The Catcher in the Rye: A Bridge from Innocence to Adulthood

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his school without permission from his parents or the school. This act in itself sets the stage for his trial and error attitude about adulthood in the sense he failed out of school, which was a childish act. He tries to rectify his failing out of school by leaving, which he views as an adult act. Holden’s leaving school represents his need for independence and he achieves this by leaving.
Another of Holden’s failed attempts at adulthood is when he goes down to he hotels club where he orders an alcoholic drink, but he is refused because the waiter will not serve him because he is underage. Holden tries to give the illusion that he is older because when he orders the drink, he “Orders it fast as possible, because if you hem and haw they think you are under 21 and won’t sell you intoxicating liquor”. This is the classic example of adolescence when one attempts to act older than his or her age when attempting to obtain alcohol. Up until the age of 21, all young adults want to ...

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