Catcher in the Rye the Naivety of Childhood(英语论文).docVIP

Catcher in the Rye: the Naivety of Childhood Summary: Discusses J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye. Describes main character Holden Caulfields fixation on childhood. Details how he struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the responsibilities that come with growing up. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the main character, Holden, is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is naively fixated on childhood. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the given responsibilities that come with growing up. Holden is obsessed with childhood because he chooses to be wedged between a world of the innocence of children and the complex world of adulthood. Holden deities his two younger siblings as if theyre candidates for sainthood because of his fixation. Holden is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is afraid of gaining the responsibilities that come with it. So, Holden struggles hard to stay childish. For example, throughout the book, he does not want to take responsibility to communicate with others that may want to help him. He refuses to go home and confront his parents and face the consequences. Along with this, he also pulls the childish silent treatment toward his parents; because thats the only knife he has to hurt them: ...she wouldntve been the ones that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones. So that was out. (pg. 59) He is afraid to talk to people close to him because theyll be critical to him. This would also explain his lack of interaction with Jane Gallagher: ...I kept standing there, of giving old Jane a buzz- I mean calling her long distance at B.M... The only reason I didnt call him was because I wasnt in the mood. (pg. 63) Since he is afraid of interaction with people close to him, he tries to get strangers to talk to, so the conservations he has with them wont go too into depth. He does not want to face the world of reality. For example, in chapter nine, H