The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, features a troubled 16 year old boy named Holden Caulfield who recently got kicked out of a boarding school for the fourth time and has no intimate friends. Although it's not entirely clear what is at the root of his struggles, Holden reveals that he and his family are still dealing with the trauma of his younger brother, Allie, who died of leukemia. Feeling particularly lost in life and afraid to tell his parents he got kicked out of school again, he decides to wander through New York City in order to find some company and guidance; however, he each time he meets someone he feels even more alone. Because Holden lacks the guidance of an older mentor, not only does he struggle through his academic life, but he also struggles throughout his journey through New York City.

Even though Holden is rich and has many opportunities, he is unable to achieve success because his parents are too busy and preoccupied to provide Holden with proper support. His mother is still immersed in depression due to Allie’s death and his dad is a lawyer who doesn’t come home often. It is clear that Holden is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, which contributes to his apathy towards his academic studies. When Holden was 13, “he broke all the windows in the garage” and slept there. His parents were going to have him psychoanalyzed, but they never did. Instead, they shuffled him around to a different boarding school each time he failed out. Although his parents want him to be successful and follow a more conventional path of life, Holden is too lost to be able to find his way forward properly. In an effort to find some guidance forward, Holden goes to see Mr. Spencer, his history teacher, before he leaves the school. However, Mr. Spencer can only provide platitudes like “life is a game that one plays according to the rules." Instead of accepting this as wisdom, Holden completely disagrees and believes that the rules of “the game” are rigged in favor of those who are privileged, ironically, like himself. Holden is economically privileged, but because he is now coping with tragedy, he needs genuine care, care that his parents aren’t able to provide. 

After failing out of school, instead of immediately returning home, Holden decides to run away to New York City to find some sort of guidance to attain some vision for a successful way forward. During his journey through New York City, he consistently reaches out to adults in an attempt to find some direction in life and feel less lonely. For example, he asks adult cab drivers, women at a bar, and an older piano player all to have drinks with him. However, because he is young and the people are strangers they don’t make time for him. These individuals do not have any relationship with him and therefore feel no responsibility to spend time with him or give him the guidance that he needs. He is so desperate that he even pretends to be an adult and says that he just looks young. Instead of these adults realizing that he's in need, they dismiss him and go on their way. After continuously failing at finding guidance, he decides to go see Mr. Antolini, a younger former teacher of his who served as a father figure in his past. Holden really trusts Mr. Antolini a lot and believes that Mr. Antolini may be the one who can finally give him some direction in life. While at Mr. Antolini’s house, Mr. Antolini provides Holden with the guidance that he's been searching for. He advises Holden about the importance of education and tells him that if he goes along “with it any considerable distance, it’ll begin to give [him] an idea of what size mind [he has]. What it'll fit and, maybe, what it won’t” (Salinger 102). Holden finally finds in Mr. Antolini’s guidance what he needs. Mr. Antoloni is the first adult to focus on the problems of Holden’s mind rather than just telling him to do what is right. Holden is feeling so at peace from receiving this guidance that he falls asleep. However, Holden wakes up to feeling Mr. Antolini’s hand on his head and becomes frightened. He yells at Mr. Antolini and asks him what he’s doing. Mr. Antolini responds, ‘Nothing! I'm simply sitting here, admiring--’ " (Salinger 103). Believing that Mr. Antolini was doing something inappropriate to him he runs out of Mr. Antonili’s house and feels betrayed. Here Holden feels that no guidance is free and that he must pay for it in a way that would further traumatize him. The only adult he seems to truly trust, Mr. Antolini, betrays him. This makes him feel even more lost and confused than before.

Although Holden doesn't find the guidance he needs from an older mentor, he finds his way by realizing that he can be an older guide to his sister. After being betrayed by Mr. Antolini he decides he wants to run away and live in in the woods; however, his sister meets him with her bags packed and insists that she is going to go with him. It was at this moment that he realizes how bad of a brother he has been and starts to become mature and responsible. He decides not to go and instead brings his sister to the carousel. His sister asks if he wants to ride with her.  Holden says,“‘No, I'll just watch ya. I think I'll just watch.” Then he gave her some money to “get some more tickets” (Salinger 114). Holden’s decision to watch Phoebe instead riding the carousel symbolizes that he has resolved his childishness and starts to realize that he has a responsibility to guide his sister. Holden starts to realize that he can't stop children from growing up, he can help guide them to become more mature. So although his aspiration to be “the catcher in the rye” in some ways still remains, because he’s learned that “falling down” is a part of life, he begins to grow up.

Holden has many struggles and no mentor to get him through all the struggles, but he finds out he needs to be a good brother, which forces him to be more responsible. Even though he becomes more responsible at the end of the story, he still has unresolved trauma and is in need of therapy to truly resolve his mental difficulties. Because he begins the story seemingly communicating with a therapist, this reveals that Holden is finally getting the guidance he needs.