Holden shows a desire throughout the novel to be accepted into adulthood; like making an effort to talk to the mother of a boy he knows from Pency prep. He smokes with her, “she took a cigarette off me and I gave her a light”, and asks her if she’d “care for a cocktail”, all this behaviour comes across as very mature, but is all contradicted by Holden’s lies. Throughout the novel Holden has a habit of making up a new identity for himself, “’Rudolf Schmidt,’ I told her” and he lies about everything about himself, “Once I get started, I can go for hours”. In chapter 8, Holden tells Mrs Morrow that her son is “so darn shy and modest” when really Holden describes him as someone “that’s always snapping their towels at people’s asses”. Holden also seeks sympathy in telling Mrs Morrow that he has “to have this operation” for a reason for his early return from Pency Prep, instead of really telling her that he failed all his exams and is running away.
The reason for Holden’s constant lying could be caused by his insecurities within himself. At this point in his life Holden seems to be very insecure with his self and so instead of facing up to the truth and reality of what’s happening to him he finds it much easier to lie and gain respect from what he is saying. This insecurity is all reflected with Holden’s ambition to run away. Instead of facing up to his problems, he wants to run away from them so he can create a new life for himself. This also highlights Holden’s immaturity.
Another example of Holden’s yearn to fit in with the adult world is his frequent trips to clubs and bars, he gets very frustrated when the waiters won’t serve him, ”i gave him this very cold stare, like he’d insulted the hell out of me”. Holden also smokes. He usually only smokes when he’s feeling depressed, “I must have smoked about three cartons that day” or wants confidence, “and light a cigarette, cool as hell”. This may also be a security thing; smoking makes Holden fell grown up and accepted.
A constant reoccurring issue with Holden throughout “The Catcher in the Rye” is sex. Although Holden has certain views on the issue like he should “quit horsing around with girls that deep down, gave him a pain in the ass” and he is appalled by his roommate “Stadlater’s technique” with girls in the back seat of a car, he admits that “Sex is something I really don’t understand too hot”. Later on Salinger puts emphasis on Holden’s fickle thoughts on the matter as he completely contradicts his views as he speaks confidently about his encounters with sex, “I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but never got round to it yet”. Holden then goes further on to say that something has always been stopping him, “if you’re in the back seat of somebody’s car, there’s always somebody’s date in the front seat”. This was the exact behaviour he earlier had opposed.
The main encounter Holden does have with sex during “The Catcher in the Rye” is when he has a prostitute sent to his hotel room. Although Holden even says “It was against my principles” he still agrees to have her sent up. This again displays Holden’s indecisive teenage mind on his views and morals. He is very aware of morals and which are important to have but cannot follow them through, especially with the girls! Salinger portrays Holden’s shallow side further on when Holden asks “is she good-looking?” before the girl is sent up. However Holden’s confidence in being able to “get in some practice on her” is crushed when “Sunny” turns up and he realizes she is quite young, “she was around my age”. Sunny turns out to be very different to the stereotypical prostitute Holden has in his mind; she doesn’t smoke or swear, “What the heck” and cares not to get her “dress all wrinkly”. This depresses Holden as she doesn’t seem wreckless or completely immoral like Holden feels a prostitute should be and leaves him feeling guilty as she seems really innocent. This reflects Holden’s sensitive as well as Holden’s childish side. Holden longs to be independent and act like a adult but when given the chance he’d rather hold on to his innocence and doesn’t want to accept that people especially girls do act young yet have lost all their true innocence- like virginity, “a girl when she really gets passionate, she hasn’t any brains”. Here Salinger is expressing the stresses of being a teenager and being new to sex and “getting nervous” and having “trouble just finding what I’m looking for”.
A very important issue of growing up that every teenager has to face is the acceptance into society and personally accepting society. This is a very heavy issue throughout “The Catcher in the Rye” as Holden has great difficulty dealing with this. Holden portrays himself as an outsider. In the first chapter, Holden sets himself “way the hell up on top of Thompson Hill”, he is all alone because “practically the whole school except me” were at a football game. This acts as a reflection of what it is to be Holden’s isolation from society, including his friends and family, portrayed throughout the story. Holden seems to look down on the football game, “you were supposed to commit suicide or something if Pency didn’t win,” as he does with society, “I couldn’t stand somebody going to the movies”; this attitude constantly crops up in Holden’s weekend. Through this attitude, “You never saw so many phonies in all your life”, Holden alienates himself more and more from society.
Yet because of this attitude and opinions he has, he tends to hang back from joining in with interacting with people. At clubs and bars Holden would prefer to sit back and “watch the phonies for a while” than joining in and having a good time there. Another classic example of this behaviour Salinger creates is with Sally Hayes’ friend George in chapter 17. Holden has a strong opinion on what George is talking about yet instead of expressing these opinions, “Angels. For Christsake. Angels”, he listens criticizing along the way, “It was the phoniest conversation you ever heard in your life”. This is a strong example of an insecurity Holden has with himself. While he narrates his story he can express his opinions and criticisms freely, but does not state them out aloud therefore can never be challenged or agreed with, so he remains enclosed in his thoughts, but also feeling isolated.
As a result of Holden’s feeling of isolation from society, Holden rebels against them. Holden didn’t feel like he fitted in to Pency Prep, “It was one of the worst schools I ever went to” so he didn’t try hard at his subjects and consequently got kicked out. This rebellious streak is carried on with his attitude towards society. The main example of this is Holden’s ambition to runaway to the countryside, “we’ll stay in these cabin camps” and he rebels against the much expected dream of getting a job to earn enough to buy a “goddamn Cadillac” as he’d “rather have a goddamn horse”. Holden seems to think that there is no way out of following that path and seems very afraid of it so much so that he feels that he has to run away more than any thing else. Here Salinger expresses Holden’s immaturity in dealing with these views- he is in much desperation to escape as if he feels like he can’t control his own actions, and may turn “Phony”. It also shows the main character’s naivety in thinking he can just “get a job somewhere” and “we’d have a terrific time”. Innocence is lost in growing up and this dream of Holden’s highlights his ignorance in this matter and that he is not yet ready for adult life.
Through symbolism Holden expresses his rebellion against capitalism by showing interest in communism. This can be read into from the “red hunting hat” Holden often wears. Because of the sensitive time that the book was written- post WW2, a red hat could be easily read as an indication of support for communism. It is also indicated in the situation that Holden wears the hat, like just after the fight with Stradlater, when leaving Pency and when drunk in New York and so on.
To illustrate Holden’s personal problems of growing up, Salinger uses a museum that Holden used to visit regularly as a child. In chapter 16 Holden reminisces about the differences of each visit, “You’d have an overcoat on this time”, and how “The best thing” about the museum “was that everything always stayed right where it was”. As Holden reflects on this he observes that “The only thing that would be different would be you” and within everything else being exactly the same he saw changes in himself, “you’d be different in some way”. Holden consequently decides not to go inside the museum which suggests that he does not want to be faced with how he has changed now and what he is becoming, an adult.
In the last few chapters in Salinger’s novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden is reunited with his little sister Phoebe. Phoebe is the only person Holden feels he’s ever been able to relate to, “she was somebody you always felt like talking to” and so this is where Holden finds his feet. In chapter 26 Holden and Phoebe go to the zoo, here there is a carrousel that the Caulfield children have gone to since they were little. Salinger uses the carrousel as a symbol and an extended metaphor which helps conclude Holden’s journey. It confronts Holden with his placement in life; he is not a child any more. Phoebe is “mad about the carrousel”, which prompt Holden into knowing that he must take the role of a mature person looking after his little sister. He stands at the side and “watched her go around and around” and this triggers the symbolism of the circle of life which dawns upon Holden which he takes with acceptance, “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden”.
Salinger explores the issues of growing up really well through many different techniques, a significant one being the symbolism of the museum. Other skills used is the contradictions he makes which puts emphasis on the confusion of growing up, the depression and the way how Holden isolates himself from expressing his opinions openly all web together the issues of growing up. Having the confidence yourself as a teenager plays a huge part in growing up as it helps you to learn and adjust your views and morals through discussions and stating your opinions. This way you can develop and adapt to at least cope with society, you also find people who may feel the same way about aspects of life. Without expression of these morals or opinions no one would ever be able to learn or strengthen these ideas, therefore remaining ‘right’ in their own eyes and also feeling alone and singled out though these thoughts. This is a very significant problem which alot of people have of growing up and Salinger explores it really well, expressing in a really unique way. The structure of Salinger’s novel also contributes towards the feel the reader gets of growing up because they only get one person’s interpretation, leaving the story coming from the mind of a questionable young boy’s mind.