Holden's Fear of Change

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Holden's Fear of Change by Aleksander Bobič © Holden, both the narrator and protagonist in the novel The Catcher In Rye, is a troubled juvenile, who has obviously critical aspects about society as a whole. Throughout the book there are somewhat peculiar signs attributable to him/his personality, which represent the likely cause for him being afraid of any changes whatsoever. Firstly, let me briefly explain the link between the origin of Holden's beliefs regarding adulthood and his fearfulness towards (becoming a part of) it. Holden considers adults as phonies and condemns them for unjustifiably corrupting youthful persons, who, according to him, represent independence, innocence and potentially uniqueness. Moreover, Holden characterizes grown-ups as narcissists and manipulates since their only objective is to care about themselves. His concerns about children transforming into phonies, especially himself and his sister Phoebe, whom he highly regards along with his other siblings, is mainly the reason for hatred and disdain toward adults. Thus, I hold the opinion with those, who believe that a definitely relevant/crucial reason for Holden both loathing and fearing any change is due to his worry for children turning into so-called phonies as they come to a point, when they actually become a part of the adulthood. Nonetheless, Holden may not be an adamant rebel (as widely thought), who strives for protection of youth and contradicts the principles adults broadly approve of. To put it in a rather abstract perspective, his carelessness and passivity about the world/ideals certainly do not positively contribute to the society, let alone to children, who are of great importance one might incline/reckon. However, it is also possible to assume that due to Holden's passiveness being his primary ‘value’, he disapproves of any progress on the whole. However, if assumed

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