The Catcher in the Rye Blog 2

The conflict of The Catcher in the Rye is an internal conflict.  Holden struggles with his identity and all of the influences around him.  He is not sure if he wants to be an adult or just stay acting like a kid.  “The major conflict is within Holden’s psyche. Part of him wants to connect with other people on an adult level (and, more specifically, to have a sexual encounter), while part of him wants to reject the adult world as “phony,” and to retreat into his own memories of childhood.” (Sparknotes 1).  The main causes of this conflict include others chastising Holden for always acting like a child.  He feels like he wants to grow up, but his self-doubt tells him to just act like a kid because that is all he can do.  This conflict also gets started because Holden does not really know his own identity.  He looks for it in sex, alcohol, and profanity, but nothing seems to make him happy or understand his own motives.  As the plot progresses, gains in the conflict include Holden’s realization that judgment of others is not really fair if the details are unclear.  He realizes this after his confrontation with Mr. Antolini and his awkward escape.  He realized that he could not judge him because Antolini had done so much for him in the past.  It would not be fair to throw away an entire friendship after this one action.  The losses of the conflict include Holden’s final chose to retreat back into his childhood, away from the dangers of sexuality and intimacy.  After experiencing all of this, he was too afraid to continue searching for something more.  His innocence was long gone, and his mind was full of bad images.  Holden believed that growing up was too painful, so he retreated back into his own shell.  Through all the challenges that he faced, Holden learned many lessons, but he could not continue the fight to find himself in others. 

"The Catcher in the Rye." SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2012. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/context.html.

 

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.