There are many books that recount stories of children in the process of the transition from being an adolescent to an adult. “Lucy” by Jamaica Kincaid and “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger are both books that feature the theme of coming of age. The protagonists of the novels, Holden and Lucy, experience some unfamiliar encounters and changes in their life which subsequently leads them to “grow up”. Due to the differences of their family background, character and experiences, Lucy matures to a greater extent compared to Holden. The family background of Lucy and Holden plays a large role in terms of how much they mature throughout the story. In “The Catcher in the Rye”, it is evident that Holden is from an affluent family. It is clear…show more content… In The Catcher in the Rye, it is clear that Holden is a character that shies away from the challenges that he faces. This tendency is demonstrated multiple times in the story. For example, when Holden meets Lillian Simmons at Ernie’s (Salinger, 112), rather than standing up for himself so that he could stay at the venue, he “[has] to meet somebody” in order to avoid her. A more evident incident would be when Holden agrees to meet with a prostitute called Sally so that he could “get in some practice on her, in case [he] ever [got] married or anything” (Salinger, 120). However, eventually decides to make an excuse that “[he] had an operation very recently” (Salinger, xxx) to avoid the encounter. This conveys the idea that Holden has a stubborn personality and fears change. On the contrary, Lucy is a character that steps up to a challenge and is willing to attempt new things. An example would be when Lucy has a sexual encounter with Hugh (Kincaid, 66). Even though “[she] was not in love” (Kincaid, xxx), she still decided to step up to the challenge. Although her personality causes her to be extremely venerable to her surroundings, she was able to learn from these events and realize that a relationship is not solely about sex, but also about the emotional value attached to