A character drawing of Holden CaulfieldIn the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is the main character around whom the book revolves. He is a seventeen-year-old boy who sometimes acts immature: "Sometimes I act like I'm thirteen" (13). He is six foot two and a half tall. Even though he is young, one side of his head is "filled with millions of gray hairs" (13). This gray air seems unusual and atypical to him because he had it since he was a child! Many people know him and say he acts like he is twelve, including his father. Caulfield agrees that he sometimes acts like a teenager, but not always. As he states "Sometimes I act a lot older than I am, really, but people never notice. People never notice anything" (13). This shows that he tries hard to act his age, but sometimes it gets out of hand. Throughout the book, he acts as if he is mature, but some of his actions are well beyond his years. An example is when he goes to a hotel for a prostitute, although in the end he decides to give it up. Indeed, this action shows his immaturity. Furthermore, another big problem he has is alcoholism; he can't control himself to stop drinking. He keeps drinking until he gets drunk. As Caulfield describes it "One thing I have, is an extraordinary ability. I can drink all night and not even show it, if I'm in the mood" (118). This not only shows that he is immature, but also that he lacks self-regulation and pity for himself. Another serious problem he faces is that he is a very heavy smoker for his age. He always smokes more than a pack a day and loses control with cigarettes. Again, this shows his lack of self-control due to...... middle of paper ......rdian to save the boys from losing their innocence by not letting them fall off the cliff. This is what Holden really wants to do, and he tells Phoebe "I know it's crazy, but it's the only thing I'd really like to be" (225). This is all Holden wants to do because he wants to save other children from losing their innocence because he doesn't want them to experience what he had to go through. He doesn't want all the children to go through the difficult times he had to go through in his youth because they need to enjoy their childhood. He wants to protect all children by being their guardian and savoring innocence. Ultimately, Holden's dream job of being the catcher in the rye is a job he has always dreamed of because he wants to be a scent of innocence to children. Works Cited Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.