When reading The Catcher In the Rye, I came across multiple types of conflicts. Physical, moral, intellectual, and emotional are all displayed throughout this classic novel. The two types of conflicts I think were the most important are internal and external.
Holden's internal conflict makes it difficult to deal with everyday life. Because he cannot cope with the reality of the world around him, he is constantly working against himself. He often makes references of his childhood because he doesn't seem to be comfortable with the present. Because of this, he introduces thoughts about modern times in a negative manner. Holden also feels that he needs to denounce everyone and everything as being phony to distract himself from his own flaws and "phony" actions. As he continues to do this, he is becoming less able to cope with his life and its transition into adulthood.
External conflict in this novel, to me, is Holden vs. the fake behavior of society. Holden is an individual that finds it very hard, and sometimes unable, to relate to other characters. Phoebe, his sister, seems to be the only relatable character because she is still young and has not yet progressed into adulthood. However, as much as Holden tries to hold onto his childhood, he strives to fit into the adult world. Trying to order drinks at the bar, and trying to start conversations about sex with Luce show that he is very curious about what he perceives as adult life. There are multiple examples in the text that shows he tries to "shield" people from growing up and encourages them to hold onto their innocence. For example, when Holden was in the bathroom and he saw the awful language on the wall, he was determined to erase it. Phoebe and all of the other innocent kids would wonder what it meant until some "dirty" kid would eventually tell them. He was trying to protect Phoebe and the others, and somewhat defending them from a huge part of mature life. He does all of these things because he believes that the world is made up of phonies.
Holden's internal conflict makes it difficult to deal with everyday life. Because he cannot cope with the reality of the world around him, he is constantly working against himself. He often makes references of his childhood because he doesn't seem to be comfortable with the present. Because of this, he introduces thoughts about modern times in a negative manner. Holden also feels that he needs to denounce everyone and everything as being phony to distract himself from his own flaws and "phony" actions. As he continues to do this, he is becoming less able to cope with his life and its transition into adulthood.
External conflict in this novel, to me, is Holden vs. the fake behavior of society. Holden is an individual that finds it very hard, and sometimes unable, to relate to other characters. Phoebe, his sister, seems to be the only relatable character because she is still young and has not yet progressed into adulthood. However, as much as Holden tries to hold onto his childhood, he strives to fit into the adult world. Trying to order drinks at the bar, and trying to start conversations about sex with Luce show that he is very curious about what he perceives as adult life. There are multiple examples in the text that shows he tries to "shield" people from growing up and encourages them to hold onto their innocence. For example, when Holden was in the bathroom and he saw the awful language on the wall, he was determined to erase it. Phoebe and all of the other innocent kids would wonder what it meant until some "dirty" kid would eventually tell them. He was trying to protect Phoebe and the others, and somewhat defending them from a huge part of mature life. He does all of these things because he believes that the world is made up of phonies.