Holden Caulfield starts the novel as an intelligent and immature teen. With experience he is able to grow by getting his first taste of adulthood. The main theme of the book is growing up. Holden does not want to be apart of the phoniness of the real world. He realizes that there is a loss of innocence in the real world. The events that Holden went through gave him a new perception of the world. He has to rethink his challenged dreams. Therefore, Holden grows up by the end of the novel socially and emotionally.

Holden went through a vast journey from the beginning to the end of the book. His life is falling apart from the severe depression that is crippling him. He was failing out of Pencey Prep, getting into fights, and grieving Allie years
He is traveling through the city and realizing how tainted the real world is. As Holden is exploring the history museum he says, “You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write ‘Fuck you’ right under your nose”(Salinger 224). This quote shows how much Holden has grown socially. He understands that the world he lives in is not the same pure one he saw when he was a kid. His mind registers that it is impossible to erase the phoniness from the world. He learns that you basically have two choices. You either deal with the phoniness or you kill yourself. This event was the death of innocence for Holden. In addition to this it used to be Holden’s dream to become the catcher in the rye. Holden had a love for keeping things the same, particularly childhood innocence. He said, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them”(Salinger 191). This quote shows that he wants to save children from losing their innocence. He does not want them to enter adulthood, because then the world is full of phonies. However by the end he realizes that this dream is impossible. While he is watching Phoebe on the merry go
There is no uncertainty that Holden has this fear. Throughout the novel Holden emphasizes time and time again his love for childhood innocence. He thinks the real adult world is full of phonies. After child grow up he believes that become subjects to the phony world. However, by the end Holden does not want to be the catcher in the rye anymore. He says, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them”(Salinger 232). This shows that Holden is mature because it shows that he grasps the fact that every child has to learn for themselves. This is one of his biggest adult thoughts. He is growing because he realizes that you cannot stop everybody from hurting. It may hurt, but it is necessary to try in order to grow. In addition to this they may point out that Holden makes some immature comments about women. He says, “The reason I was asking was because he really knew quite a bit about sex and all. He was one of the few guys I knew that did”(Salinger 161). This quote shows that Holden is just curious. He is lacking experience in this area and whats to know more about it. Plus are sixteen year old boys ever fully mature? It is normal for them to be curious about subjects that one has little experience. Holden has his moments that he is immature. Though the progress that he makes throughout the book shows