Examples Of Maturity In Catcher In The Rye

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Pages: 3
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Soyoung Cho
Ms. Getz
English 9
11 December 2015
Obstacles that Prevent Holden’s Maturation
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, a novel by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield struggles with maturity. Holden’s value in childhood innocence causes him to only spend time with the young and inexperienced, thus he lacks guidance from mature adults. Due to Holden’s stubborn thought of phoniness, he does not take the advice of age appropriate friends and the elderly. These two factors, his close relationships with children and his failure to take advice, keep Holden from maturing.
By seeking relationships with only the young, Holden hinders his chances of psychologically developing into an adult. When Holden imagines running away to live in his own cabin, …show more content…
At the beginning of the novel, when Mr. Spencer tries to give Holden a life lesson, Holden thinks, “I didn’t care, except that it’s pretty disgusting to watch somebody pick their nose… There’s a word I really hate. It’s a phony. I could puke every time I hear it… All of the sudden then, I wanted to get the hell out of the room” (12). Holden believes Mr. Spencer has no significance. He thinks Mr. Spencer’s advice is completely phony and ignores it. The thought of phony never leaves Holden’s mind, which prevents him from taking the advice from elders. Holden disregarding the advice of Mr. Spencer prevents him from maturing. Also, when Holden asks Sally if she could run away with him, she rejects the idea and tells him that they would starve to death and that they would have time to do that when they become older. However, Holden immediately says, “I’d get a job. Don’t worry about that… You give me a royal pain in the ass” (147-148). Holden is stubborn with his own mindset, almost like a prisoner because he cannot escape his comfort zone. He continues to dismiss the advice given to him by his peers and always has an excuse for every action that someone disapproves. Holden’s ignorance of others’ advice hinders his full
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