Coming of age is a person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The Catcher in the Rye is depicted through the mind of Holden Caulfield. This book presents Holden as a maniac because he tells his three-day story to a psychoanalyst at a mental hospital. Holden struggles with that fine line between being an adult and a child. However, he does not want to grow up and become an adult due to the increasing responsibilities that come with being an adult, the loss of innocence associated with growing up, and the falsity of that that comes with becoming an adult. Holden is afraid of growing up due to the increasing responsibilities that come with being an adult. This is clearly demonstrated by his willful failure of classes at Pencey: “DEAR MR. SPENCER (reads aloud). That's all I know about the Egyptians. I can't seem to take much interest in it even though your lectures are very interesting. It doesn't matter to me if you fail me, because I fail everything else except English anyway. Respectfully yours, HOLDEN CAULFIELD. He then put my fucking paper down and looked at me like he had just beaten me up in ping pong or something. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for reading that crap out loud to me. I wouldn't have read it out loud to him if he had written it – I really wouldn't. In the first place, I had only written that damn note so he wouldn't feel too bad about missing me” (Salinger 12). Holden doesn't want to grow up and become an adult and take on the responsibilities of college. He purposely fails school so he can remain a child forever. Throughout the story, Holden refuses to take responsibility for communicating with other people who can help him. For example... in the middle of the article... the increasing responsibilities that come with being an adult, the loss of innocence associated with growing up, and the falsity of that that comes with become an adult. Holden cannot accept the responsibilities and consequences that come with growing up, so he refuses to grow up. He doesn't even call his parents after he gets kicked out of Pencey. Holden doesn't want to grow up because of the loss of innocence that comes with growing up. He always praises little children and purity. He wants to be the children's catcher of rye so that they don't fall off the cliff and lose their innocence. Holden sees that the adult world is full of fakes and even says his own brother is fake so he doesn't want to grow up. Although in the end, through his in-depth discussion with his sister, Holden now begins to realize that growing up is inevitable..