Adult or Child?

it depends. you become an adult when an event in your life makes you. when the event occurs it ads a twist to your life, the event usually forces you to take on a new responsibility that is never going to leave you...Ever! lets say your parents are divorced your 17 and then your only parent that you had leaves you. if you have any siblings you are now the "adult" i think holden has shown some things that resemble this. he denies some adult things however, he smokes. i think he is an "adult" most people would most likely say he is in the middle. i dont think so he has starting becoming an adult but as we read on i bet we see that event occur that forces him to change, then he will realize he is an adult and will then and only then be able to face himself as an adult, rather than stay stuck not in between the two but the "partial adult" stage.

FISH AND DUCKS

the fish and ducks are not mentioned by Holden once but twice, so they must be more then just "fish and ducks" i think holden almost is represented by the ducks. we all know iowa winters are harsh and dangorous to anyone and anything. as a result the ducks leave. i fell everytime holden falls into a problem he leaves. he has been to multiple schools, and failed. by having to "travel" to diffrent schools..."Kicked out" he gives up and finds a new school. or he gets on a bus and leaves everyting behind just like the dukcs. and the fish represent everyone else around Holden that are forced to stay behind and fight out there problems. the pond is like all the problems in the worl. when it freeze's over, it becomes hard to break the layer of problems and you ether leave, or wait till times get better.-Holden always turns into a duck.

Holden and Stradlater's fight...Who is Ackley?!

Holden and Sradlater get in a huge fight after he gets home from his date with "Jane" then after the fight Holden goes to the person that we would last expect Ackley? Holden says that Ackley is just darn right "Nasty" but he sneaks over and wakes him to ask if he can stay in his room for the nite to avoid Sradlater. i think he ran to Sradlater to get someone to talk to him about the fight, however that nite he just wanted to sleep. how about the irony the time someone needs Ackley he doesnt want anything to do with them.

who is holdon?

i personally think holdon has just given up. he is willing to do homework for Stradlater but not for himself? maybe he does not want to do his own homeork because he does not mind failing, or maybe he does not do it himself because that would be "helping the system". i dont understand why though he would leave the note to Mr. Spencer saying what he knew about the egyptians. he tells him he does not mind if he flunks him because he is already flunking everything else. it almost sound like in his note he left to his teacher at the end of his essay like he was trying to get some sympaty from Mr. Spencer. however, if he wanted to "fight the power" and be a rebelous why would he leave the note in the first place?