Holden Caufield is lost in two worlds. Adulthood and Childhood. I think Holden fears change in his life. He doesn't want to become an adult. He thinks adulthood is complicated and full of complexity. He describes adulthood in just one word, "phoniness." He basically notices phoniness in almost every adult. For instance, he calls the headmaster of one of the high schools phony for shaking hands with parents of the students during a function. This example really shows that he doesn't want to become an adult and get into the life of complexions and "phoniness."
In chapter 9, he talks about sex and acknowledges that sex is something that he just can not understand. From my perspective, it portrays that Holden is a child. He doesn't understand sex. He doens't understand that sex is a part of adult life. And he doesn't want to accept the reality. It scares him. He wants everything to be easy to understand.
Teenagers in our society struggles with maturity and lack of responsbility as they transition from childhood to adulthood. For example, I fear of getting all the bills paid, being a good dad and most importantly living a happy life with my family. I think most of the teens now are like Holden. But we accept the reality. We know the challenges that we will face in adulthood and we would have to work hard to overcomet those problems, but for Holden, he doesn't even accept the reality.
I understand you of what Holden really thinks of life that he doesn't want a change, this relates back to Death of a Salesman where Biff does not want a change too. It seems that Biff too has a child mind because he sticks to one thing and doesn't want to change it because he can't really face it just like Holden is doing right now. Holden doesn't know the purpose of having the perfect dream that D.B is having and so is Biff not understanding the American Dream that Bernard is having. Holden is like one of those kids who has a child's mind and knows what to do in life, but does he know? what do you think about Holden, do you think that Holden and Biff share a common similarity or is there a difference based on what you think?
ReplyDeleteSomething in your blog really rang true to teenagers vs. Holden Caulfield. I like when you said, "I think most teenagers are like Holden; however, we accept the reality. We know the challenges in adulthood and we work hard to overcome them."
ReplyDeleteThis is very true. Holden refuses to 'accept' the realities in place. You, do.
Nice reflecting, Paul. I enjoy reading your blog a lot.