Holden's Growing Pains in The Catcher in the Rye Essay

Sixteen years of age marks the dawn of a tumultuous period. The dividing line between a simplistic childhood marked by innocence and a stressful adulthood full of responsibility becomes muddled and unclear. This transitional phase has often provoked within me a sense of isolation and desire to escape the complexities of maturation. However, I do not wish to remain a child forever and anticipate my eventual entrance into adulthood. Holden Caulfield, the narrator in J.D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye, experiences similar growing pains as well as a preference for separation from what he perceives as the phoniness of the adult world. However, Holden wishes to remain a child, resisting his call to adulthood. Justifiably, Holden Caulfield utilizes alienation as a method of resisting societal pressure and eluding the complexities of adulthood, as well as accurately expressing the peer pressures and endeavors of a teen struggling to resist phoniness and find his role in society.

While Holdens isolation might be considered unhealthy to some, it is a natural response by teens to the uncertainties and pressures of maturation. The entire novel is the result of Holdens decision to flee school three days prior to his expulsion, his departure from Pencey into a crowded Manhattan where he lives on his own, unrestricted. His escape from the stressful schedule of a student and the lofty expectations to succeed, as set upon each individual by society, is enviable. By leaving school, Holden disrupts the basic structure of societys template for the acceptable male life progression and frees himself from the coinciding pressure and competition to meet societys set standards. Essentially, Holden is defying the game of Life. He separates himself from the hot-shots, choosing, instead, to identify himself with those on the other side, where there are no hot-shots. Here, Holdens disconnection from the idea that Life is a game creates the sentiment that if he is not a part of lifes game, life consequently has little meaning. This bleak though accurate outlook is common to a teenager approaching adulthood and stumbling upon the realization that he has strayed from the image society had projected for him. Moreover, even Holdens decisions on Saturday nights resonate his fondness of isolation. Holdens choice to stay in the dorms with Ackley instead of socializing at the football game sends a clear message to the reader that Holden is attracted to the cozy confines of a quiet Pencey dormitory over the social atmosphere of a football game. Rather than follow Stradlater, a symbol of rambunctiousness and partying, Holden quietly retreats into the company of Ackley, a character who often alienates himself from such events and prefers little contact with other students. The idea that Holden chooses the company of the reserved Ackley over the wild Stradlater is a reflection of Holdens inclination to avoid the phoniness and meaninglessness of an event like a football game. Further, Holden frequently alienates himself to preserve his detachment from the worlds phoniness, but repeatedly finds himself involuntarily seeking relationships with others, such as Sally Hayes. His understandable tendency to want to be in the company of others, only to want to later rid himself of them, is an example of Holdens uncertainty with how to handle mature relationships. Holden dates Sally Hayes and takes her to the movies to try and fill the masculine role society urges him to play. Yet his annoyance and disgust with her phoniness leads to his desire to leave her. In building a relationship with Sally Hayes, Holden Caulfield unwisely abandons his alienation and suffers the consequences. Succumbing to societal pressure, Holden had forsaken his isolation so that he may mingle with Sally Hayes, only to fall victim to the intricacies of relationships, thus reaffirming his stance on avoiding interactions with phony people. Essentially, loneliness is the emotional manifestation of Holdens alienation; it protects him from phony interactions by shielding him from the possibility of building relationships. Holdens ambivalence on whether to avoid relationships or enjoy them mirrors the teenage uncertainty of how to respond to the expectations of them to socialize. Though ostensibly hypocritical in violating his principles of resisting societal pressure by dating Sally, Holden is simply another example of teenage indecision and uncertainty. Though teens do not immediately fill the mold of typical adults, it is not abnormal to eventually find our fit after a period of alienation.

Like many teens, Holden Caulfield has trouble dealing with conflict and change, inevitable effects of growing up, and concludes that he would rather avoid adulthood and its phoniness altogether. Throughout the novel, Holden faces the fact that teens his age are beginning to have sex. Holdens struggle to respond to the pressures to have sex is a common battle teenagers face in todays society. While his roommate Stradlater enjoys spontaneous sex, Holden believes in mutual love and respect between the partners before sexual intercourse. Peer pressure, which all teens experience throughout their journey to adulthood, is the central driving force for Holden to explore sexual relationships. His inner conflict between upholding his principle of waiting for love or having unplanned sex is one the majority of teens his age can relate to. Rather than becoming entangled in this web of internal conflicts, Holden would prefer be frozen in time, like the exhibits in the Museum of Natural History. Holden yearns for the simple and idealistic way of life that the museum displays represent, but his visits to the museum simply remind him that in reality he is changing and will never remain within the desired framework of childhood. Holdens desire to stay a child forever is immature but understandable. Considering that adults are phony, constantly upholding their image of perfection to appease societys demands, it is understandable that Holden seeks the refuge of childhood. However his inability to cope with this transitional period into adulthood indicates lack of mental maturity. Furthermore, Holden believes adulthood is full of hypocrisy and superficiality, while childhood is a world of innocence and honesty. His description of being a catcher in the rye is an accurate reflection of these views. He believes that childhood is an ideal world where children play and have fun, but adulthood is the equivalence of death- a fatal plunge over the edge of a cliff. As the protector of innocence, Holden asserts his stubborn refusal to mature onto the children in the field, claiming that he will make sure none of them fall off the cliff, making the transition into adulthood. Holdens preference to simply retreat into his own imaginary view of the world instead of dealing with the complexities of the world around him is a direct reflection of his unmoving and immature desire to resist adulthood. Throughout his efforts in eluding adulthood, and consequently resisting phoniness, Holden wishes to escape, like the ducks escaping from Central Park, when presented with an unmanageable problem. Holdens curiosity with the ducks escape resonates his desire to simply fly away from his problems when they become too difficult to handle. Like many teens, Holden wants to circumvent the challenges of growing up, but as he never finds a convincing response to where the ducks go, it becomes clear that escape from the inevitable is impossible. Much to Holdens, as well as my own, dismay, when adulthood looms menacingly over us and life becomes unmanageable, there is no option for fleeing our problems, only the option of confronting and resolving them regardless of the level of difficulty. While Holden entertains the notion of avoiding adulthood, the cold reality is that the conflicts stemming from our transition into adults are inescapable.