Holden needs a hug

I think The Catcher in the Rye is mainly about Holden's turmoil between wanting life to be as simple as it was when he was a child and his desire to be accepted by society as someone older than his age. This is displayed through Holden's refusal to take responsibilty for his future. Rather than deal with school he wants to run off to the country and live alone. Yet at the same time, Holden is always trying to prove to bar-tenders and women that he is older than he is. In addition, his encounter with the prostitute shows how he wanted to have sex just to fit into his peers' expectation of him. Holden cannot find an equilibrium between his childhood and adulthood which is extremely troubling for him. At one point he considers suicide as an escape, and his drinking is an emotional escape as well. Childhood seems appealing to Holden as he describes the boy singing on the street, "the cars zoomed by, brakes screeched all over the place, his parents paid no attention to him and he kept on walking next to the curb and singing" 115. For Holden, this child's life in a nutshell is all he wants. I think every adolescent can relate to Holden's feelings. For example, during Family Living the kids can have the time of their lives just picking up garbage or running around in circles for ten minutes. Of course everyone wishes they didn't have to study or do home work and that they could be careless again, but most people can accept that they have to grow older, and in turn, more mature.
Throughout the novel I think Holden realizes his place in his family. He obviously feels close to D.B. and Phoebe because he talks about them constantly. When Holden claimed "I felt sorry as hell for my mother and father. Especially my mother, because she still isn't over my brother Allie yet" 155, he showed that he could have sympathy for others. This reveals that Holden does feel regret for failing out of school again because he knows what it will do to his mom. After finally realizing this, I think Holden can take a huge step to actually care about school because he can connect the negative affect him failing has on his family. Also, when Holden said "All the visitors that were visiting the cemetary started running like hell over to their cars. That's what nearly drove me crazy. All the visitors could get in their cars and then go some place nice for dinner-everybody except Allie" 156, he actually opens himself up to admit that Allie's death does still make him extremely upset. I think a reason why Holden is so bitter towards others and claims they're phonies is because he thinks they will never understand what he has been through. He's angry because he lost someone that he loved but by putting these emotions down on paper Holden will be able to handle them. Everything else in the novel that "drove him crazy" was trivial, such as cheap suitcases, the word "grand" and the movies. But the fact that he has mentioned something REAL that can justifiably make someone upset shows that he has matured.
Another thing Holden comes to terms with is that he can never escape his troubles. He comes to this conclusion when he says "That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking somebody'll sneak up and write "F**k you" right under your nose" (204). There is no place Holden can truly either become a child again or be considered an adult. Holden wants to "catch" every child and save them from adulthood, like he wished someone did to him, but in reality he knows this is not possible. He will never be COMPLETELY peaceful no matter where he is, so instead of running away he should try to adjust to life at home.
Towards the end of the novel, when Holden is with Mr. Antolini, he is given an inspiring message. Holden says he still has the paper which said "The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one" (188). This kind of reminded me when in Macbeth, Macbeth does not want to die the "Roman fool" like some men in Julius Caesar did. A noble man will not kill himself for a cause, but instead live for one. The fact that Holden still has this piece of paper shows that it meant a lot to him and he has found motivation from it. That suggests to the reader that Holden will be able to succeed in his next school and learn from his past.




^^excuse the lengthhhh

ahhhhhhhhhh i cant believe its OVERRRR.....well besides the essay =/

payce and luuuvvv @ndrea x0x0x0x0x0x