Brain

~Alyssa Zamloot

What thoughts resonate in Holden's head? Who/what is his antagonist or dilemma?

Holden's main dilemma in Catcher in the Rye is not wanting to escape his childhood and the simplicity of how life used to be. He fears that as he grows up he will become another phony, someone who will, "...make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot." He then wonders," How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't." (Salinger, 173). He wants to be a Peter Pan-like figure and prevent children from growing up and entering the world of adulthood, inherently becoming phonies. "Phony" adults are essentially Holden's antagonists in the novel; the behavior and mannerisms that he sees from Sally, Lillian Simmons, and others about needing to grow up are what bother him the most. So, he wants to save children from the truth by becoming the "catcher" that stops them from getting too close or falling off the cliff, representing the daunting world of adulthood we all must face.

Peter Pan represents Holden's aversion to growing up. He not only wants to avoid the complexity of being an adult, but he wants to prevent others (children) from growing up as well.