Catcher in the Rye- Responsibility (Question 8)

In the novel Catcher in the Rye, the author uses his story to show the responsibilities that he believes exist between people of different ages. The main character in this book, Holden, is a sixteen year old who was kicked out of school and who is afraid to grow up. Holden is at the age where you stop depending on your parents as much and you are becoming more of an adult. I am sixteen and I know exactly what Holden is going through during this book. Unlike me, Holden does not want to grow up. Holden wants to stay a child and never change. The author makes it very obvious that Holden does not like change or surprises when we read about his visit to the Museum of Natural History. Holden looks at the statues and realizes that they never change, and that he is the one who changes. Holden does not want to grow up because he thinks that adults are superficial and phony, but I also think it may be because of the responsibilities he will gain as he gets older. When you are an adult, you have to get a job and be able to provide for yourself and for your family, as opposed to when you are a child and you have almost no responsibilities. I think that the author uses this book to show us the different responsibilities that come with getting older. For example, when you turn sixteen you are responsible enough to drive a car, and I think that Holden may not be ready to stop being a child yet. I think that Holden thinks all of the adults are phony because they have so many responsibilities that they lose all of their child like qualities. I think that Holden is afraid of loosing his childhood innocence and of change. I think that the author did a really good job with using this novel to show us the different responsibilities that come with getting older.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.