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Symbolism essay on catcher in the rye
The symbolic meanings of A Catcher in the Rye
Symbolism in the catcher in the rye essay
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Often times in literature objects hold significance that helps the reader deepen their understanding of the underlying themes that tie the piece together. In The Catcher in the Rye Salinger uses symbolism such as Holden’s hunting hat, the ducks in central park, and Allie’s baseball mitt all through the novel in order to display important themes like isolation, loss of innocence, and struggling through childhood. Salinger shows the reader about teens journey from childhood and adulthood and their difficulty communicating their feelings and needs. One of the most substantial themes in the novel is Holden’s alienation from society and likewise has one of the most significant symbols; Holden’s red hunting hat. Holden’s hunting hat represents his …show more content…
A good example of the symbolism is when Holden drops his sister’s Shirley Beans record. “I dropped old Phoebe’s record. It broke into about fifty pieces.”(153) Shirley Beans is a childish song Holden likes but destroys it just like how Holden likes childhood but he destroys it with his actions. Another symbol of Holden’s escape from childhood to adulthood is the ducks in central park. “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?”(60) The ducks have to change for winter just like Holden has to change for adulthood. He wonders where the ducks will go and where he will go when he grows up. Even when Holden tells his daydreams to his sister we can see the symbolism of Holden’s descent into adulthood. "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.”(173) The cheerful field of rye filled with children symbolizes childhood and the bottom of the cliff represents adulthood. Holden tries to save kids from falling into adulthood. Holden is becoming an adult throughout the story yet instead of trying to save his childhood he tries to save everyone who hasn't already from going into
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows the journey of a young boy, Holden Caulfield, from adolescence to adulthood. There are a number of symbols that Salinger uses to help to portray the various stages that Holden goes through as he matures into adulthood. The snowball incident, his sense of fulfillment when at the museum, and his run in with a pimp, are all representations of how Holden is deeply obsessed with innocence thoughts and how reluctant he is to give them up.
Throughout the novel, the reader is presented with many different symbols. The symbols are clearly seen by Holden's constant repetition of their importance. The symbols are so important and their symbolism is directly related to the major themes of the novel.
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a teenage rebel who is exploring the world on his own. The author, Salinger, uses many tools to deepen the impression on the reader such as linking the title to the story in an intricate way or creating a complex name for the protagonist. The symbols used in The Catcher in the Rye are there for a just reason, an example being how the author used the title, which is also a poem, as a symbol. Salinger uses the geographical locations, such as the Museum of Natural History, as symbols as well.
In Catcher In The Rye, Holden's red hunting hat symbolizes his true self by how he wears it, how it is aesthetically connected to him, and how it develops through the story with him.
In the beginning of the novel, Holden believes that the world is out to get him, so he alienates himself for protection. A way to do so, he brings forth his hunting hat, “‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said. ‘I shoot people in this hat.’” (Salinger, 22) Holden’s hunting hat is the strongest symbol in the novel. It gives Holden protection from people who could be potentially harmful to him. Whenever he is afraid or anxious he regresses and puts on his hunting hat for comfort. This anxiety is triggered by memories from his past. The world has stepped on him and beat him down, so now he uses his hunting hat to symbolize his independence and alienation from the world. He consciously knows that the hat will not physically protect him, but, “the nihilist does not believe in the necessity of being logical.” (“On the Pathos of Truth”) So, since he doesn’t need to be logical, he uses the hunting hat regardless if it is actually going to work or not. Holden feels disconnected to the world in the beginning of the novel. Holden states that he feels trapped on “the other side of life.” (Salinger, 8) When Holden says this, he is in a distressed point in his life because he has recently just been expelled from his fourth school. The expulsion could be a reason why he feels so disconnected, but since this didn’t happen during his last expulsions, he
The distance that Holden makes sure to keep in place isolates him from others and manifests in curious actions and mannerisms. One example could be the red hunting hat, which advertises his uniqueness and also gives him a sense of protection. Holden explains to Ackley that his red hat is not a “deer shooting hat” but a “people shooting hat”. Out of all the mentions of the red hat in the novel, this is the most enlightening. Holden uses the hat as a sign of individuality and independence; this hat serves as another way Holden is able to isolate himself from the rest of the world. The red hat serves as symbol for Holden’s desperate desire for independence and his distaste for conformity. Although Holden does not kill anyone in the novel, he does “shoot people” in his own cynical way by spending all of his time and energy belittling the people around
J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye tells an unforgettable story of teenage angst by highlighting the life of Holden Caulfield, a young boy who commences a journey of self-discovery after being expelled from his private boarding school. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles with issues such as self-identity, loss, and a wavering sense of belonging. Holden’s red hunting hat is consistently used throughout the story as a symbol of his independence and his attachment to his childhood. From the very moment he receives it, Holden’s red hunting hat becomes a symbol of his own alienation. After traveling to New York for a fencing match and losing the team’s equipment on the subway, Holden is outcast by his teammates, who are angry that he hindered their ability to compete in the match.
The Catcher in the Rye Essay Through Salinger's use of symbolism, as a society, he depicts the importance of preserving innocence. We want to save our innocence. In court, people try to plead not guilty, meaning that they are innocent. Holden Caulfield tries to protect kids from becoming guilty. He wants to make people never become guilty.
The symbolism throughout the novel illustrates Holden’s isolation from the adult world. In the beginning of the Chapter Three, Holden returns to his dorm room where he finds his pestering roommate, Ackley. After seeing Holden’s red hunting hat, which he purchased in New York, Ackley is fascinated by it and tells Holden that “Up home [he] wears a hat like that to shoot deer in,” (22) Holden then takes the red hunting hat off of Ackleys’ head and closes one eye as if he is trying to shoot it. “This is a people shooting hat,” he says (22). It is obvious from the start of the novel that Holden’s red hat symbolizes his mark of individuality and independence. In this scene, the audience sees how his desire for independence is connected to the feeling of alienation and the bitterness Holden feels for the people in society. Of course, Holden will not actually sh...
“I was crying and all, I don’t know why, but I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (53), Holden says. As humans, we have a hard time belonging in society. This is the same case for Holden Caulfield, the main character from the Catcher in the Rye. The Catcher in the rye, a novel by J.D Salinger, is about Holden, a lost boy in desperate need of help. Throughout the novel, Holden seems to be excluded by the world around him. He continually attempts to try and belong in a world in which he is isolating from. In this novel, Salinger uses symbols such as the red hunting hat, the ducks and Allie’s glove to support the theme, belonging and isolation.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
While in New York with the fencing team, Holden loses all of their equipment, then buys a red hunting hat. Holden describes the hat as a, “red hunting hat, with one of those very, very, very long peaks… The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around back - very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way.”(Salinger, 24) The hat makes him stand out and seem like a unique person.
To roughly describe Catcher in the Rye, one could say that we are told a story of an adolescent named Holden Caulfield as he searches for companionship and some sense of purpose. The novel cannot be described as lengthy as the actions that are vividly told from Holden’s point of view, occur over the course of three days. Within this three-day story we can see, both obviously and subtlety, many symbols and motifs, which drive the story, forward and urge Holden to continue his quest for purpose and friendship. It is important to note that these symbols and motifs arise purely because of Holden’s eccentric personality. For example, it is perfectly normal for a character like Holden to attach himself to mental images and pictures in a way in which
Both of these previously stated relationships offer Holden an opportunity to step out of his isolated bubble. They also introduce what he distresses most about the adult world which according to him is the complexity, unpredictability, and the possibility of a conflict or change. This connects to the symbol of the Museum of Natural History, and shows how Holden likes the world to be predictable and unchanging and in a way slow and still. Unpredictable adults often challenge Holden and make him question his self-confidence and self-worth. Holden has trouble dealing with something complex like this, possibly because of the passing of his brother. Since then, Holden completely isolated himself from everybody as a means of self-protection. Although he is handed opportunities for both physical and emotional intimacy, he disregards all of them. Even so, Holden desperately continues searching for new relationships, while habitually aborting his own attempts but only at the last
The novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” revolves around the protagonist Holden Caulfield as the story is told from his perspective. J.D. Salinger constructed Holden Caulfield as a cynical person who cannot accept to grow up. Throughout “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal and reinforce critical aspects of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. Three important aspects Holden acquired through Salinger’s use of symbolism are: his stubborn, uncompromising mentality; his softer, more caring respectful side; Holden’s cowardly way of acting and thinking.