Never Land
Regardless of the time period, it is easy to say that teenagers will always be rebellious to some degree and looking to finally hit their growth in maturity. Being at the turning point of childhood to adulthood can be scary and exciting when we are trying to find the balance of who we want to be, and who society wants us to be. J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, introduces us to Holden Caulfield, a sarcastic, confused teen who believes he’s living in a world full of phonies. Fearful for the loss of his innocence and scared that he will change as adulthood approaches, Holden is a character that many teens can identify with. With his relatable adolescent fears and troubles, Holden’s agency is still believable even as this classic story grows older.
When we meet Holden, he is in the process of leaving Pencey Academy on the terms of failing almost every class. Lost and confused on what he should do next, his spur of the moment personality leads him back to his home in Manhattan where instead of telling his parents that he has returned, he will stay by himself for a few days to decide when he is going to do. As Holden finds himself in many different, sticky situations, including getting into a fight, dropping out of school and hiring a prostitute, it’s hard to tell if he is truly growing through the process of his mistakes of his adolescent years, or if he will be stuck in hole that he’s dug himself into.
Normal for most teens to feel this way, it’s easy for us to make these mistakes wanting to preserve our innocence or at least have an excuse for them. As Holden talks to his baby sister, Phoebe about losing his innocence, he says he wishes to be a “catcher in the rye,” picturing kids running in a field of rye as he waits on the edge of a cliff to catch them before they fall. Here he is telling Phoebe not only is he fearful of losing his own innocence but other’s as well. Scared for the adult world, but wanting to be treated like one is one of the most confusing middles. This story of Holden’s: scared for the adult world, wanting to connect with someone and finding a way to stay who you are, identifies with any teenager and is why it is so prevalent to young people still today.
Holden’s ideas of innocence went further than just being scared to “grow up.” One prominent fear that comes with the idea of growing up is not being able to relive any of our fondest memories. It is hard to accept the fact that time moves on with us whether we are ready for it or not. This is definitely a lot harder to grasp when you are at the age of confusion of life and going from a child to an adult. At one part in the book, Holden visits the Natural History Museum. There he finds himself marveling at how everything stays “frozen in time,” “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole […]. Nobody'd be different [...] I mean you'd be different in some way – I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it,” (page 200). Holden’s absurd questioning is something everybody ponders at some point in their life, especially through these adolescent years. Holden’s want for the keeping of his innocence his found in this museum. Has time is frozen here, he believes he could be, too. He doesn’t care if he grows older, but he cares if he changes. This is a fear that we all face. Change of who we are can make us want to stay innocent forever.
As Holden’s confusing and wild journey continues throughout the novel, there’s no question on why so many of us identified, related to, and believed Holden Caulfield’s agency.
Works Cited
Salinger, J. D., E. Michael Mitchell, and Lotte Jacobi. The Catcher in the Rye. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print.
Regardless of the time period, it is easy to say that teenagers will always be rebellious to some degree and looking to finally hit their growth in maturity. Being at the turning point of childhood to adulthood can be scary and exciting when we are trying to find the balance of who we want to be, and who society wants us to be. J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, introduces us to Holden Caulfield, a sarcastic, confused teen who believes he’s living in a world full of phonies. Fearful for the loss of his innocence and scared that he will change as adulthood approaches, Holden is a character that many teens can identify with. With his relatable adolescent fears and troubles, Holden’s agency is still believable even as this classic story grows older.
When we meet Holden, he is in the process of leaving Pencey Academy on the terms of failing almost every class. Lost and confused on what he should do next, his spur of the moment personality leads him back to his home in Manhattan where instead of telling his parents that he has returned, he will stay by himself for a few days to decide when he is going to do. As Holden finds himself in many different, sticky situations, including getting into a fight, dropping out of school and hiring a prostitute, it’s hard to tell if he is truly growing through the process of his mistakes of his adolescent years, or if he will be stuck in hole that he’s dug himself into.
Normal for most teens to feel this way, it’s easy for us to make these mistakes wanting to preserve our innocence or at least have an excuse for them. As Holden talks to his baby sister, Phoebe about losing his innocence, he says he wishes to be a “catcher in the rye,” picturing kids running in a field of rye as he waits on the edge of a cliff to catch them before they fall. Here he is telling Phoebe not only is he fearful of losing his own innocence but other’s as well. Scared for the adult world, but wanting to be treated like one is one of the most confusing middles. This story of Holden’s: scared for the adult world, wanting to connect with someone and finding a way to stay who you are, identifies with any teenager and is why it is so prevalent to young people still today.
Holden’s ideas of innocence went further than just being scared to “grow up.” One prominent fear that comes with the idea of growing up is not being able to relive any of our fondest memories. It is hard to accept the fact that time moves on with us whether we are ready for it or not. This is definitely a lot harder to grasp when you are at the age of confusion of life and going from a child to an adult. At one part in the book, Holden visits the Natural History Museum. There he finds himself marveling at how everything stays “frozen in time,” “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole […]. Nobody'd be different [...] I mean you'd be different in some way – I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it,” (page 200). Holden’s absurd questioning is something everybody ponders at some point in their life, especially through these adolescent years. Holden’s want for the keeping of his innocence his found in this museum. Has time is frozen here, he believes he could be, too. He doesn’t care if he grows older, but he cares if he changes. This is a fear that we all face. Change of who we are can make us want to stay innocent forever.
As Holden’s confusing and wild journey continues throughout the novel, there’s no question on why so many of us identified, related to, and believed Holden Caulfield’s agency.
Works Cited
Salinger, J. D., E. Michael Mitchell, and Lotte Jacobi. The Catcher in the Rye. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print.