Did Holden Come of Age? - Blog Post #1

Did Holden Come of Age? For our initial notebook prompt of “What does coming of age mean to you?” I wrote how I thought coming of age could only be achieved through some horribly drastic and daunting change in an individual’s lifestyle and habits. In fact, my initial definition had such ridiculously high standards for a coming of age change that when reflecting on my original idea it took me several minutes to even think of someone I knew that fell into my definition. My view on the requirements of a coming of age event have since been drawn back a fair deal after our various class discussions and readings, but I think it would be more entertaining to answer my question with my prior definition rather than my current one.

So, did Holden come of age? When it comes to his education, it’s hard to say as Holden’s very insistent on refusing to give a straight yes or no answer when contemplating if he will finally start to apply himself in his studies. However, up until this point in the novel he has given a very resounding “no” to his contemplation of applying himself, so the fact he has suddenly snapped into the answer of “I think I am” is promising at the very least. (Salinger 276) Assuming Holden does actually carry out this intention of his, I’d say he fits into my original definition and successfully came of age in his academics.

But, even if Holden does fail to apply himself academically yet again, I still believe there is one other part of Holden’s life where he has a greater chance to come of age. On the last page of Chapter 25, after Holden has officially decided to stick around thanks to Phoebe’s clever methods of convincing, he describes himself sitting outside where “it began to rain like a bastard. In buckets” as he watches his younger sister going round on the carousel. (Salinger 275) Holden stays put in the awful weather while everyone else heads for cover under the carousel and yet, Holden is the happiest he’s ever been in this book and presumably in a long time. Unlike previous moments of Holden’s “joy” throughout the novel, there’s no bullshit attached here. For the first time in one of Holden’s descriptions of his current mood, there’s no mention of him being crazy, no sudden outbursts, no sudden line about something else depressing the hell outta him, and no underlying dread. Just pure, unfiltered, careless happiness. It’s exactly how I expected the last few pages of the novel to go, but that doesn’t change the fact that in my mind, Holden Caulfield has come a long way by the end of the novel despite his undesirable choices throughout the majority of prior chapters. Just like his academic life, it’s hard to say if he will truly continue to improve in regards to his mental health as it’s left on a sort of cliffhanger, but even in the short page long chapter following this mention of true happiness, Holden’s mood seems to be a step above his attitude featured throughout the rest of the novel. So, in response to the question of “Does Holden come of age?” I’d have to go with a pretty confident “yes”, even with my absurd initial definition.

Thanks for reading my abhorrent blog post and have a nice day. Or don’t. I can’t tell you what to do. I’m (probably) not your father.