Holden Caulfield Although he is intelligent and sensitive, Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice. He finds the hypocrisy and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable, and through his cynicism he tries to protect himself from the pain and disappointment of the adult world.

Holden, the main character, undergoes a huge change that is obvious throughout the novel. Holden goes through a series of unfortunate events as he learns his lessons the hard way. From the beginning to the end, Holden finds motivation, happiness, and realizes that he has to let go of innocence.

Because Holden’s morals and beliefs are those different from the society in which he lives in, he can’t function in that particular society. Throughout the book, certain values of Holden start to show through. He speaks a lot about how he dislikes “phonies” and tries to separate himself from them.

Holden wants to be the “Catcher in the Rye” because he wants to enable children to stop growing up and having to face adult problems. However, Holden’s dream is unrealistic. No one can really stop children from growing up or shield them completely from the problems associated with maturing.

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is so obsessed with innocence because the death of his younger brother, Allie, from leukemia was traumatic for him. Ever since that time, he has longed to protect others as he could not protect Allie and has yearned to recreate the innocent and safe world of childhood he remembers.

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden loses his innocence at the age of thirteen, when his brother, Allie, dies of leukemia. This strips away his sense that the world is safe or fair.

His past traumas and current issues have led him to depression. In the beginning, Holden tells readers about the two deaths he experienced. His younger brother, Allie, died of leukemia three years prior, which greatly impacted him emotionally. The entire novel, Holden struggles to come to terms with growing up.

Throughout the novel, Holden continuously makes references to his childhood with Jane in order to convince himself that Jane is still equally as innocent as she was during their childhood.

Jane was upset because her stepfather was abusing her. Holden’s reaction was to sit next to her and put his arm around her. But instead of just comforting her, he begins to kiss her all over her face. He confuses lust with sympathy.

In addition, given Holden’s fear of sex and sexuality, he might not want to place himself in a situation with a girl that he obviously feels very strongly about due to his own unease about growing up and the protective way that he feels about Phoebe, his younger sister, and also Jane in this section of the novel.

While skating, Holden speculates that Sally only wanted to go ice-skating so she could wear a short skirt and show off her “cute ass,” but he admits that he finds it attractive. The quarrel builds until Holden calls Sally a “royal pain in the ass,” and she begins to cry.

Maurice knows he is nothing but an ignorant flunky and will never be anything better. He also recognizes Holden as being far above him in intelligence, education, and social status. This is what really infuriates him. Then Holden provokes Maurice into hitting him by telling him off and predicting his future fate.

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