In the book The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden in many ways represents the average teenager. This can be seen several times throughout the book especially when he is trying to figure out who he really is and also dealing with issues because of his age.
During one scene in the beginning of the book Holden is walking around with a snowball in his hand and goes to board a bus and is forced to throw it out by an adult. ”The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn’t going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn’t believe me. People never believe you. (Salinger 37) This may sound like a small scene, but it shows how Holden feels about being required to do things because of his age. It also shows that he feels that no one ever thinks he is telling the truth, which is something that many teenagers have to deal with because of their age.
Also like many teenagers, Holden feels that most adults don’t take him seriously. During one scene he is in a taxi and he begins to ask the cab driver if he knows where the ducks go during the winter. Instead of actually thinking about it the driver says, “How the hell should I know a stupid thing like that?” (82) Then the driver begins to insist that the ducks are the same as the fish and simply stay there and that all of Holden’s thoughts about it are wrong. This is the same way a lot of adults assume that just because teenagers are younger that they are less intelligent, or don’t understand things even though that is untrue.
