3B+Adolescence

The term adolescence has drastically changed over time, but as of today it can be defined as, "the period following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops from a child into an adult." In J. D. Salinger's book, **__Catcher in the__ __Rye__**, the main character Holden Caulfield struggles to find his identity and seemingly rejects his adolescence. We will be discussing how important/ unimportant the adolescence of a person is and how we believe Holden handles his adolescence. To begin, I would like to pose the question: does everyone experience adolescence the same?
 * //Opener:// **


 * //Questions:// **

1.) How has Allie’s death affected Holden?

2.) Why is Holden so afraid of his adolescence? Why does he reject it?


 * 3.) Is adolescence necessary? (QUESTION TO THE CLASS) **

4.) Does everyone experience adolescence the same way?

5.) How has the term adolescence been redefined over time?

6.) Why does Holden try to act grown up, then act like a child?

7a.) Is sexuality a big part of adolescence? 7b.) Do you believe that Mr. Antolini's actions towards Holden at the end of the novel were solely caring or homosexual?

8.) Do you think Holden rejects his adolescence because he is scared of what other adolescents may say about him? Or is it for Allie?

9) What kind of impact does an adult have on child's view of life as he/she grows older?

[|__http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/history-child-labor__]
 * //Mike Bodie:// **** How has Allie’s death affected Holden’s adolescence? **

To use slavery as an example,school age slaves would experience adolescence much differently than people who went through education. As a school age slave, you were required to work 50 to 70 hour weeks, which was the case for over 2,000,000 children. This would cause these children to mature and go through their adolescence at a much younger age since they already are experiencing what working for a living feels like, a task that will mature them. [|__http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-imposes-the-draft__]

Another event that would cause children to grow out of their adolescence differently would be when the draft was formed into the World War II American army. This draft took many people who were still in their adolescence and put them in war. This action in turn caused these people to outgrow their adolescence much quicker due to the life experiences they had.

Comparing these two examples to Catcher and the Rye, Holden experiences adolescence similar to many Americans today. Although he is almost done with his education, he still displays childish behaviors with a few signs of maturity. One example of maturity is when he orders drinks while spending time in the city. This action may seem subtle but it is really quite significant as he is under the drinking age, but trying to grow up. His adolescence and immaturity is also shown by the fact he fails out of school. This action shows he is not fully matured yet, much like most school age children.

[|__http://psychcentral.com/lib/adolescence-a-time-of-growth-and-change/000534__]
 * Does everyone experience adolescence the same? **

Adolescence is experienced at different times in people’s lives due to their life experiences. As the article above states, adolescence is largely affected by peers and children leaving the controls of their parents. Children who grow up with freedom from their parents may enter their adolescence at a different time as compared to someone who grows up in a very sheltered life and then suddenly emerges into adolescence once being exposed to peers.

To exemplify the different ways people can experience adolescence, you can look into two people from movies who demonstrate their adolescence in very different ways. Ferris Bueller is known during his movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as being very carefree during his adolescence. He even says, “I’ve got my whole life in front of me, and I don’t have to live by the rules now.” He experiences adolescence much differently than another common movie character, Harry Potter. In the very first Harry Potter movie, Harry was only 11 years old, but still showed maturity far beyond what Ferris Bueller showed in his movie although he is a high school student. This difference in how they experience adolescence could be due to their life experiences prior to us being introduced to the character. Harry lived a very difficult life with his parents dying when he was very young while Ferris lived a rather easy life of simply going to school like a normal teenager.

“I don’t give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am - I really do - but people never notice it. People never notice anything.” (Salinger 11)

This quote shows Holden’s adolescence because he is trying to grow up simply by acting older. He continues in that paragraph to say it’s really ironical, because I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair. I really do. The one side of my head - the right side - is full of millions of gray hairs.” (Salinger 11). He is now explaining that although he acts older than he is, his adolescence is still found. He uses this metaphor to say half of him is grown up while half is yet to mature fully.

“Here’s my idea. How would you like to get the hell out of here? Here’s my idea. I know this guy down in Greenwich Village that we can borrow his car for a couple of weeks. He used to go to the same school I did and he still owes me ten bucks. What we could do is, tomorrow morning we could drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont, and all around there, see. It’s beautiful as hell up there. (Salinger 132)” Holden’s immaturity is exemplified here since he becomes very disappointed in Sally for not running away with him, even to the point where where he calls her a “royal pain in the ass” (Salinger 133). Any mature person would realize this is an unreasonable request to put on someone since people have responsibilities and can’t just do what they want when they want to do it as Holden feels he can.

//Lit Crit Article// 3. The impact of the adolescent problems on Holden These adolescent problems Holden confronts exert great influence on him, and results in his erratic behavior, and his negative attitudes towards people, society and everything happening around him we can perceive after reading the novel. Holden behaves almost erratically and impulsively. There seems to be no rational or reasonable motivation for his behavior. In Chapter6, Holden’s inability to control his behavior reaches far beyond any normal teenage impulses. When Stradlater fails to appreciate Holden’s composition, Holden suddenly tears it into pieces with great anger. His fight with Stradlater also shows Holden’s inability to control himself: when he suspects that Stradlater has slept with his old friend, Holden responds by punching him. In Chapter 17, Holden calls Sally Hayes to have a date. During lunch, Holden complaints that he is fed up with everything around him and suggests that they run away together to New England, where they can live in a cabin in the woods. When Sally rejects his idea, Holden calls her a “royal pain in the ass,” and she starts to cry. Holden feels somewhat sad, and realizes that he doesn't even know where he gets the idea about going to New England. Within him, Holden has negative attitudes towards almost everything and everyone he meets. He strongly disgusts the “phony” things in society, especially the theater and the world of movies he often calls “phony”. In Chapter 17, Holden tells Jane Gallapher that he hates everything: taxicabs, living in New York, phony guys who call the Lunts angels. Holden’s unhealthy attitude towards sex deserves our attention. He is disturbed by the fact that he is aroused by kinky, sexual behavior such as spitting in one’s partner’s face. Although Holden considers such behavior as “crumby”, he admits that it is pretty fun, although he doesn't think that it should be. Holden even appreciates sexuality in its most lurid forms, relishing Carl’s gossip about which actors are closeted homosexuals, and can only conceive of Carl’s relationship with the sculptress in terms of exotic sensuality. Holden harbors disgust for his teachers except Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini and dislikes his roommates Ackley and Stradlater. Ackley is rude: “He always picked up your personal stuff and looked at it.”ĸ  and in appearance he is very disgusting:“I never even once saw him brush his teeth. They always looked mossy and awful…Besides that, he had a lot of pimples…all over his whole face.”Stradlater is outwardly handsome and charming but “Stradlater was more of a secret slob.”

//** Audrey Powell: **// “Maturity is when your world opens up and you realize that you are not the center of it.” M.J. Croan


 * How does this quote relate to the character of Holden and his experiences throughout the novel? **

This quote applies to the character Holden because throughout the novel, he is the center of his world, doing what he wants when he wants to do it. For example, Holden says, “It was against my principles and all but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think” (Salinger 90). At this point in the novel, Holden has just ordered a prostitute without thinking of the downfalls of this or how his family would view him if they found out he was doing this. His immaturity is shown here by the way he only thinks about himself.


 * Why does Holden attempt to grow up and then continue being childish? **

I believe with the absence of Allie, Holden is having a difficult time coping with the death and feels that he can better move on from the death if he grows up. Older people generally cope with death and big issues better, so Holden probably sees this as his opportunity to move on with his life. Since he is still adolescent though, the childish behaviors continue to come back. Holden is also known as a lonely man and he feels that he lost the only person who truly understood him.


 * How has Allie’s death affected Holden’s adolescence? **

“The one little kid, the one that asked me, had his pants open. I told him about it. So he buttoned them right up where he was standing talking to me” (Salinger 168).

Allie’s death is causing Holden to attempt to grow up before he is fully ready. Here, he finds this boy very funny when in fact, this kid is not that much younger than him. The significance of this quote is that Holden is attempting to act mature in order to get over the death of Allie.

[|__http://www.dougy.org/grief-resources/how-to-help-a-grieving-teen/__] As many doctors have described in the source above, all teens grieve in different ways using different methods. In the case of Holden, he grieves by trying to mature and forget about the death. He feels that if he grows up, the death will be less dominant in his life. During the course of the story though, the opposite is found to be true. He does some very mature things such as ordering alcohol in bars and a prostitute, but his missing of Allie only grows stronger as the story progresses.

[|__http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Stages-of-Adolescence.aspx__] In this article, doctors say that most boys and girls enter adolescence still perceiving the world around them in concrete terms: Things are either right or wrong, awesome or awful. They rarely set their sights beyond the present, which explains younger teens inability to consider the long-term consequences of their actions. This relates to Holden's life in the book because he is so caught up with how he can portray himself as an older age than he actually is, and that gets in the way of being able to live in the present.

“Here’s my idea. How would you like to get the hell out of here? Here’s my idea. I know this guy down in Greenwich Village that we can borrow his car for a couple of weeks. He used to go to the same school I did and he still owes me ten bucks. What we could do is, tomorrow morning we could drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont, and all around there, see. It’s beautiful as hell up there. (Salinger 132)”

“ I know we only met but let's pretend it's love

And never never never stop not for anyone” –Live While We’re Young, One Direction

The quote above from the novel is exemplifying how teens can be immature. Holden is jumping to conclusions about moving to New England with Sally, even though they just met. The song lyric by One Direction is saying the same thing. Even though in both situations they both just met the person they are falling for, they are jumping to conclusions about the rest of their life and aren't able to live in the moment.

//** Abby Corna: **//

[|__http://www.tpronline.org/article.cfm/Teens__Grief__] As Donna Schuurman described in the article above, adolescents usually will mimic the grieving process of other adults surrounding them, because they don’t always know how to cope with the loss, independently. I don’t believe that that’s the case with Holden grieving over Allie’s death, however. I think that the majority of his family doesn't want to reminisce over Allie’s life because his death was so traumatic for them, that they just want to move on from it. Where as with Holden, he constantly has Allie on the brain, and wants to keep his memory alive, almost as if he were still present. For instance, Phoebe was probably mimicking the grieving process of her parents when she said, “Allie’s dead-You always say that! If somebody’s dead and everything, in Heaven, then it isn’t really-”(Salinger 172). Phoebe had gotten so sick of Holden’s grieving process, of always talking about Allie and when he was still alive, that she used her grieving mechanism and cut him off before he could continue. As far as Holden’s adolescence in regard to Allie’s death, he feels like he can’t really have one, since his brother never got to live out his. Holden most likely feels selfish if he were to live out his years as an adolescent when his brother never got to.

//** Abby Corna: **//

[|__http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/erikson.stages.html__] As Erikson exclaimed in his stages, every adolescent goes through a series of stages, which come along with new feelings and experiences. In stage 5, the adolescent experiences identity vs role confusion. The teen, feels as though they don’t fully have a grasp on who they are, and they don’t know exactly where they fit in. This relates to Holden, because he always felt like he didn’t fit in, and always used insulting others as a defense mechanism, to make him feel better about himself. These stages prove that adolescence is a necessity, because adolescents need to endure each phase of the stage, and be successful in progressing, so that they can be better off when they reach adulthood. Holden always was commenting on how he looked older because he had physical characteristics like having grey hair, or being tall for his age, to try to conceal his age. He especially got offended when anybody would question him about it, “It’s immaterial to me,” she said. “Hey-how old are you, anyhow?” That annoyed me, for some reason. “Oh, for Christ. Don’t spoil it,” I said. “I’m twelve, for Chrissake. I’m big for my age”(Salinger 72). Holden didn't go through the stages of adolescence, he was always trying to speed up his childhood, and was always in such a rush to reach adulthood.

[|__http://www.marxists.org/archive/wallon/works/1965/ch10.htm__]

//** Laura Robak: **//** Why is Holden afraid of his adolescence? **

In the source below, Angela Oswalt says that in order for a child to successfully get through their adolescence stage of life, one must have the social support of parents, peers, teachers, coaches, and many more. The social support of these adults enables a child to practice handling stressful and challenging circumstances while simultaneously knowing that if they need help, someone is nearby and willing to assist them. As a result, social support enables a child to gain experience in managing stressful situations and gains confidence while doing so. Oswalt also talks about how as a teenager goes through adolesence, they become more prone to stressful events which enables them to have rapidly changing emotions which makes them feel like they are "caught in the storm".

Oswalt, Angela. “Adolescent Emotional Development.” Ed. C. E. Zupanick. SevenCountries.org. Seven Countries Services, 2005. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. < [|__http://sevencountries.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=41159&cn=1310__] >.


 * What kind of impact does an adult have on child's view of life as he/she grows older? **

Harris, Judith Rich. “The Nurture Assumption.” Ny Times. New York Times Company, 1998. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. . [|__https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/harris-nurture.html__]

In the source above, Judith Rich Harris explains the reasons children turn out the way they do. As the child goes through adolescence, parental support is very crucial. The way the parent interacts with the child results in the child's attitude towards their life. Children need to be nurtured and put in a safe and protected environment as they grow older. However, HaIsis explains how being nurtured and being put in a certain type of environment are completely different topics. A child could be nurtured very well by their parents, but their environment could change how they view the outside world.

//** Laila Moudud: **//** How has adolescence been refined over the years? **

Wolfe, Pat. "The Adolescent Brain: A Work in Progress." Pat Wolfe – Mind Matters, Inc. ©2014 Pat Wolfe – Mind Matters, Inc., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. . Pat Wolfe, the author of the article The Adolescent Brain: A Work in Progress, describes the physical process that the brain goes through during adolescence. He starts off by bringing up that scientists used to believe that the brain grows and matures during early childhood and is fully matured by the time puberty hits. However, modern science has discovered that the brain actually starts to develop during puberty. He then goes on to describe the processes that go on in the brain; the frontal lobe does an extravagant amount of reorganizing during this time. Also, the brain self-cleans itself by getting rid of unused synapses and doesn’t stop until the age of twenty or so. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden believes that he is fully matured and can take on the world; this is what motivates him to leave Pencey and go to New York. He drinks and tries to act smooth with the ladies to prove to others and to himself that he is old enough to be there by himself. The fact that he believes that drinking and getting with many women are signs of maturity ironically show signs of immaturity. He does these things because he sees adults doing them, so believes that he’ll seem older by doing them, however, a real adult would realize the actual dangers and consequences of each, which he doesn’t do.


 * How can Holden relate to the quote “ No adolescent ever wants to be understood, which is why they complain about about misunderstood all the time” (Stephen Fry, Moab Is My Waspot)? **

Holden runs away from his school, Pencey, because he failed every course except English. Instead of going home and explaining to his his family what happened, he chooses to go to the city and live on his own for a bit: “I didn't want to go home or anything till they got it and thoroughly digested it and all” (Salinger 66). He believed that his parents wouldn't understand him, so he felt that it would be best if he waited until they got the news first and took some time to swallow it all before heading home to deal with their wrath. Nevertheless, when he actually did end up going back home, his parents ended up sending him to another boarding school instead of scolding him: “...I went home, and how I got sick and all, and what school I’m supposed to go to next fall…” (Salinger 276). His parents didn't give him a hard time about failing out of school like he expected. This is similar to the quote above because Holden claimed that his family wouldn't understand why he keeps failing his courses, which is why he ran away. I feel that the real reason he ran away was because he didn't want to have to explain to his family why he keeps flunking, so he tries to avoid it by going to New York City. He didn't want his parents to understand what he was going through because he doesn't want to have to clarify to his family what is going on with him. I believe that, unconsciously, Holden really wants to be with his family, so he keeps failing out of these different schools so that he has an excuse to come home again. He tries to act all grown up by going off into the city by himself, drinking, and being out until all hours of the night, but that’s only because he wants to come off as someone who doesn't give a care in the world about anything. The reality is, that’s just the appearance that he wants people to believe he has; he’s using this image to cover up his longing to be home with his family.

//** Abby Corna: **//** Why does Holden attempt to grow up and then continue being childish? ** Because, Holden doesn’t fully have a grasp on what adulthood and growing up, truly entails. He always feels guilty since Allie didn’t get to live out his childhood, that he feels like he has to rob it from himself, to make himself feel less remorseful over it. Holden has such a negative outlook on life because he’s internally struggling with the death of his brother, that he doesn't care about anything in life, especially not his responsibilities with school, or setting up a successful future for himself. Holden especially acts like a child when interacting with other people; he doesn't have a filter and doesn't know how to stop himself from saying inappropriate things, “C’mon, let’s get outa here,” I said. “You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth”(Salinger 133). Holden doesn't know that you shouldn't just say whatever comes to your mind, because what you’re going to say, could be hurtful towards the other person, but Holden doesn't have an understanding for that, and says whatever he wants to. Holden truly thinks that he knows the criteria of being an adult, when in reality he’s just an adolescent that acts rather childish.

** Erin McKee **

3B

Works Cited

Golub, Adam. “American Adolescent.” Forbes. Forbes, 30 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/30/j-d-salinger-catcher-in-the-rye-pop-culture-opinions-contributors-adam-golub.html>. This article speaks to the fact that before this book came out the idea of adolescence and the “teenager” were very blurred. Children were expected to grow up very quickly, and adolescence was just a vague idea. “Perhaps one of the most important legacies of Salinger’s novel is the way in which it anticipated a shift in American attitudes toward adolescence.” This quote from the article shows that after being published, __Catcher in the Rye__ changed the mind and viewpoints of many American people, and changed the culture of America.

Wallon, Henri. “L’evolution Psychologique De L’enfant” [“The Psychological Development of the Child”]. Trans. Michael Vale and Nate Schmolze. Marxists Internet Archive. Ed. Jason Aaronson. Jason Aaronson, 2001. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.marxists.org/archive/wallon/works/1965/ch10.htm>. This article gives background information regarding the emotional, physical and mental development of adolescents. It helps readers to better understand how different things can stimulate and further the development of young adults, while others can be very detrimental and damage a child’s life. Damaging effects would include the death of a sibling, like Holden went through with Allie, and a poor education, which he is experiencing now because of not applying himself. Good things Holden are doing however, are going to see Phoebe, which brings back happy memories for him, and he has a dream of being the “catcher in the rye” which keeps him stable and sane.

http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=SHv4n2_BR.pdf

This website talks about sexuality and adolescence, Holden seemed to be struggling with his sexuality which made him reject the idea of his adolescence. Do you think sexuality has a big role in a child or teen's adolescence?

Mike Bodie Works Cited

Works Cited //Adolescence: A Time of Growth and Change.// Psych Central, n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. <http://psychcentral.com/lib/adolescence-a-time-of-growth-and-change/000534>. This website was written by Robert Stone and it came from a website that deals with psychology along with psychological disorders. In the particular part of the website which I used, it talked about how everyone will experience their adolescence differently from others. To elaborate, the article states many people emerge into their adolescence once they make friends at school for the first time or break out of their parents grasp, which will happen at a young age. Although it sounds like this would be the same for everyone, the article also goes on to state how it is very different for each person since their prior life experiences enable them to break out of this parental grasp differently. Broderick, Matthew, perf. //Ferris Bueller’s Day off.// 1986. Paramount Pictures, 1986. DVD. This famous movie stars Matthew Broderick, a careless teen who just likes to have fun. Directed by John Hughes, this movie is about a high school student who along with his best friend and girlfriend, decide to skip school and have an eventful day in the city. Once the high school principal finds out Ferris isn’t in school, he makes it his job to catch Ferris skipping. Chen, Lingdi. “An Analysis of the Adolescent Problems in Catcher in the Rye.” //Asian Social Studies// 5.5 (2009): 1-3. Print. Lingdi Chen wrote this article for the Asian Social Sciences journal as literary criticism for adolescence in the novel Catcher In The Rye by J.R. Salinger. The content found in this journal talks about how problems that Holden has been involved in have effected his adolescence. It is also mentioned that although Holden may be viewed as an immature character, he is just a normal teenager since everyone experiences an adolescent stage in their lives. The paper finally concludes with the great effect of his adolescence on the novel, and how this results in his rather odd behaviors. //A History of Child Labor.// Scholastic, n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2003. <http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/history-child-labor>. This article was written by Milton Fried for the Scholastic Company. This research company is used by teachers, parents, and students around the world for reading materials. This particular article talked about child labor and how in past society, millions of children were put to work at a young age. Fried also talks about how this forces the kids to mature out of their adolescent stage much quicker due to the life experiences they are having to deal with. As the article states, working 50 hour weeks when you are still just a teenager forces you to mature much quicker than todays society. Radcliffe, Daniel, perf. //Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.// Warner Bros., 2001. Film. This movie, directed by Chris Columbus, is about a young boy named Harry Potter. He is born as a wizard and the movie focuses on his adventures while attending school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He is known very well there for the way he was almost killed as a young boy but survived to tell the tale. This experience makes his life both exciting and difficult as new challenges arise due to his past life experiences. //United States Imposes the Draft.// N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-imposes-the-draft>. This website is written by the team at the History Channel who had a program on this topic. The article discusses the military draft implemented by the United States during World War II in order to get more people fighting for our country. This draft caused teenagers to be called from their regular lives to join the war, which in effect made them mature much faster than others. The article also states the difficulties and challenges many citizens had to over come as entering a war was a very intimidating action.