In “The Catcher in the Rye” , Holden Caulfield views the world as an evil, phony and corrupt place, where there is no peace and understanding. As the novel progresses, Holden gradually comes to the realization that he is powerless to change this and unable to forever protect both, young children and himself, from growing up. All the time he is trying to escape from falsehood and cruelty of the surroundings and although his perception of the world is not modified significantly, his final realization is a tremendous step towards accepting the inevitable – he must mature eventually, and the world will never be pure.

Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old who experiences challenging and questionable events in the mid-stage of his adolescence. He is no longer a boy, but not yet an adult. He is in the transitory period where one has to find himself in the new world. Holden wants to keep the things unchanged, he want

Ironically enough, it is one of the ‘innocent’ children that he is trying to protect who helps him come to terms with this realization. It is Phoebe who challenges his plan to escape out west. As he is telling Phoebe that she cannot run away, he discovers that he too cannot run away. The final break-down comes near the end of the book when he is watching Phoebe on the carousel. “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them”6 In the above passages from the novel, Holden hits the final breakdown. Being “the catcher” becomes obviously unrealistic. It is at this point that Holden sees that he cannot stop children from growing up and therefore losing their innocence. They will fall if they fall, there is nothing that can be done.

The one conviction that does change during the novel is Holden’s belief that he can change the world. On his date with Sally, Holden reveals his feelings. “Did you ever get fed up?…I mean did you ever get scared that everything was going to go lousy unless you did something” . He wishes to flight from the world full of lies and he goes through several plans. At one point he contemplates heading out west, where he will pretend to be a deaf-mute and live a quiet life. At another point Holden proposes to Sally to escape this world with him into a lonely and safe place. It is finally to his younger sister Phoebe that Holden reveals his ultimate plan. He tells Phoebe that he wants to prevent children from growing up. “Since, Holden reasons, there is no fulfillment in the adult world, since all it can o

Some topics in this essay:
Phoebe Holden, Holden Caulfield, York Holden, That’s I’d, Sally Holden, Actually Holden, Holden Salinger’s, children growing, little kids, , grab gold ring, fall fall, holden caulfield, gold ring, grab gold, world holden, change world, stops children, � mean,