Catcher in the Rye- Conflicts

The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
pgs 156-214

Holden's story finally comes to a close.  He has told about the last few years of his life up to the current point.  By this time, Holden has changed.  He no longer is struggling with his parents' and societies requests/requirements.  He also is no longer struggling against school and getting an education.   His physical and mental conflicts with others will not repeat themselves; Holden admittedly regrets them.  Though he may still be confused about himself inside, his external conflicts are becoming much less severe, or have been solved.  "If you want to know the truth, I don't know what I think about it...About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance" (Salinger, 214).  Holden is going back to school, and he realizes that he can actually make decent relationships with people if he tries.
At the end of the novel, Holden decides to just go home instead of skipping out on his family and living alone.  He also decides to go back to school.  This shows that Holden is maturing, and how is is gradually falling in line with society's standards of a well-off young man.
Outwardly, Holden appears to be making a positive change.  On the inside though, he is still confused and not as mature as he appears.  In addition, he might still have a problem with relationships- "Don't ever tall anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody" (Salinger, 214).  This shows that Holden is very averse to getting close to people just because he might get hurt, like he was hurt when his brother died.  However, this does show a positive change because it exhibits how Holden is showing connections to people and longing for more connections.  Therefore, I think Holden has improved drastically since the beginning of the novel and no longer has to deal with as many conflicts as before.