Catcher in the Rye Analysis

Alex Evanoff

English 10 Honors

Mrs. Mortell

31 March 2013

The Catcher in the Rye Essay

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a story about a teenager figuring out how to become an adult. Holden is almost to the age of being an adult, yet he is much like a child as he lacks the self-identification and maturity needed for him to survive in the adult world. In retaliation to reality, Holden conforms to society by attempting to portray an adult-like image of himself and he classifies all adults as fake, creating distance between their world and himself. Yet his incapability to function in the adult world leads him to appear less like an adult and more like a child.

Holden has an inability to behave maturely around adults and adequately handle adult situations. When situations do not go the way he wants them to, Holden quickly gets frustrated and acts irrationally and childishly. Holden gets angry with Sally because she does not agree with him claiming that she gives him “a royal pain in the ass" (Salinger 173). Sally is furious at Holden and promptly leaves despite Holden begging her to stay. Holden is presented with a situation that does not go as he planned, which angers him, so he takes it out on Sally. Instead of being respectful to Sally and trying to work things out, his first impulse is to insult her. Like a child, Holden lacks the ability to think rationally when something goes wrong, and that leads him to inaccurately exaggerated conclusions, such as hating Sally for no reason at all. After the fiasco on his date with Sally, Holden goes out for drinks with Luce, a friend he met at one of his schools.

Luce is hardly older than Holden, yet possesses a much higher level of maturity. Luce finds Holden’s questions childish and annoying as Luce makes it clear he “[refuses] to answer any typical Caulfield questions tonight." (Salinger 189). Holden is intimidated by Luce because he expects Luce to understand him and not be so much of an adult, as...