Write of Passage

To be a Man, or Not to be a Man

The transition from a young boy to a man has two major aspects to it, one is physical and the other is mental. Holden is a young adult in J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye who has yet to experience the mental element of the maturation process. To complete this right of passage Holden had to conquer what he feared most. The right of passage for me came a little earlier, but it was something that I hope I will never have to do again. In stopping Phoebe, Holden completed one right of passage, making a mature decision. Like him, I also chose the safety of someone else when my friends and I turned in a fellow camper who was using drugs.

Although he previously had true to force a right of passage, which he finally acted on instinct, he behaved as an adult when Phoebe was headed for danger. Holden during the whole novel was a confused kid. His version of an adult was someone who smoked, had sex, cursed, and got drunk. But when he was face to face with a whore in his hotel room he was scared, he was like a lost kid at a carnival. He could not have sex with her, so when he refused to pay her she went back to her pimp. Her pimp traveled back to Holden’s room, when Holden was asked to pay the five dollars he owed her. His ignorant decision not to pay the pimp got him beat up and down ten dollars. This was reality slapping Holden in the face, because he stood up for himself, he was pummeled and learned that if you should stand up for yourself you will get the sense beat out of you. When Holden finally passed his right of passage it came to him by just being a big brother. Phoebe, Holden’s little sister, wanted to run away with Holden, when his right of passage started. She was all packed and ready to leave with Holden, to put all the responsibilities behind each other and start from scratch; but Holden was totally opposed to her leaving with him. Just like that, Holden’s right of passage was over, finished, fin. All it took was Holden doing what he believed was right; it was not alcohol, sex, or cursing that did this for him, it was he who did it for himself.

It was like a bullet to our hearts, this day was one I would never forget. The day started out as any other day, we got up, showered, all the usual. Then lunch time came, we where having the time of our life, chatting away. They severed our favorite lunch that fateful day, Sloppy Joes. It was our favorite because we would always start a food fight with them and then have to stay after to clean it up with squeegees which where so much fun to clean with. Once we where finished cleaning the Cafeteria we went back to the bunk, but we got there really late so everyone was leaving and we had to shower; we where able to stay unseen until all the counselors left. Once all our counselors left we hit the showers, it was by far the best shower at camp that year, the hot water never ended. As we left the bathroom, we witnessed one of our best friends doing crack. Us being kids still, we laughed and then there was silence. We decided as a group to not tell anyone about what we had just recently witnessed, so all four of us went to our next activity. As fate would have it, about ten minutes later a golf cart came by and asked that Tristan, Matt, and I come to the office. We ended up getting a lecture on why not to pull pranks because a few nights