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My Catcher in the Rye

In: English and Literature

Submitted By mflanaga002
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What does it mean to grow up? To Holden, of The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, growing up means having to lose your freedom and becoming ‘phony’. J.D. Salinger also explores other aspects on what it means to grow up, including the many trails one must go through in order to become an ‘adult’. Although Holden explores the idea of growing up, he doesn’t actually change throughout the novel. The Catcher In The Rye is a tragic hero novel because Holden never actually changes even though he has plenty of opportunities to do so, he remains stubborn to his cause of not maturing and letting himself fail at yet another thing.
Holden has lost all of his ambitions, he has flunked four out of his five courses. This is the next in the long line of schools that Holden has been flunked out of. But even though Holden has flunked so any ties, it is not intelligence that he lacks but the motivation. He in fact is very intelligent, but doesn't apply himself because he doesn't want to. By doing this he disappoints his family and his teachers who all know that he could be very successful. The fact that his teachers believe in him in shown when Holden visits Mr. Antolini. Mr. Antolini he states to Holden, “I think that one of these days, you’re going to have to find out where you want to go. And then you’ve got to start going there. But immediately. You can’t afford to lose a minute. Not you.” (Lines 29-33, Page 188) This illustrates that he truly believes that Holden has a bright future ahead of him, if he were to only apply himself. But holden has only so much time until he can’t go back and Mr. Antolini is warning him that he needs to find his future before it leaves him completely.
Holden, even at the beginning of the novel, is running away from his troubles. The opening scene is of Holden standing on a hill overlooking his school at a football game. The way that J.D.

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