The key to understanding adolescent behavior lies in understanding the circumstances surrounding their maturity. Holden Caulfield's juxtaposition to death, violence, and constant change affected his maturation. Not only was he forced to grow up in the middle of World War II, but his older brother DB was actually in Europe during the war. The anxiety that the Caulfield family must have felt during this time is unimaginable and would obviously have had profound effects on a young Holden. On top of that, his brother Allie, who Holden felt very close to, died of leukemia during his childhood when Holden was also quite young. By smashing windows instead of internalizing or talking about the pain of losing his brother, Holden displays behavior prone to violence. Throughout the novel, it is revealed that violence reminds Holden of his deceased brother. Just when you think Holden has had enough to deal with as a young boy, Holden casually discusses an acquaintance of his who committed suicide due to bullying at one of Holden's previous schools. This, above all, had a lasting impact on Holden and actually influenced the way Holden viewed troublemakers. Holden Caulfield's difficult childhood affected his development more than anything else in his life by subjecting him to acts of brutal violence as well as harsh goodbyes at a young and impressionable age. When DB left the family to go to war, Holden came to consider childhood. as a time of perfection because it was a time when his family was still united. Holden's parents are not around very often, as evidenced by their use of a live-in nanny and their need to send Holden to several boarding schools (Salinger 158). For this reason, Caulfield chi...... middle of paper ... intense amount of change is enough to cause revolt in even the most mentally stable child. The majority of readers, however, hate Holden and blame him for all his problems even if the reality is much more complex. Although it would be easy to place the blame on one person, Holden did not cause World War II; he didn't push his brother to leave the country to fight or convince DB to move to Hollywood; he didn't ask for Allie to die of leukemia and he certainly didn't ask his friend to kill himself. These events all influenced Holden dramatically and placing blame on Holden is simply wrong, simplistic and misguided. Before accusing teenagers of stupidly rebelling against society, society must first examine why teenagers rebel in the first place. Works Cited Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.