The Catcher in the Rye
Growing up for most people seems to be a simple task that people seem to take joy in. They like the feeling of being mature and getting treated like an adult. But what happens when everyone around you seems to be moving on and getting older and you are just not ready? Holden Caulfield is just that. He is not your typical teenager. Past incidents and his lack of immaturity prevent him from growing up. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the difficulties of growing up, childhood memories, and aimlessly not going anywhere in life.
When you grow up, change is almost necessary. This is one of the reasons Holden just doesn’t want to grow up. He likes when everything stays the same. One of his favorite places growing up was the Museum of Natural History. As everything in Holden’s life changed, the museum stayed the same. “The best thing though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. You could go in there a thousand times and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish.” (pg 121). Holden doesn’t like the fact that whenever he goes into the museum the only thing that has changed is himself. The museum represents the type of world Holden would love to live in. He understands everything that is going on in the museum and the simplicity of it. Holden has many memories in the museum from his childhood. Most of the memories from Holden’s childhood are those of his younger brother Allie who died of Leukemia. Holden doesn’t want to grow up and move on because Allie is not there with him. Allie’s death had a big impact on Holden because he was such a big part of his life. Unlike the museum, Holden doesn’t understand Allie’s death. He is confused by it. He just can’t seem to move on with his life. Throughout the story Holden decided to buy a red hunting hat. Holden seems to have a familiar liking of the hat. It is the same color at Allie and his little sister Phoebe’s hair. When he is...