What are the causes and losses dealt with in The Catcher in the Rye

The conflict in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger revolves around the main character named Holden Caulfield, and has many causes and losses for him. Holden's internal conflict is his refusal to become an adult and become a "phony" like the rest of the adults in his life. The conflict is created by Holden's fear of change and growing up and he clings to his childish ways throughout the book. These childish actions include telling a girl that he loved her and then deciding he hated her all in the same afternoon. He also told petty lies and failed out of his boarding school. Acting out seems to keep Holden from thinking that he is not an adult and therefore a phony.

This kind of behavior is not without consequences and Holden learns this through the losses of the conflict. Through Holden's quest to not become an adult he effectively pushes away all of the people his age and up, so he doesn't become a "phony" like them. Even the people that he calls up to hang out with in New York he doesn't really like, but calls just because he doesn't have anything better to do. From these meetings we see Holden push people away by acting outlandishly or being mean. This can be seen through with his date with Sally Hayes. He asks her if she wants to see a show with him even though he doesn't really like seeing shows (Salinger 138). Then he goes through conflicting feelings of love and hatred for Sally, and he refers to her as a phony several times . He manages in pushing Sally away by asking her to run away with him and saying, "you give me a royal pain in the ass" when she refuses his impractical idea (Salinger 173). This, of course, offends Sally and she storms out (Salinger 174) . Holden in some ways doesn't even notice what he is doing to the people around him until the end of the story when he begins to feel truly alone when he is walking down Fifth Avenue (Salinger 256). He begins to think that he will disappear before he gets to other end of the street, and that nobody will ever see him again (Salinger 256). He even starts praying to his deceased brother Allie (Salinger 257). I think that this shows that Holden is terrified after all to be alone and that is afraid that no one will notice when he completely shuts himself off from the world.

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