Every time Holden criticises the “phonies” around him, he criticises them in a way that convinces the reader that he is right to build up his self esteem. While Spencer is trying to tell Holden the importance of playing by the rules, Holden mocks his analogy instead of looking at the main point which shows that he doesn’t really care about what Spencer has to say even though it has been established that Holden thinks about Spencer quite a lot. Hiding behind Holden’s nodding and smiling is himself cursing and mocking Spencer. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right-I’ll admit that. This is shown when Holden vents his feelings about Spencer’s advice. Through out the novel, Holden criticize adults behind his smiles because it makes him feel superior without having the sense of guilt since the adults does not know. Holden’s view of society shows that Holden only points out the phonies around him to make him feel better, yet he does not realize that he is flawed. At the end of the novel, Holden does however find out that he has a problem but he still does not want to admit it which suggests that he is still trying to achieve is goal and believes that one day he will achieve it. Holden does not even know he has a problem let alone admitting it. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that there is one. Instead of acknowledging that having sex scares and mystifies him, Holden invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of superficiality and hypocrisy by telling the readers horrible things about sex. Order custom essay Maturity in the Catcher in the Rye Holden shows this when he says “Sex is something I just don’t understand. Not only is Holden afraid of change, but he refuses to acknowledge this fear so whenever he is forced to, he invents a fantasy that adulthood is a world of “phonies”. He does eventually realize that he cannot stop the process when he tries to erase another sign that does not come off.
There is no stopping the process but Holden erases the sign anyways to symbolize his determination. Eventually, Phoebe will learn what the word means just like Holden did. This quotation shows that Holden is scared and worried about Phoebe growing up. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and finally some dirty kid would tell them”. On page 201 of the novel, Holden says “Somebody’d written ‘fuck you’ on the wall. Holden does not want to mature because he fears change and is overwhelmed by complexity. Usually, novels such as The Catcher in the Rye tell the story of a young protagonist’s growth to maturity ironically, Holden’s main goal is to resist the process of maturity.
To cope with society, Holden alienates himself from the people he considers “phonies”. Holden also mocks the adults around him to make him feel better. Holden’s mail goal is to resist the process of growing up. Holden often behaves like a prophet or a saint, pointing out the “phonies” around him because he believes they are not as mature as he is, but as the novel progresses, Holden makes choices that prevents him from maturing rather than enabling him to mature. D Salinger, tries to disprove that lesson through its protagonist. Maturity in the Catcher in the Rye Maturity is a process in life that usually no one can run away from.