when does someone become an adult? does it just happen? or do you grow into the person you become when you are older? maybe, all it takes to become an adult is an experience.
as i finished reading this week's chapters, i began thinking about when a person officially becomes an adult. i contemplated the many aspects of life and came to the conclusion that we all become adults at different times. there is no ONE thing that happens to every one of us that can make us ALL become adults. in the context of "the catcher in the rye," i believe that holden becomes an adult when his brother passes away. from what the novel says, it seems as if holden was not very close to the brother in hollywood, however, he seems to have been quite attached to allie. after all, holden says nothing but positive things to describe him. after his brother died, it was as if holden was the eldest, and this transition drove him to break all of the windows in his garage. he was overwhelmed with grief and realized that now, there was no one older than him; nobody to guide you, support you, or look up to the way he did with allie. the position allie was no longer existed and for holden to realize that life doesn't come and go at a scheduled time, it took a great level of maturity on his part to deal with this tragedy. in this way, all it took for holden to become an adult was an experience, and that one experience changed his life.
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Excellent insight here, Jyothi. This question of childhood vs. adulthood continues throughout Catcher. I agree that Holden shows signs of maturity after having to deal with Allie's death; however, do you think he still struggles with approaching adulthood? Think of his attitudes toward Spencer or the 'phoniness' of the adults around him. Is Holden scared of growing up? I think the question of whether Holden is mature or immature is a difficult one to examine. He shows such signs of both...
ReplyDeleteI really like your post and I think that it will be very relatable to the whole story. The question is one, that many people think about each day and not many know the answer too. Good post:)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Jyothi!!!! Holden does show alot of maturity so I agree with you on that. But also he shows signs of inmaturity so the question, is which one is he?
ReplyDeletechristian, did you really just ask that? dang... ;)
ReplyDeleteum, i think that holden is at a stage that show signs of both. however, i think that he became an adult when his brother died, he just asks immature because he doesn't know how to be an adult..
I agree. Maybe Holden felt like he had to be an adult after Allie died, and that's what's messing him up now - because he tried to become an adult too fast.
ReplyDeleteDang Christian. ;)
I agree with you when you say all it takes to become adult is an experience. That experience may be good, it may be bad, or it may not be either. The point is i do not think you choose when you grow up, it comes with life. That is why there are crime, murder, and drug abuse still. Those people have yet to grow up. They do not think that they have found that ONE experience that changes their life so they keep going on the path that they want. The thing that those people have yet to realize though is that they are going through that experience that changes their life right now.
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