In The Catcher In The Rye by JD Salinger, Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old boy, moves from childhood to adulthood. The death of Holden's little brother marks the beginning of the loss of innocence and the growth of maturity. As he enters adulthood, Holden views society differently than his peers, characterizing most of his peers and adults he encounters as "fake". Therefore, Holden takes on the impossible challenge of preserving children's innocence because he wants to prevent children from experiencing corruption in society. The Catcher In The Rye embodies Holden's struggle to preserve the innocence of children and reveals the inevitability and necessity of encountering the harsh realities of life. As a child, Holden experiences the death of a loved one. Holden's little brother, Allie, “fell ill with leukemia and died… on July 18, 1946” when Holden was thirteen (Salinger 38). Holden sees Allie as the kindest and “smartest” member of the family (Salinger 38). Furthermore, since Allie dies when she was eleven, Holden doesn't understand why someone with the talent Allie possesses should die before growing up. Despite her death, Holden continues to think about Allie and does not “amuse himself seeing him in that crazy cemetery… surrounded by dead people and headstones” (Salinger 155). Allie is someone Holden has formed a personal relationship with, and due to her death, Holden experiences a change in his perception of society and life. This change leads to Holden's desire to keep those around him constant and eternal to prevent another individual close to him from dying or changing. Similarly, Holden witnesses James Castle's suicide when he attends Elkton Hills. James Castle calls Phil Stabile “……middle of paper……ll off (Salinger 211). The loss of innocence becomes a part of life that Holden slowly learns to accept. In essence, Holden's individual loss of innocence due to his own experiences leads to his desire to prevent this from happening to other children. The deaths of Allie and James give Holden a new perspective on the world and also introduce the concept of suicide, which he reflects on several times. Holden's view on death causes him to slowly mature into adulthood, causing him to abandon his ideal of life forever in his childhood. However, Holden doesn't want things around him to change to preserve the children's innocence and tries to eliminate messages that would make them worry and mature. However, change and the descent into maturity are inevitable, and Holden learns the importance of facing the harsh realities of life..