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Ok lets take two people. the first is a ten year old girl. Works hard in school, and the such. No need to say she is the perfect picture of innocence.
the second is a 40 year old man , in every way and “man” as we will put it. He stay home and watches dirty movies and does illegal drugs and drinks all day. he can not hold down a job, and his bills are never payed on time.
Now lets say the first girl’s parents need a babysitter for the girls younger siblings. Of course they trust their little girl over the man we just looked at. Why? Becuase she is more of an adult than he is. She can handle responsibilty- he can not. It’s that simple.
Now- we need to see if it is possible to grow up and maintain your innocence. I belive it is. The world puts pressure on the viewpoint that you havce to have sex/do drugs to become an adult, but in the pitcure we just looked at, it is obvious the the girl is much more an adult than the grown man.
So lets say Holden had taken another view on life, what if he had never smoked, done illegal drugs (alcohal, becuasn on his responsibiiltys at school wisely, gone to collage, got an education, found a nice girl and got married, and raised a family. Becuase Holden can be responsible with out all the ugly other “adult” things the world looks on as machurity, Holden would havce kept his innocence and never have fallen into the depression trap he is in.
So yes. It is possible to grow up and maintain his innocence.

Holden Caulfield has endured the test of time because he relates in so many ways that we just feel connected to him. Holden Caulfield is a boy stuck on the threshold of becoming a man and we can relate to that because most of us are coming to the age where we are selves are becoming adults and we don’t know how where supposed to act around people are age. We can also relate to Holden because we also try to jump the rites of passages as Holden does. We try to act and talk like adults because that’s what we want to be but we are also scared of becoming adults because we are to use to a parents doing everything for us and that makes us happy but if are parents stop that then we have to do it and that scares us like none other. Holden also is someone that teaches us a lesson in life and that is that we aren’t here forever so we have to use this time to are advantage. He also teaches us stuff that we shouldn’t do with are lives he is almost like that experimental older brother to us and he is going through his life and we need to learn what he dose right and what he dose wrong and make the right choice for ourselves. Holden Caulfield will endure forever because he can relate to us and are kids and their kids, and also because he is going through the same things that we are and that are kids will.

Holden Caulfield has endured time and is not sure if he wants to grow up or not. Holden does not want to grow up because he wants to keep his innocence and he doesn’t want to be come one of the things that he hates a phony or a moron. We can relate to Holden because we all at some point have to face the threshold of growing up to. Most of the time the threshold is easy to pass but for others like Holden they don’t want to grow up. Even when we are not grown up we try to act grown up or even act immature for are age. Holden is very important to our culture because so many people relate to him even if you’re young or old because you will or have gone through his same experiences. Holden makes it through his experience the same way he entered it so he doesn’t change but so many people do change so then people are less like Holden when they grow older. Holden is even referenced in everyday stuff and he is known by a lot of people. Holden is not an adult and will never become one because if he wanted to pass the threshold then he would have done so earlier. He has to on other people for money now like his parents and if he didn’t have his parents then he would be homeless. That is the same thing for use if we didn’t have our parents to take care of us when we where young. Holden Caulfield is an interesting character that will be remembered forever.

Holden Caulfield has endured and became part of our life because we as teenagers are going through the same challenges he is. Holden is a troubled boy who is on the threshold of being a kid and an adult. He smokes, drinks and swears as would an adult but he does not want to go through with sex, because that would mean he officially would loose his innocence. I know me myself is going through the same challenges of growing up he is. Kids are so use to getting what they want but without any hard work and having everything they do reflect on their parents. We don’t know what to do when we become official adults. Everything will reflect on us and not just on our parents. Holden is very confused just as everyone else is, when they get to the point of growing up. No matter how hard and scary it may be everyone will have to grow up sooner or later, no matter what. Some kids may even look like adults already, but if you go in there head, they are just as afraid of growing up as the next kid. Just like Holden, kids can do everything adults do and try to act cool and everything, but really they have no idea how to be a grownup. Innocence and youth is something that adults always tell me to hold onto as long as I can. I never really understood what that meant exactly. Now that I read this book, I really am afraid to grow up and loose all my innocence. Holden Caulfield will endure forever because no matter what year it is, all teenagers and children go through the same fears of growing up as Holden does. He really relates to kids that are on this threshold.

Holden has endured becuase when you read Caher in the rye, you feel so bad for Holden. From the first page, you feel like you just have to figure out at is going on inside Holdens head. Becucase you feel so bad for him, and becuase of the fact that you are in the same world that Holden is grwing up in ( the teenage world of in-between adult hood and child hood) you feel like you can realate to the poor guy, it feels like you are talking to a person you just met on the subway and he is telling you his most intimate secrects. Of course you can’t just let him sit there and cry. When you read you feel like it is your responsibilty just to make him feel better, to be there to listen to him. It is also intriging to find out more and more about Holden as he is sucked deeper and deeper into sprialing doom. It almost feels like he is holding soemthing back from you and you want to find out what it is. Even though this book is so sad, Holdens sense of humor keeos us from getting complety depressed and crying at every line. It is a very rare book that can make you laugh while you are crying, and it is a very strangely attrackive feeling. So that part of the reason that it why we are so attacked to Holden as a literatury figure. Another reason this charater endue is becuase of haow ard adult shave triedto keep kids from reading it. The target of censure ship in tons of schools. How ironis that a book about how good it is to keep your innocence start controverseys among parents about what thier childrern should an shouldn’t be allowed to watch.

Holden has endured because he is sort of like us in a way. He’s not really sure if he wants to become an adult or not. When you read The Catcher In The Rye you can understand what Holden is going through because we are all living in the same world as him. In the first couple of chapters you find out what Holden is really like and you feel sorry for him because he’s had alot of bad things going on in his life. Since Holden has alot of things in his life you feel like you just want to talk to him and say that everything will eventually turn out right. If it means worker much more harder to make things right then you will be very happy if it does turn out right. Sometimes when you do work hard to try and turn things around in your life it doesn’t mean that it will work out the way you thought it would. I think that Holden should have at least tried to turn things around in his life. Since this book is really sad, Holden stops us from crying by keeping his sence of humor going through out the book.

Holden Caulfield has endured and became part of our life because we are going through the same exact stage as him. We are the same as him, most kids our age our on that threshold. The threshold is whether he wants to accept adulthood or not. Some kids accept the fact of becoming adult but others like Holden do not. Many kids try to act much older than they are and even older people try to act young and immature for their age. Holden smokes, drinks, and swears like a grown up. He does everything but accepting the fact that he has to grow up. The only thing he doesn’t do is sex. Sex would take away his innocence and therefore he would be considered an adult. The fact is everyone grows up whether you like it or not. For some it is scary and for others it’s a great opportunity. Most of the kids in our class are at the point of becoming an adult, and for some they are like Holden, they don’t want to lose their innocence. But for most of the class we accept the new responsibilities of becoming an adult. Holden is very famous and well known because he represents the average teenage life. He shows how being different isn’t bad and he isn’t afraid of being who he is. He isn’t a “Phony”. Holden is very well known character and is used to show how a teenager really feels at this time of their life.

I got this in my inbox-She graduated 8 years ago.

04/27 Amanda gave 5 stars to:
The Catcher in The Rye

I read this book at least four times in high school. It’s brilliant and it deserves all the hype. I still have my copy from high school somewhere; when I find it I’m planning on reading it again now that I’m in New York.

FYI: In my Shakespeare class today we were reading Richard III and the word TEEN appeared in the script. It is not a word that is a part of most people’s vocabularies today, for sure, but it means grief or suffering.

Further research into the etymology of the word TEENAGER shows that the word was coined in Canada in the early 1920’s but was Americanized in the 1940’s, which is the era of Catcher’s inception. So maybe Holden has endured as the quintessential teenager of American literature because he is one of the first “modern” teenagers in American lit. Holden teaches us that those years between the ages of 13 and 19 are years of suffering—at the hands of teachers, parents, friends, fate…and that during those years, perhaps without even realizing it, we begin to grieve for the loss of own innocence and childhood. But he also teaches us that one can survive these years, even if they do make a guy a bit cynical.

Hopefully you connect to Holden because he is you, in some way, right at this very moment. Who you are when you read Catcher for the first time is someone you will never be again. In some ways Holden puts a voice to the teenage subconscious we all have or have had. I connect with Holden now because not only was I him, once upon a time, but now that I have children of my own, I realize just how fleeting childhood is; how soon they will have their hearts broken and their spirits crushed by the world around them…

…Okay, maybe that is a little dramatic, but I think you know what I mean :

Holden is one of those characters that stood the test of time because he relates to teenagers of all generation. When you are a teen you are looked at in a certain way, no matter when you grew up. Holden is at a point in his life when everyone has to make a decision. What kind of person are we going to be? He continues to struggle with the same trials that we as teenagers today still face. He endures because we love his character. We love the fact that he explains why he lies to people and why certain things are meaningless to him. We make the connection with him that is rarely made with a book that is over 50 years old.

Holden has endured because when you read Cather in the rye, you feel for Holden being in the situation that he is in there is nothing he can really do and there aren’t too many places for him to go. Holden endures a lot, I don’t think I could do the things that he does or keep my cool like he does in the varying situations. It’s easy to relate to Holden because whether or not you think you’re growing up or not you are. This book opens up your eyes to the fact that no matter how much you don’t want to grow up you will. It’s everyone’s fate. And In Holden’s case he tried to turn his life around after it was to late he has no one but himself and his memories to keep him company.

Bonjour tout le monde. I believe Holden is the every man of American teenagers. His struggles resonate with us because we have either endured something simliar or know and love someone who has. As we read Catcher and realize that Holden will work his way through his demons we believe that we can do the same.

J’adore ce livre. J’ai achete une copie a Shakespeare and Company a Paris!

Wow-Mrs Allan, your response is quite dark but I know how you feel. I’m often torn between protecting Jake and Eli from the world and allowing them to know it as it really is…heartbreaking.

Why has Holden Caulfield endured?

Holden Caulfield has endured since Salinger wrote about him in 1950 because so many people can relate to his journey, especially teenagers. Holden struggles with his life because he does not want to grow up and lose his innocence. Although he acts like an adult with his smoking and swearing, he absolutely hates the idea of becoming a “phony” like everybody else. I think everybody in the world can identify with Holden Caulfield at least once in their entire lives. Everyone goes through the awkward stage in between being a child and becoming an adult. Some people handle this transition very well and except responsibility as it comes to them, while some people are eager to grow up and become part of the adult world. Others, like Holden, want to remain innocent as long as they can, holding on to their youth with everything they have. Holden has become part of our culture because he is so realistic and believable. Some people may be anxious to grow up to be an adult, but no one really wants to be a phony. I also think everyone can relate to the idea of “Holdenism”, or having your own religion. We all do our own things, and we all think about our own things, and we all believe in our own things, even though many people go to God for a sense of community, belief, and hope. All of these things are what contribute to Holden enduring for over 50 years through history.

Holden Caulfield has endured and became part of our life. This is true because us teens are growing through the same stage as him. We are the same as him and have the thresholds that he has. The threshold is whether Holden wants to grow up and be an adult. Some kids in the world we live in today accept the responsibility that comes with adulthood but Holden does not. Many people kids accept it just like it is apart of life but some people like the adults try to act younger because they do not want to lose there innocence.

You can tell that Holden wants to grow up just by his actions that he does, he smokes, drinks and swears like he is an adult but does everything in his power to not be one. One thing that he has not done is “go all the way”, which is loosing his virginity. If he was to lose it then there goes his innocence right out of the door and he is left with the fact that he is not a little kid anymore and now has to grow up. Whether you like it or not everyone has to accept being adult sometime. Some people it is just one thing that they can wait for, for others it’s the final step and can not wait to get there. Mostly all of the kids in our class are ready for adulthood and want it to happen others just don’t want to lose their innocence. Holden Caulfield is the exact person to describe a teenager life. He acts different and is his own person. Holden is the person everyone wants to be but is scared that being different is bad.

Holden has endured because everyone teenager can relate to him. Actually everyone can relate to Holden. These stages that Holden goes through everyone in real life goes through. Some kids are on that threshold of him wanting to be in adulthood and staying a kid. Some people accept that adulthood and some don’t like my mom. She likes to think that she is a 19 but really she is 39. But like some kids they act older than they really are. They will swear witch just makes them sound ignorant. They will also try other things like drinking or smoking. Doing drugs or having sex. Yeah they are put out there for you to do but it doesn’t make you an adult. I am amazed that Holden has not had sex yet. I mean He drinks and he smokes. I guess that is the only innocence that he has left. People in our class are at that stage in their life where they have lost their innocents and are accepting the fact they have to take on adulthood. Then there are the kids who have sex, drink and smoke but don’t want to take on the responsibility to grow up. I think you do whatever you want. Drink, smoke, have sex whatever floats your boat as long as you get your responsibilities out of the way.

Salinger wanted us to see that Holden is just like any American teenager, that no matter what the time period what the struggle we all go through the same things. Holden is still “alive” because we want him to be. We like to think that we can see ourselves and our daily struggles in him. Since I have been reading this book I see my self wondering “what would Holden do?” “how would Holden act in a situation like this” this is because Holden is so much like the average teenager he goes through the same things and talks about them like we want to ; he is not afraid to tell how he feels. He is so realistic to us because everybody sees there self in him. Holden has became part of who I am in my everyday life I look at things in a different light now because Holden has like, kind of opened my eyes in a way , to look at things. Holden portrays him self as angry, mean upset spiteful, but when he sees things that has to do with his childhood he gets sensitive and happy. I think that the reason he loves his sister so much is because she a child, and he sees the innocence in her and he doesn’t want her to loose it but you cant save that everybody has to grow up and mature its just the way that everybody goes about which determines weather or not you can keep it. Holden survives because he is what everybody wants to be. He acts and says things that everybody wants to say. He brings you into his life he makes you want to get to know him because you feel like you have to. When you open up the book you feel like you need to be there for him; like you don’t understand what’s going on in his head and you feel bad. Holden Survives because we keep him up, we keep bringing him up in thinking of hi in our everyday lives

The reason that Holden has endured so many years and that we can still relate to him is because of his longing for answers that no one but he can answer because no one but he can tell him what he wants to become. Holden is having trouble at home, he doesn’t really know how he should fee about girls or really anything at this point in his life, and he is mad at the world for the way that it is going and just the way that people are. The way that the adults act, that he can see, is confusing him to think that he should stay a child that he should keep that innocence, but on the other hand he acts like an adult and behaves like an adult and wants the responsibility of one but is still not sure what he should be. Holden is just confused and not sure what he should do with his life how he should act and he just doesn’t know what to do, but isn’t that every one in this point in there lives? Salinger has taken the basic human elements, emotions, that teenagers usually feel at this point in there lives, that they don’t know the direction of their lives or how to control their futures. So Holden has endured all this time as a result of he being the main essence of all teenagers in the sense of the hormones the confusion that all teens feel and can relate to so they can feel that they aren’t the only on this is happening to. So Holden Caulfield is part of our society and is an icon for all teens, and is here to stay.

Holden endures by using basic human elements. Also he is living the same as us teenagers are now. All teenagers go through that stage. Holden struggles through love with the girl he really likes, with becoming an “adult”, he is always angry with everything, and more. At the age of sixteen, Holden is a young gentleman trying to become an adult. The things he does make him think that he is an adult even though he doesn’t want to be treated like one. What’s the point with all this? If he doesn’t want to go through the consequences as adults do, why does he do it anyways? Smoking, drinking, swearing doesn’t get you anywhere. One thing he doesn’t do is lose his virginity. All of the bad things that he has been doing make him ignorant. He doesn’t understand that all the choices he is making can mess him life and his future.

Holden Caulfield endures because he does not want to grow up to be a phony. Phonies are adults or people that have lost there innocence. That is he total opposite of what Holden is trying to do. He does not want to grow up, loose his innocence, and become a phony. What he tries to do, is set himself apart from other people so that others will not confuse him with an adult. Another way that he sets himself apart is that he does not try that hard in school. He does not apply himself fully. He does not want to get out of high school because he thinks that if he stays there he will not grow up. Salinger wants us to see that he is just like every other teenager, no matter what period he or we are in. However, I think that the only other difference between the teenager of today and the teenager of the 1950’s is that we in this generation want to grow up so that we can do more things that are adult like. Moreover, I think that what Salinger is trying to tell us in the book is not to grow up too fast. Enjoy out youthful years as best as we can.

In the novel “Catcher in The Rye”, J. D Salinger presents Holden so he can relate to nearly every teenager, whether it be through the hatred of not wanting to become an adult, and wanting to act like an adult in certain ways or the loss of a particularly close person. Holden can relate to everyone because he goes through what everyone else does, whether it be in 1951 or 2008. Piratically every teenager in this spot is standing directly on top of the threshold, the threshold between being a child and becoming an adult. Most teenagers try to take a step over the threshold and become an adult by smoking, swearing etc. But when they realize what it is like to be an adult they step back farther than they really should. Holden is stuck just like us at the threshold that is directly between being a child and an adult, and he doesn’t know which one he wants to chose , keeping his innocence or smoking and acting like an adult.

My name is Samantha I was fourteen then I am fifteen now , But I act like I’m eleven.

Holden Caulfield is a character that has survived through generations because teenagers find him easy to relate to. Caulfield fought the idea of growing up. He was fearful of what he thought the adult world was like. His opinion was that adults were phony and shallow. As I look at the adults in my life, I can’t really understand why he hated them.
At times, I do resent when adults make decisions for me without talking to me first. However, I try to see their side as the parent and I work at having better communication. Growing up is a confusing time even with the best of support. Holden spent his whole youth resisting becoming an adult. Even though society and his body told him it was time to change, his mind kept saying “No”. He was strong of character(Holdenism) in that he made changes that he didn’t believe in, but he never felt like there was a spot for him in society. This strength was one of Holden’s attributes that has been respected throughout the years. Many teenagers are dealing with these same feelings that they are being left out of cliques and must struggle for a place to belong. Holden saw himself as a protector of children, particularly his sister. He was driven to try to make beautiful moments last forever. I think all teenagers have a part of them that wishes to be young again because they see it as a time where they don’t have to be accountable for their actions. This allows teenagers to understand Holden’s desire to avoid reality. In the novel, we never learn what happens to Holden. This makes the novel more realistic and therefore future generations will continue to make Holden important to their cultures.

Holden Caulfield is one way or another, a part of every teenager that ever reads this book. He is a boy who is scared of the part of life called growing up. Holden is stuck near that threshold just like many people are today. This character can relate to many other people and can fit into many other books or movies because Holden is the symbol of the biggest threshold in life. The thresholds were we stop being children and start acting like adults. I think Holden endures what everyone will endure at least once in their life. He goes through love and hate at the same time. I believe that this is one of the many reasons Holden appears as a reference in many authors’ writings. This character can be symbolized for confusion on whether or not to grow up, he can also be symbolized for the many passageways a person must go through in their life before that person can become something else they want to be.

Holden is a teenager just like every one of the peers I see each day. He is similar to teenagers over the world. Of course, Holden did not do the same things nor did he see the same things as teens of today, but he has endured. He has overcome everyday obstacles that many of today’s teenagers face. I feel Holden faced some of the challenges. One of those challenges is crossing the threshold. There comes a point in every child’s life where he or she has to become an adult. No one wants to grow up. Everyone wants to get the baby treatment, take naps, and eat all they want. All kinds of things about being a child are fun. But again, this threshold that must be crossed. Another challenge faced by Holden is family. He has lost his younger brother with whom he was very close. He doesn’t talk to his parents. He is jealous of his older brother and he loves his sister to death. We all think our parents get on our nerves; we have lost someone important, and if some of us have younger siblings, we either love them both. Holden has faced some hard times but he has endured.

Holden Caulfield has endured this entire time because he relates to almost all teenagers in so many ways. Holden is at the same age or place in life where we are stuck also the threshold of becoming an adult and or keeping are innocence and staying a child. We also connect to Holden because just like us we are always jumping around the steps of life, one minute we will be doing something very responsible then the next second we are playing with something we shouldn’t be, everyone doesn’t and that’s just the way we are we are innocent and an adult on and off all through our lives. Holden Caulfield is a lesson to all of us teenagers in a way because he shows us that you are not here forever and you must change and make differences in life. He made me look at life in a completely different perspective through life in seeing innocence in many ways, for example my sister I never would have looked at her and realized that she’s growing up now and she’s going to soon be a teen and have to go through the same stuff we are all going through now in our lives. Now I know that I have to soon give up my childhood/innocence and help her through her journey as long as mine and be a meter in the rye so Holden says. Holden Caulfield has endured all this time and will still continue to help teenagers all over understand and help us through our lives.

Holden Caulfield is such a believable character because he went through so many struggles and realistic situations. Through out his teenage life he was really trying to figure out who he was, trying to find out Holden Caulfield’s identity. Holden was a regular teenager with the exception that he had the personality of an adult but never really realized it. He tried so hard not to grown up and lose his innocence; he didn’t even realize the adult actions he was taking part in. In my opinion Holden is a typical teenager; he is confused, he doesn’t try hard in school, and he doesn’t fit in. But that doesn’t make Holden a fictional character; through all he went through he never gave up. He was such an inspirational character because he is so relatable. As a teenager I know what it is like to want to stay a child and innocent. I would do anything to get the opportunity to stay home all day and watch cartoons, take naps, and eat snacks all day. This is why I believe Holden Caulfield is an icon today. There are teenagers out there who drink and smoke and run away from home just like Holden. In a way I believe we are all Holden Caulfield, just everyone represents a different side of him. The things he endured we can all look back on and remember a time in our lives we did something just like him.

Ok, I think Holden has been good to this culture be4cause he mad some of us realize who we are today. When reading this book I have noticed that all the book that we have read they are being linked. When I was reading I realized that Mr. Kreinbrings quote was true. “You have to read to find out who we are.” When reading this book about Holden, you find out who you are because you compare the benefits that you and Holden have. Another great reason why he is very important is because you learn to realize what would happen if you were upsets with loosing your innocence. This is what I think about Holden being important in our culture.

Holden Caulfield has made his way into teenager’s lives because we can relate to his struggles of not wanting to grow up, but turning out to have grown up with out even knowing it. Like for example; I can relate myself to Holden because I had a brother die when he was young. My brother Alex died of Leukemia when he was just nine years old, I was only four. This was an experience that made me want to go back in time and stay there in the time my brother was still alive. To me it is kind of ironic that his brother died and his brother’s name started with an A just like my brother. It made me feel like Holden a lot more. I can relate to Holden also because we don’t try our best in school, and I haven’t been trying to do my best in school in a long time. Like Holden and I don’t realize that we need to do well in school, we kind of both push it off to the side. I don’t think that Holden and I see that we have potential do succeed in life. Just like Holden I love my little sister to death, and to think about some of the things her peers are doing at such a young age like smoking and drinking really makes me worry for her. I guess you could say that I don’t want my sister Toni-Girl to grow up. Yes, I do want her to stay innocent but I know that it will never happen like that. I think that Holden Caulfield will always endure.

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