In chapter 24, Holden goes to Mr. and Mrs. Antolini’s apartment on Sutton Place to stay for the night. Mr. Antolini and Holden have a long and interesting conversation about Holden himself. The talk covers many topics. For example, Holden tells Mr. Antolini how while he may hate kids like Ackley and Stradlater, he only hates them temporary and even ends up missing them after they are gone. He says that he only hates them when they are around him but misses them when he they are not with him. Mr. Antolini also says to Holden, “This fall I think you’re riding for-it’s a special kind of fall. A horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling. The whole arrangement’s designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with. Or they thought their own environment couldn’t supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started.” (p. 187) This quote is another method that J. D. Salinger uses for saying that for referring to the journey of maturing from child to adult. The part of the quote that that says, “The whole arrangement’s designed for men who, at some time or other in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn’t supply them with,” means that people start maturing to adulthood when they were beginning to find childhood dull, and lacking in the previous enjoyment and chaos that childhood brought. Mr. Antolini is able to see that Holden is having a problem growing up almost instantaneously. He sees Holden’s problems before everybody else sees them, even Holden himself. It almost seemed like Mr. Antolini was going to be able to get through to Holden and be able to help him, but when Holden wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Mr. Antolini rubbing his arm, he is freaked and runs away, in result throwing everything that Mr. Antolini told him away. Why do you think that Mr. Antolini uses the word ‘falling’ to describe the journey to adulthood? Holden comments that the experience with Mr. Antolini happened to him at least 20 times before. Do you think that those moments may also be responsible for some of Holden’s current issues? Do you think that Holden has not willing started to mature because he still enjoys childhood and has not started to find childhood boring and dull?
I believe that he uses the word "falling" to describe to path to adulthood because he is perhaps the person most similar to Holden in the entire story. Mr. Antolini, in my opinion, resembles a Holden that has grown up, and his affection and love for children has not died out yet, as seen by his actions toward Holden during the middle of the night. He might be a a type of person who is less desirable to meet if you are a child, but the fact that he treasures childhood over adulthood is the reason why he uses the word "falling" for the cliff to adulthood. Indeed, if Holden was sexually harassed as a child then he surely feels uncomfortable toward adults. However, in this story it is as if he is more suited toward talking with adults, such as the nuns and his classmate's mother. These are all women however, and is an important fact to consider. Yes, Holden does seem the happiest and most interest when he spends time with children (especially Phoebe), and may be an element that keeps him from maturing.
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