Examples Of Growing Up In Catcher In The Rye

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“I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going i have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all”(224-225). In J.D. Salinger's novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden shows painfulness to growing up. Holden spends an extended amount of time alone and grieving. Holden wants to remain in childhood because at a young age he lost his brother, and feels like growing up is painful, phony, and causes children to lose their innocence.
“The best thing though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.. Nobody's be different.. The only thing that would be different would be you”(157-158). Holden experiences a lot of change throughout his …show more content…
Holden uses the term “phony” a lot throughout the book, mostly to express that growing up is phony or that growing up causes people to act fake. Holden is quick to point out that people are phony, or that they're acting phony, but doesn't realize how phony he is himself. “The Wicker Bar is in the sort of swanky hotel, the Seaton Hotel. I used to go there quite a lot… it's one of those places that are supposed to be very sophisticated… if you sat around there long enough and heard all the phonies applauding and all, you got to hate everybody in the world, I swear you did”(141-142). To Holden, adults are phony, fake people are phony, and going up into the adult world is phony. There is so many ways that Holden acts upon being phony throughout the book, when Holden says that he's a great liar, that he does not mean to lie and does it out of habit that it just happens, lying is being fake, and being fake is phony. To Holden, theres not much of worrying about himself. He shows a lot of worrying about what other people are doing, but not so much himself. Holden pays a lot of attention as to what other people are doing, but not so much of what he's doing himself. He can easily point out when someone is acting fake, but not so much notice that he's doing it
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