| The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most famous novels in twentieth century American literature. It is written by J. D. Salinger and published in 1951. "There are millions of young Americans who feel closer to Salinger than to any other writer."(Hicks, 1959, 13) They identify themselves in the novel which manifests the particular dilemma that Holden goes through, his various failures to cope with his dilemma, and the peculiar solution he attains by the end of the novel. It is a vivid description of the adolescence representative in search of himself, in search of his place in the human world, and in conflict with the narrowness of the society in which he lives.Adolescence is a crucial period in human development, during which the young go through various changes to prepare themselves for adulthood. For adolescents, they have the psychological characteristics in common, and at the same time, they meet the challenges of social context in particular. In this essay, in a tentative way, I will explore the typical adolescent, Holden's growing both in psychological and social aspects.American famous psychosocial analyst, Erik H. Erikson, who develops the psychosocial stage theory which can be traced to the stages of psychosexual development proposed by Freud, advances eight stages of psychosocial development. At each stage, the person is confronted with a unique problem. For the stage of adolescence, identity acquisition and identity diffusion is the major dilemma. The adolescents are trying to find two distinct concepts of themselves: who I am and what I will be. They linger on the familiar, innocent childhood and fear to enter the unprepared, corrupt adulthood, suffering from the "moratorium of illness." Erikson emphasizes the effect of sociocultural context and environment on identity formation. The environment is essential and critical to Holden in his growing process and identity formation. For him, the social circumstance is in the 1950's, the post-World Warâ…¡period during which the old tradition has been broken, yet no new standard has been affirmed. The society is changing and the culture becomes eclectic and phony. The lives of many Americans are increasingly characterized by a sense of alienation and loss of individual control and distinctiveness that lend new meaning to the merging of social identity and self-identity. The social imbalance and ambiguity make it more difficult for adolescents to grow up. The purpose of this paper is, by analyzing Holden's search of love and identity, his odyssey from rebellion to resignation, to indicate that Holden's great suffering and agony is not only because of the peculiar dynamics of adolescent psychology, but also as a result of the indifferent human relationship in the corrupt American society.This thesis consists of three chapters. In chapter one, I will make an analysis of Holden's psychosocial dilemma and conflict. He is undergoing the adolescent's crisis and suffering from the growing pain. Holden, at sixteen, is supposed to get ready to shed his innocence and move forward to adulthood. Yet it is everything but not an easy job for him. He mourns for the cherished innocence, simplicity and purity of childhood; he fears to enter the adult world which is phony, corrupt and cynical. For Holden, change means the destruction of all that is good and desirable. He makes great effort to hold on and keep unchanged. He is suffering from what Erik Erikson calls "the prime danger of this age": the "moratorium", that is, a "breathing period" during the growing process. Furthermore, he is caught in the conflict between identity acquisition and identity diffusion. He is eager to know his role in life and his direction for the future. But he is unable to achieve the optimal sense of identity: a sense of knowing where one is going and an inner assuredness of anticipated recognition from those who are important to him. He regresses in a state of identity diffusion, which manifests in failure of the achievement of vocational identity and sex...
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