What motivates a child to put on their parents clothes and play house? Is it the same innate need to replicate the moves of adults in order to learn their ways as we use to learn to walk, speak, and function in society? Unfortunately for these children, putting on adult clothes and playing out adult roles does not make you an adult. Holden Caulfield, in the process of becoming an adult, is stuck in an awkward stage where he is able to become an adult, superficially, by recreating their looks and actions, but cannot get it right. Behind his actions he has no adult motivations, only the motivation of a child playing an adult in order to fit into a society they wish to be a part of.
             If Holden knows anything, it's how to look like an adult. He avoids the red hunting hat in all important events, because it makes him look stupid and childish. The hat comes to its dramatic peak in Phoebe's rejection of it, signifying to Holden that even his youngest sibling has grown out of such a childish piece of clothing. Holden has his other little tricks too. Among them are his obsession with smoking and alcohol, and how he thinks that the two make him appear to be an adult. He understands that adults hang out in bars, so he does that, failing to realize that they're there looking for love. He always ends up listening to music or dancing, looking for real conversation, and getting rejected because of it. The only time he ever enjoys himself over a meal is when he's speaking with the nuns, because they are much like him, just looking for a warm body to talk with, not a commitment. His attempt to smoke himself to adulthood ends up landing him in a TB ward, surrounded by psychoanalysts, retelling his struggle.
             If there is any telling scene of Holden's facade of adulthood, it's when Holden arranges for a prostitute. With
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