Majority of the book Holden is a pessimist, angry, and depressing young teenager that struggles with the idea of adulthood. The author uses his state of mind to mask his desperate need to protect the idea of innocence. Holden spoke with an informal and childlike tone, but he had a more respectful tone when he talked to the other characters in the novel. The audience sees his youthful and childlike curiosity side comes out when he worries about the ducks on where they will go during the winter. HoldenΒs strong focus of the ducks on where they will go when the lake. The curiosity of where the ducks will go when the lake is frozen is parallel to Holden wondering where heΒs going to go in life. He wonders if someone will guide him to the right direction, or if he will have to guide himself through life by instinct like the ducks. The ducks vanish every winter, but they return every spring. Their vanishment is only temporary. This symbolizes that change that isnt permanent, but always recurring. Life will have its obstacles that one must complete in ord
er to grow. The pond is both frozen and unfrozen and itself is a metaphor for Holdens stage in life. The pond is in transition between being frozen or a liquid form of state, just like Holden being in a transition between childhood and adulthood. He is terrified by the idea of change and disappearance, so he visits the Museum of Natural History because he is comforted by its ability to stay the same every time he visits. Holden would love to live in a world where everything stays the same because he would never have to grow up. Similarly, to the main protagonist, Jim Hawkins, in Treasure island shows that he is very innocent and still has childish fears. Jim Hawkins is a timid adolescent that fears his nightmares about the one-legged man might come and get him. His fear of the boogey man to come get him is unreasonable because he still has not been exposed to the harsh reality of life, facing the unknown. This is one of the scariest obstacles of life because it can be challenging. He has not matured quite yet since its only the beginning of his story.