Holden's Right Of Passage To Maturity example essay topic

Adolescence is a complicated time in a person's life. Often, an adolescent does not know where they fit in. As an adolescent Holden Caufield is faced with the harshness and pressures of reality in growing up. A feeling of loneliness and alienation is what typical teenager's face on their passage towards maturity. Holden Caufield's psychological battle leads to his destruction amongst his relationships with other people but is really just typical teenage behavior which many feel is a "rite of passage" to maturity. Holden begins his struggle when he drops out of school for his low grades.

When Holden decides he will move on with life and move out on his own, he encounters many problems with his relationships. When he decides to stay with his teacher, Mr. Spencer, for the night he comes across his unconcern for what he plans to do with his life. Mr. Spencer says to Holden, "Do you feel absolutely no concern for you future, boy?" (Salinger 14). Holden quickly responds with, "Sure I do" (Salinger 14), but when he thinks about it, he realizes he really does not have much concern. Holden seems like he does not care about where he is going or what he is doing. Holden ends up getting himself from Pence to New York where he and his sister meet.

While with his sister, he sees the little girl in her, so innocent to the world around her, that he thinks it is so depressing. Holden shows his love for Phoebe when he says, "You never saw a kid so pretty and smart in your whole life" (Stalinger 67). Holden feels deep compassion for his sister and tells her to do things he can not do, but later turns around and tells her not to do them. He can not keep strait thoughts and has trouble focussing and accepting true reality. Holden's dirty and bad habits are typical of teenage behavior in that many teens don not care to be neat and clean. Holden drinks, smokes, swears, and has other nasty habits that don not seem to bother him.

Holden drinks to escape the pressure he faces as an adolescent. When he try's to meet new people at clubs, he always fails because of his behavior and rude remarks. Holden says to some blonde he meets at a club, "Don't answer if you don't feel like it. I don't want you to strain yourself" (Stalinger 72). This shows how he gets mad easily and blurts out rude comments.

Most typical teenagers find some way to escape the pressure, and by attempting to be adults they feel like they know everything. Holden's habit of smoking and other bad habits gives off an impression that he does not care about his life. The story really begins and ends in the Mental Hospital or Resting Home as he calls it. The story ends as Holden is talking to a Doctor as if he were telling this whole story to the Doctor.

This is a symbolic ending to this story because Holden always thought that he did not need to share his depressing stories with other people. Also, he did not like listening to other people tell him their depressing stories. This shows that he has a brighter future in which he will try new things which he had a negative view on before. Even though he just wants to be the catcher in the rye, the reader knows they have learned something from his struggle.

Holden's right of passage to maturity is harder than what a lot teens experience mentally, but there are many that have it worse than Holden. It is typical for teens to struggle with psychological problems since the pressures of society on teens are so harsh. Many teens are in better positions where they can have an easier rite of passage to maturity. But in Holden's case, the struggle really began within himself.

Since Holden thinks society is phony, he tries not to act like everyone else. He also criticizes them, and rebels by not having the same opinions as everyone else. In addition, Holden drinks, smokes, and swears to rebel. Teenagers are not supposed to do these things, but he does anyway. In the end, he is open to new things and has advanced into adulthood proving that Holden Caufield psychological meltdown was his rite of passage to maturity.