Holden will not apply himself when he returns to school. It is empirically proven Holden will not change his behavior because he has been kicked out of multiple schools, he has never followed through on a statement of change before, he makes excuses instead of solving problems, and even after getting professional help at the end of the book, he still acts and thinks the same way, presenting no change. History proves that Holden will not change, which is why he will not engage himself when he returns to school. Some people say that Holden will apply himself in school, however, history proves that Holden will not change and will not apply himself in school. Holden will not apply himself when he returns to school because he has not applied …show more content…
This results in Holden being kicked out of multiple schools. Before Holden left Pencey, he went to see a former teacher named Mr. Spencer, who was concerned for Holden’s future. “Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game all right-I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game” (11). Holden has always stated that he is different than everybody else, which uses as an excuse to why nobody understands him and thus is why he cannot succeed. Holden is not allowing himself to improve. When you're different from the whole world, you think that everybody is working against you. Holden believes because this because he believes that he is different from everybody else. So no matter how hard he tries, he will fail because the world is against him. Since Holden believes this, he will never change his ways and will not apply himself in …show more content…
While he was in New York, Holden desired to call Jane Gallagher, a girl that he knew from his past. He made it a goal to contact her, but never achieved that goal. Even Holden admitted that he like Jane, he still did not call her. “Finally what I felt like, I felt like giving old Jane a buzz and see if she was home yet...But when I got inside this phone booth, I wasn’t much in the mood anymore to give old Jane a buzz” (166). Often times Holden wants to help himself or someone else. In this instance, Holden wanted to call Jane to reconnect with her. However, when he is presented with the opportunity to call her, he decided not to. This is a great example of Holden wanting something, like to contact Jane, but decides not to. This is another reason why Holden cannot change and apply himself when he returns to school. Thus, when Holden wants to help Phoebe, by stopping her from growing up, he will fall through on that statement for change and eventually Phoebe will grow up despite Holden wanting to help