Boys Will Be Boys Essay, Research Paper
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Erica Bailey
Period 1
Awards English 10
19 April 2000
Boys Will Be Boys
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger fresh Catcher in the Rye as an stripling fighting to happen his ain individuality, possesses many features that easy link him to the typical adolescent populating today. The fact that they book was written more than forty old ages ago clearly exemplifies the stating & # 8220 ; male childs will be boys? & # 8221 ; no affair what period of clip is taking topographic point. Holden & # 8217 ; s actions are those that any teenage can clearly associate with. The desire for independency, the sexually related brushs, the inquiring of one & # 8217 ; s faith, the single position of the universe as a whole, the linguistic communication, and covering with teenage force per unit areas such as imbibing and smoke are issues that about all teens have had or will hold to cover with in their adolescent old ages. Thus, this novel and its chief character & # 8217 ; s experiences can easy be related to and will forever associate Holden with every member of society, because everyone was or will be a adolescent.
The first and most obvious characteristic found in most teens, including Holden, would be the desire for independency. Throughout the novel, Holden is non one time wishing to hold his parents help in any manner. He has practically lived his full life in residence halls at esteemed schools, and has learned rather good how to be on his ain. & # 8220 ; This inclination of adolescents took topographic point even in ancient history, where the newly developed adolescent opts to go forth the cave and Hunt for his ain nutrient & # 8221 ; ( Kegel 54 ) . Every adolescent attempts, in his or her ain manner, to be independent. Alternatively of acknowledging to one & # 8217 ; s parents of a unlawful title, the adolescent attempts covering up the error or avoiding it in hopes that they won & # 8217 ; t acquire in any
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problem. They feel that they have adequate intelligence to believe through a job without traveling to their parents for aid. When Holden hears the intelligence that he has been expelled from Pency, he concludes that his parents would non cognize of this for a few yearss. Therefore, he would wait from Saturday until Wednesday, to allow his parents & # 8220 ; acquire it and exhaustively digest it & # 8221 ; ( 25 ) and so confront the effects, which will more than probably be less terrible after his parents calmed down. He states, & # 8220 ; I didn & # 8217 ; t want to be around when they foremost got it. My female parent gets really hysterical. She & # 8217 ; s non excessively bad after she gets something exhaustively digested, though & # 8221 ; ( 51 ) . In taking the independent path, Holden does non look for understanding or aid from either of his parents. He feels that he can cover with his state of affairs by waiting until the following school twelvemonth in order to use himself a small better.
Another feature of a adolescent, normally of the male gender, would be the widespread topic of sex. As everyone knows, during and after pubescence, males have a stronger captivation with the issue and related experiences. Holden is no different. & # 8220 ; In my head, I & # 8217 ; m the biggest sex manic you of all time saw. Sometimes I can believe of really crumby material I wouldn & # 8217 ; t mind making if the chance came up & # 8221 ; ( 62 ) . Although Holden candidly states to the reader that he is a virgin ; he still has brushs associated with sexual activity. First and first, Holden really obtains a cocotte during a brief stay at a hotel room. Holden ne’er has sexual intercourse with this adult female, but it does demo that he is a adolescent looking for fondness and pleasance. Besides, he proclaimed that he had plentifulness of chances to & # 8220 ; give the clip & # 8221 ; ( 32 ) to other adult females, but he ne’er rather knew to make it while on a day of the month. Holden is really much like the mean adolescent in this respect. The media and other primary beginnings in adolescent lives have taken an involvement in sex, and have made it seem like it is the greatest thing known to mankind. Most adolescents find it
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somewhat abashing to acknowledge to being chaste, chiefly due to the fact that they think everyone is making it ; which is clearly false. Adolescents want to see and experiment with sex, and even if they choose to non hold sex until matrimony, they will fantasy about it. This is yet another illustration of the similarities in which Holden and the typical adolescent portion.
Sexual activity and faith about travel manus in manus today amongst the adolescent population. Make teens wait for matrimony like the Bible insists or should teens withstand the regulations outlined by the Bible and have pre-marital sex? Although the novel does non rather refer to sex in a spiritual sense, it is a good illustration of picks teens are forced to do. Teenss, along with many other members of society, do non hold with every guideline that the Bible sets out for them. They have to make up one’s mind how big a function faith is traveling to play in their lives. Holden says that he, in some ways, is & # 8220 ; an atheist & # 8221 ; ( Breit 82 ) . He sometimes prays to Jesus, and yet other times he feels like he merely can non pray because of his likes, disfavors, and apathetic positions of the church. This can be related to many adolescents, for faith is non ever an easy topic. Teens sometimes experience that non all information on a peculiar faith is wholly true. Some teens toy with the fact that their religion, if they have one, is really factual. Holden feels that the information on Jesus is likely true, but he is a small leery of the Disciples and other characters from the Bible. & # 8220 ; Take the Disciples, for case. They annoy the snake pit out of me, if you want to cognize the truth. They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while he was alive, they were approximately every bit much usage to him as a hole in the caput & # 8221 ; ( 99 ) . He has many inquiries, as does all of society, of some beliing issues refering faith.
As every adolescent perceives the universe in one manner or another, Holden excessively has his ain single positions on the universe, in which he sees as an immorality and corrupt topographic point where
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there is no peace. This perceptual experience of the universe does non alter significantly through the novel. However as the novel progresses, Holden bit by bit comes to the realisation that he is powerless to alter this. & # 8220 ; During the short clip period of Holden & # 8217 ; s life covered in this book, he does win in doing us perceive that the universe is brainsick & # 8221 ; ( Stevenson 216 ) . Shortly after Holden leaves Pency Prep he checks into the Edmont Hotel. This is where Holden & # 8217 ; s convulsion Begins. Holden spends the following eventide in this hotel that was & # 8220 ; full of deviants and idiots. ( There were ) scre
wballs all over the place” ( 188 ) . His state of affairs merely deteriorates from this point on as the more he looks around this universe, the more cheerless life seems. Around every corner, Holden sees evil. He looks out on a universe that appears wholly immoral and unscrupulous. The three yearss we learn of from the fresh topographic points a hard-pressed Holden in the locality of Manhattan. The metropolis is decked with ornaments and holiday luster ; yet, much to Holden’s desperation, he rarely yields any occasions of peace, charity or even echt gaiety. Holden is surrounded by what he views as rummies, deviants, idiots and crackpots. These strong beliefs, which Holden holds, waver really momently during merely one peculiar scene in the book. The scene is that with Mr. Antolini. After Mr. Antolini patted Holden on the caput while he was kiping, Holden jumped up and ran out believing that Mr. Antolini was a deviant every bit good. This is the lone clip during the novel where Holden thinks twice about sing person as a deviant. After reexamining Mr. Antolini, Holden eventually concludes that possibly he wasn’t doing a “flitty” ( 190 ) base on balls at him. “Maybe he merely likes chucking guys’ caputs as they sleep” ( 191 ) . This is truly the lone clip Holden really considers a positive side. This event does non represent a important alteration. As Holden himself says, “It’s non excessively bad when the sun’s out, but the Sun merely comes out when it feels like coming out” ( 200 ) . The Sun of class is a mention to decency through the common
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association of visible radiation and goodness. His perceptual experience of the universe would stay the same. Many adolescents today see the universe in a manner that everyone is out to acquire them. They believe if they do non acquire what they want that life is non just. Holden seemingly feels the same manner.
The one strong belief that does non alter during the novel is Holden & # 8217 ; s belief that he can alter the universe. On his day of the month with Sally, Holden reveals his feelings. & # 8220 ; Did you of all time acquire fed up? I mean did you of all time acquire frightened that everything was traveling to travel icky unless you did something? & # 8221 ; ( 131 ) . Holden goes through several programs. It takes most of the book before Holden begins to recognize that he is incapacitated to halt this corruptness. Finally, he realizes that non merely is at that place nil that he can make, but there is nowhere he can travel to conceal from it. This relates Holden back to the typical adolescent in the sense that everyone wants to alter the universe in some drastic manner. But in the terminal, they realize that there & # 8217 ; s nil for them do to that is so important and that there is no flight from the rough world of the universe environing them.
& # 8220 ; Adolescents use their ain alone linguistic communication of slang and curse, which is partially to arise and partially to happen their ain individuality & # 8221 ; ( Carlton 337 ) . This typical teenage trait is besides exhibited in Holden. When person listens to a adolescent they normally hear a assortment of swear words and slang footings. Holden uses rather a spot of slang and profanity in his address. For illustration, when he is speaking about the football game near the beginning of the novel, he says:
I was standing manner the snake pit on top of Thomsen Hill, right following to this loony cannon? You could see the two squads socking each other all over the topographic point. You couldn & # 8217 ; t see the grandstand excessively hot, but you could hear
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them all shouting, deep and terrific on the Pencey side? scrawny and faggy on the Saxon Hall side? ( 2 )
When Holden says, & # 8220 ; loony, & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; socking each other all over the topographic point, & # 8221 ; & # 8220 ; hot, & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; faggy, & # 8221 ; he is utilizing slang footings. Each coevals has its ain assortment of slang footings each with separate and about dry footings. Some slang used by today & # 8217 ; s teens means precisely the antonym of what would be thought. Each kid is taught that there are some & # 8220 ; bad & # 8221 ; words or swear words that should non be used, but as like most adolescents, Holden swears rather frequently. Holden & # 8217 ; s sister, Phoebe, makes a remark on his curse. She simply requests Holden to, & # 8220 ; Don & # 8217 ; t swear so much & # 8221 ; ( 168 ) . Vulgar linguistic communication is a booby trap of adolescence.
Another major facet of adolescent life, are such force per unit areas of imbibing and smoke. As most adolescents in today & # 8217 ; s universe have come across intoxicant at one point or another, Holden has given into the force per unit areas of minor imbibing to submerge his sorrows. Throughout the novel, Holden drinks even though he is minor. & # 8220 ; Many drink to get away the jobs that they face twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours, and in the novel it is evident that Holden is imbibing so that he can halt believing about the fact that he has gotten expelled from yet another school & # 8221 ; ( Barr 93 ) . Drinking is a major issue in the universe today with such dangers of orgy imbibing and imbibing and drive. Holden, like the typical adolescent is besides funny about imbibing. The media clearly feats imbibing and makes it look & # 8220 ; cool. & # 8221 ; His wonder gets the best of him and he continually drinks. Another job with teenage imbibing, at all times throughout history, is the great easiness at which it can be acquired. In the novel, Holden can merely walk into a saloon of some kind, order a drink and in most instances, get served. Although society is more rigorous with minor imbibing today, there are ways for teens to easy get intoxicant, as Holden does in this novel.
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Holden is besides an avid concatenation tobacco user. It seems that every opportunity he gets, he is illuming up yet another coffin nail. Smoking is an grownup activity, and Holden fumes to be more of an grownup. Even though the coffin nails gustatory sensation bad, he still smokes them. He smokes to ease his nervousnesss and merely because he has become addicted to the substance. Smoke is a large job faced by teens in all coevalss. Many fume to arise against their parents or because, like intoxicant, it is viewed sometimes as the & # 8220 ; cool & # 8221 ; thing to make. A big part of today & # 8217 ; s teens smoke although they are cognizant of the dangers like the fact that baccy is the lone merchandise which kills a 3rd of its users. Smoking is a bad thing, but adolescents of every twenty-four hours and age are faced with this.
As seen in these old illustrations, and besides found in more cases, Holden Caulfied truly resembles the typical adolescent. He has gone through the same state of affairss, encountered many of the same jobs, and he besides has acted in similar ways as the norm adolescent. Teenage adolescence is a period of passage between childhood and maturity. In this period, we all experience development both physically and emotionally, including the prototype of all teens, Holden Caulfield.
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