Is The Catcher in the Rye a Coming of Age Novel?
Throughout the process of reading The Catcher in the Rye, we discussed whether this book is a coming-of-age novel. In my opinion, The Catcher in the Rye is a coming-of-age novel. However, it is an incomplete coming-of-age novel; Holden does not complete his transformation in this book, but by the end of the novel, the process of maturation may have started.
My first piece of evidence to support this claim is how Holden reacts to Mr. Spencer’s advice versus how he reacts to Mr. Antolini’s advice later in the book. When Holden goes to Mr. Spencer’s house, Mr. Spencer gives him several pieces of advice, and while Holden seems polite from the outside, he internally says “Game, my ass. Some game” (Salinger 7), indicating that he isn’t listening at all. I don’t think Holden learns anything from his interaction with Mr. Spencer because he isn’t yet ready to listen and adapt his behavior and thoughts to integrate himself into society. However, I think Holden shows much more potential to grow up when he talks to Mr. Antolini. After Mr. Antolini tells Holden that he may destined for “some kind of a terrible, terrible fall” (Salinger 200) and that he should start applying himself to school because he’s in love with knowledge, Holden thanks Mr. Antolini. He also doesn’t forget the advice, unlike what he does with Mr. Spencer’s guidance; while Holden sits on a bench in Grand Central Station, Mr. Antolini’s tips come to his mind, and he seems genuinely grateful for the information. This gives the readers hope that Holden has evolved and may start applying the advice in the future.
My second piece of evidence is Holden thinks he will apply himself in school the next year. Obviously, Holden doesn’t know what he’s going to do until he does it, but before, Holden showed no interest in school and doing well. Therefore, it’s possible that he really will change his attitude. Another important fact is that Holden realizes that “I sort of miss everybody I told you about” (Salinger 204) which may indicate that maybe he has finally learned that not everyone is as phony as he thinks. Overall, although the readers don’t get to see how Holden implements his new mindset and changes, The Catcher in the Rye seems to leave open the possibility that Holden will change his actions, making this novel an incomplete coming-of-age story.
*Quick note on page numbers: All page numbers come from the ebook. They may not correspond to the page numbers in the physical copy.
I totally agree with your assessment that Holden still hasn't coming-of-age, although it seems like he is moving in that direction. It's kind of disappointing that we don't see more of Holden's maturation save for a hint at the very end of the story. I would have liked to see Holden mature (to some extent) towards the end of the story, probably so I could like him more.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with what you said, I got the same impressions from the same moments lol. The unfinished nature leaves a lot up to interpretation, because we honestly don't even know if he'll even stick with these new ideas and outlooks, or if he'll fall back into his old ways once he goes back to boarding school. It actually seems a bit like he's "hiding" or trying to underplay any kind of idealogical change he might have undergone, trying to play things off casually, although that might just be his personality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! I feel like Holden did no completely transform. It's very hard to tell if his mindset changed at all, especially when he says: I'm going to "try" at my new school, but who knows if I actually will. You can't really say you're going to do something because you won't know if you will until you do it. You could read this as an optimistic statement, but I read this as... Holden is still uncertain. My question is: does he have to conform to societal expectations/morale in order to come of age?
ReplyDeleteI don't think he necessarily has to conform to society's expectations, but I do think he has to at least be tolerant of other people.There's plenty of examples of people not conforming to society's expectations yet still getting on relatively well in life. However, considering that humans are social creatures, he does need to at least be able to have a decent conversation with people without putting them down in his mind.
DeleteI'd definitely agree that this book would be considered a coming of age novel. Even though it doesn't seem like Holden has changed much, the fact that he's even considering applying himself in school and starting to accept others shows a somewhat significant shift in mindset. I do think that the differences in Holden's conversations with his teachers may have stemmed from the nature of the conversations and the differences in the teachers—Spencer is less relatable and kinda only lectures at Holden; Antolini is more relatable, respected by Holden, and actually converses with Holden—but these differences are part of what triggers the changes in Holden's mindset.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of an "incomplete" coming-of-age novel seems quite compatible with many of the views expressed in our initial discussion, about the meaning of coming-of-age to you, and how we measure it in contemporary American culture: a number of people who spoke in that discussion talked about there being no single moment where coming of age magically happens, but it's more of a gradual process, two steps forward, one step back. I wonder how many readers would have found it realistic or satisfying if Holden were to present himself as fully "reformed" and ready to "play the game" with no qualms at the end of the novel--would we see this as progress, or as him "selling out"? The idea that he's made some demonstrable progress (depending how we read the closing scenes) but is still a "work in progress" reflects the way a lot of you were talking about coming-of-age at the start of the course.
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