Holden’s Fear Of The Transition to Adulthood: Critical Analysis of The Catcher in the Rye

American media executive, actress, Oprah Winfrey once said, “Transitioning is painful, but nothing is as painful as staying stuck”. In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye, 17-year-old Holden Caulfield is struggling to make the inevitable transition to adulthood. Throughout the novel, Holden displays an apprehensive attitude towards entering adulthood because of the various burdens and changes that he believes the transition will bring upon him. Holden discovers these responsibilities through his interactions with the characters in the novel. To begin, in his interaction with his younger sister, Phoebe, Holden discovers that becoming an adult ceases one’s innocence and causes pain and loneliness. Furthermore, through his sexual interactions and discussions about sex Holden learns that growing up will bring up the burden of being sexually active and will turn him into a sexual offender. Finally, through his interactions with Mr.Spencer Holden learns that the transition will potentially make him both a phony and a conformist. Through these relationships, J.D. Salinger highlights that Holden is reluctant towards change because he associates it with the responsibilities of adulthood.

Throughout the novel, Holden’s interactions with Phoebe underscore his belief in the fact that the transformation to adulthood brings burdens such as the loss of one’s innocence and feelings of isolation and pain. Over the course of the book, a responsibility Holden believes adulthood will enforce on him is the loss of his innocence. This is evident when Holden looks at Phoebe sleeping and says, “She had her mouth way open. It’s funny. You take adults, they look lousy when they’re asleep and they have their mouths way open, but kids don’t. Kids look all right.”(Salinger, 170). Through comparing the action of one sleeping “with their mouth open” as “funny” for children and as “lousy” for adults, Holden highlights that adulthood forces one to enter the process of maturation and thus corrupts one’s innocence. Consequently, Holden feels reluctant to change due to his obsession with preserving his innocence which he feels will be corrupted in the transition to adulthood. In addition, Holden believes the transition to adulthood will force him to endure feelings of isolation and pain. Holden displays this belief when he tells Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – 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.”(Salinger 173). Through creating an analogy between the transition to adulthood to children falling off a cliff, Holden emphasizes the pain and isolation he believes adulthood will cause. Furthermore, through displaying his determination of preventing other children from entering adulthood, his attempts to not endure feelings of pain and isolation are further highlighted. As a result, Holden is resistant to change as he fears to take the responsibility of enduring pain and isolation in his transition to adulthood.

Moreover, through Holden’s sexual interactions and sex-related discussions he discovers that the transition to adulthood will bring other responsibilities such as becoming sexually active and potentially a sexual offender. Throughout the novel, Holden discovers that many of his friends including Stradlater are sexually active and learns that being sexually active will be another burden he will have to carry in the transition to adulthood. Throughout the novel, the audience learns Holden struggles with sexual activity, which is viewed when Holden is spending the night at the hotel and says, “If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I’ve never got around to it yet. (…)The trouble with me is, I stop. Most guys don’t. I can’t help it.”(Salinger, 120). One can see Holden struggles with sexual activity and feels that he is not at the correct physiological state to be sexually active as he always seems to stop. As a result, Holden is reluctant towards change as he does not feel like he is ready to carry the responsibility of sexual activity which he believes he will be forced to do in the transition to adulthood. Similarly, through his sexual discussions and interactions, Holden also believes the transition will potentially make him a sexual offender. Holden displays this belief when he is arguing with Stradlater after his date with Jane Gallagher and says, “I asked him, after a little while. (…)’Where’d you go with her if you didn’t go to New York?’ ‘Nowhere. We just sat in the goddam car.’ (…) This next part I don’t remember so hot. (…)’You don’t even know if her first name is Jane or Jean, ya goddam moron!’.(Salinger, 155-156). One can see Holden thinks Stradlater’s actions are erroneous as he believes Stradlater is taking advantage of Jane through only showing interest in having sex without knowing her qualities let alone her name. Therefore, Holden is averse to change as he fears the transition will make him take advantage of women and thus turn him into a manipulator as it did to Stradlater.

Finally, through his relationships with Mr.Spencer Holden learns that the transition to adulthood will transform him into a conformist and a phony. Over the course of the novel, Holden believes his transformation to adulthood will force him to carry the burden of conforming to rules. This is first evident in his conversation with Mr.Spencer, when Mr.Spencer says, ‘Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.’ (Salinger 8) and Holden responds with, “Game, my ass. (…) what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.”(Salinger, 8). One can see through Holden’s response that he disagrees with Mr.Spencer’s ideology on the fact that one should not have to conform by rules to live. In contrast, to Mr.Spencer’s ideology which represents the ideology of adults, Holden believes life should be lived as it is lived by children, through curiosity. Holden’s strong belief in his ideology can be viewed through his disdain for rules which is illustrated through his expulsion from Pencey Prep. Consequently, Holden is reluctant to change as he does not want to be a conformist and fears adulthood will transform him into one. Furthermore, Holden also believes the transformation to adulthood will make him a phony. Holden’s resentment for the phoniness adults possess can be viewed in his conversation with Mr.Spencer when Holden says, “if somebody’s father was one of those guys that wear those suits with very big shoulders and corny black-and-white shoes, then old Haas would just shake hands with them and give them a phony smile and then he’d go talk, for maybe a half an hour, with somebody else’s parents. I can’t stand that stuff. It drives me crazy. It makes me so depressed I go crazy.”(Salinger, 9). One can see Holden’s animosity towards the phoniness adults possess through the mental stress it causes him. Holden’s resentment for phoniness is further emphasized through the fact that he had to leave Elkon Hills as he could not handle the mental stress of seeing phony adults. As a result, Holden is reluctant to change as he fears adulthood will turn him into a phony.

In conclusion, Holden is averse to change due to associating change with the responsibilities of adulthood which he learns through his various interactions within the novel. Through his relationships in his sexual life, with Phoebe and Mr.Spencer Holden learns that becoming an adult takes away one’s innocence, causes pain and loneliness, forces sexual activity, turns one into a sexual offender, transforms one to be a conformist and makes one a phony.