Analyzing Holden

"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was... The only thing that would be different would be you".

I think this quote is very important to understanding Holden. In the beginning of chapter 16, Holden buys his sister a present but could not find her at the park. He then decided he wanted to go to the wax museum. Holden goes into a lot of detail when he describes this museum which leads me to believe he had gone there many times before.  There, characters are made of wax and never change. You can go there when you are 5, 30, and 80 and everything will still look the same. From reading this I think Holden is scared of change.  He almost sounds scared when he is describing the museum, like he wants time to just stop and he can stay frozen in the moment. To him, the future is so uncertain and I think he is lost. Holden does not want to be a carbon copy of society. He doesn't know how to deal with the problems and changes in his life. He just sort of hopes everything will work out on his own. The people in the museum are not real and will always be the same and I think Holden is jealous of that. Holden walked all the way just to get into the museum but at last minute decided he didn't want to go in, which puzzled me. This makes me think he has a deeper connection to it then what he is letting on.  Holden said the museum made him happy as a kid, and he associated many good memories with it.  The present Holden seems much more complicated than kid Holden. Maybe he didn't want to spoil some of the few happy moments of his childhood by going in there again and not being as he remembered. The museum preserves and displays a society from long ago. Again, I think Holden wants to be remembered and live his life according to his own rules.  He doesn't understand society and often has trouble relating to other people. The museum shows him a simple life, one he is trying hard to grasp: it is frozen, silent, and never changing. 

When Holden and Sally fight Holden starts going off about living in the woods and how he would rather have a horse vs. a car. This really shows us he is confused and doesn't know what he wants to do. On one hand, the life of the museum shows him simplicity and a way of life without all the media and distractions we have today.  Sometimes I think he wishes he could just disappear, but would want to be missed. On the other hand, however, he feels pressured to attend a fancy private school and follow in his father's footsteps making a lot of money. He feels torn and pulled in many directions. But is this an excuse to just run away for a few days and could he benefit by communicating his feelings?