Within Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, evidenced by Holden’s happiness, Holden begins his path to maturity when he accepts the Phoebe is “reaching for maturity” on the carousel, realizing that he needs to mentally heal and mature. Not being able to see everything good happening around us is common in our everyday life. We get used to the privileges, and we tunnel-vision in on the negatives of the world and yearn for escape. Holden, depressed and fantastical, grasps at the hopes for escape in the first three quarters of The Catcher in the Rye. The lack of the carousel symbol within the book before Holden’s change represent how he shied away from his journey to maturity. There are some major reasons as to why he shies away from maturity: