this search for his right of passage into adulthood,Holden is constantly trying to keep prove himself. Holden is 17 years old, and he is not really a child anymore and tries to gain validation from strangers and himself by drinking and smoking. In the early chapters of the book Holden acts immature, but as the journey progresses so does Holden. He comes to make rational decisions as his trip goes on as demonstrated by Salinger when Holden calls Sally and asks her out on a real date; it is considerably less callow than when he called Faith in the middle of the night in hopes of getting drinks and then having sex. Holden starts to learn and grow into his age. Notice that Holden only drinks in public and never in privacy. He looks to othe rs for recognition that he can take alcohol like a man. When he smokes in the room with Stradlater and