Holden is a teenager who fears the idea of children losing their innocence and growing into adulthood. ... Furthermore, Holden feels that adulthood represents conformity and he views conformity as phony or fake. ... Additionally, Holden feels that adults are unable to experience the true meaning of friendship and intimacy because they allow materialistic things such as money and status interfere. ... As they grow into adulthood, they lose who they really are to the many distractions of society. Therefore, Holden fears the idea of children sacrificing the experience of true friendship in exchan...

• Word Count: 2186
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

In addition to Holden's confusion in life, he experiences uncertainty in the way he views life. ... Holden fears the fact that one day he will have to step out of childhood, enter adulthood, and lose his innocence. ... Holden knows that the adult world is full of phonies, and he begins to realize this as he also realizes that one day he will have to enter adulthood and lose his innocence. ... Holden realizes that he must move into adulthood because there is no turning back into childhood. ...

• Word Count: 1403
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In all forms of literature, characters develop and progress throughout the story after experiencing several events that change them as a person; this is what gives the story substance and interest in the readers' eyes. ... That is why with this ideology he himself embodied the limbo between childhood and adulthood. ... In "The Catcher in the Rye", the protagonist Holden, after experiencing many life shaping events, develops and ends up not only altering the way he views the world around him but also how he views himself. ... Salinger's novel is a good portrayal of the emoti...

• Word Count: 1504
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

This is one of many misadventures that Holden experiences on his search for human interaction. ... Holden interprets one line in the song, "If a body meet a body coming through the rye," as meaning someone is out there trying to catch the children and save them from adulthood. ... It teaches you about the harsh realities and the cruel circumstances of adulthood. ...

• Word Count: 1626
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

As a teenager Holden lacks the love and affection from his parents that every teenager should experience, thus creating an inner insecurity. ... This inner battle that torments Holden is that of childhood versus Adulthood. ... In the end his choice is to be neither immature, arguably the disadvantage of childhood nor "phony" the cost of adulthood. ...

• Word Count: 1661
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Through his obsession with the fate of the ducks in the winter comes the realization of his ignorance of his own fate once he reaches adulthood. ... Although he knows the chances are slim, he believes even a cab driver, who has more experience of the world, may hold the key. ...

• Word Count: 1298
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Holden also has trouble accepting his phony peers, boys his age who are quickly becoming more and more fake as they grow into adulthood. ... I"d hold onto the banister and all, with this blood trickling out of the side of my mouth a little at a time (104) While experiencing this fantasy, Holden pictures himself in a movie, which he has tried so hard to avoid. ...

• Word Count: 1855
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Throughout the story, Holden reminisces on his experiences as a child, and the people who influenced his life the most. ... It is almost as if Phoebe is a younger version of Holden, which is the reason why he wants to protect her from the scary world of adulthood. ...

• Word Count: 1900
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School