A Different Theme in Coming of Age
Through the time we spent reading the novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, I noticed some key themes that make this book a coming of age novel through a different perspective than what we’re used to seeing in coming of age. The main theme we can probably see a lot with Holden and his attitude towards everything he faces in life, his distaste for almost everything around him, is really just his way of isolating himself from the rest of society. It’s almost like alienating himself out of fear, his way of brushing everything off and blocking out everything he deems as “phony” is really a way of protecting himself from the fear of becoming phony in the first place. One thing he says to Mr. Spencer that signifies this is that he feels like he is on the “wrong side in the game of life”, as a sense of not belonging anywhere and is too scared to grow up and essentially find his way in a world where he doesn’t even belong in. I strongly believe that Holden has bottled up e...