What are some problems that Holden faces in The Catcher in the Rye?

The main
problem foris that he can't bridge the gap between adolescence and adulthood. He feels more
intensely than most young adults the pressure to find a place for himself in a world that's
scary and largely incomprehensible. Yet he lacks the ability to do so. His chronic cynicism
gives him a perspective on the world that precludes any meaningful involvement in it. Everyone
and everything in the big old world outside is just "phony," and so Holden refuses to
engage meaningfully with people he regards as being terminally fake and insincere.

Most young adults go through a difficult period of readjustment, but it's much harder
for Holden. Psychologically, he's still a child, still incapable of living in the world, despite
his constitutional cynicism. He just wants to be "the catcher in the rye," protecting
the innocence of children, the innocence which he himself has lost, yet yearns so much to
recover. But he cannot do this. He can't even protect himself. In order to live up
to...