At a significant point in every life innocence is lost and maturity is stumbled upon. A Bildungsroman novel often expresses the coming of age of a character. People often mature from the stage of adolescence, maturing into a young, whole hearted adult. Looking back in life, everybody can find a pivotal moment of their life, even if it was not obvious at that time in which it happened. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield matures into a young adult. Holden matues solely when he sees that someone else has innocence that needs to be protected and savored. While Holden, in The Catcher in the Rye, may have had to overcome many struggles and challenged, he underwent an experience with his kid sister, Phoebe, and …show more content…
Holden takes Phoebe to ride the carousel and convinces her that she is not too big for the ride, because when himself, Allie, and D.B. used to go to the park with her, all together, she was “mad” (Salinger 210) about riding the carousel, she never wanted off. Holden knew that she would still enjoy riding the carousel, regardless of her age, and he would enjoy watching more than riding. Holden sees Phoebe trying to grab the golden ring and realizes that sometimes there is innocence that needs to be present and sometimes there are instances where it needs to be lost. While Phoebe was riding, Holden decided to allow her to try to grab the ring and let her enjoy her youthful innocence. Holden, however, realizes that he is better off watching Phoebe than riding along. He says, “If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say something to them” (Salinger 211). Watching Phoebe ride the carousel, while sitting back on a bench, in the rain, set for Holden to realize in order to protect Phoebe’s innocence he had to become mature. Holden’s maturity was revoked when he decides to stay afar and simply enjoy Phoebe’s youthfulness. Watching his sister reach for the golden ring made Holden think of himself reaching for his own dreams. While he may have been in many different schools through his lifetime, he still imagines reaching his “golden
... the other children on the carrousel reaching for their gold rings he realizes, “If they fall off, they fall off” (211). This is so significant because Holden becomes conscious of the fact that whatever happens, happens. He cannot control or protect anyone, or himself, from the future. Holden’s last two sentences of the novel really capture the entire journey he has gone through: “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (214). This is Holden getting over everything that has happened to him. He understands that he can overcome what has happened from him in order to learn from his past and move forward to the future.
One of the greatest American Literature writers, J.D. Salinger, was familiar with a rough childhood by experience. He was able to parallel his experiences to the experiences of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in Rye. In this novel, Holden experiences conflicts that most youth are not familiar with. The conflicts in Holden Caulfield’s life are caused by various forces and circumstances.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
Have you ever pondered about when growing up, where does our childlike innocence go and what happens to us to go through this process? It involves abandoning previous memories that are close to our hearts. As we can see in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, we listen to what the main character; Holden Caulfield has to say about it. Holden is an average teenager dealing with academic and life problems. He remains untouched over his expulsion from Pencey Prep; rather, he takes the opportunity to take a “vacation.” As he ventures off companionless in New York City, we are able to observe many things about him. We see that Holden habitually states that he is depressed and undoubtedly, wants to preserve the innocence of others.
When Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to do with his life he replied. This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet he
The transition from a teen to an adult is one of the major steps in life. This major transition can be really scary. Some people are so scared of becoming an adult, that they try to keep their inner child alive. One person in the book The Catcher in the Rye is Holden Caulfield, Holden is the main character in the novel written by J.D. Salinger. A prominent theme in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye is the painfulness of growing up. As this theme is going on through the novel, Salinger weaves in symbols that Holden happens to use and talk about throughout the novel.
In his novel Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence when his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is faced with the reality of becoming an adult. Holden’s desperation to maintain his innocence and the manner in which he critiques those he deems to have lost theirs, emphasizes his immaturity and ignorance while highlighting the importance the author places on childhood.
If there were one word to tell what the theme of the book was it would be innocence. How we are all innocent at some point, how to try to keep our innocence, and how no one can keep their innocence forever. We all fall from our innocence. Adam and Eve fell from grace and innocence and set the tone for all of our lives. Throughout the whole book Holden is trying to make people keep their innocence and he wants to hold onto it himself. What he needs to learn and does learn through the course of the book is that no one can keep his or her innocence. We all fall at some point, but what we have control over is how hard we fall.
Themes in literary works are central, recurring ideas or messages that allow us to understand more deeply about the characters. It is a perception about life or human nature that is often shared with the reader. In The Catcher in the Rye, there are several themes that can be found in the words and actions of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. The dominating theme in this novel is the preservation of innocence, especially of children. We can see this throughout the novel, as Holden strives to preserve innocence in himself and others.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
Throughout the book Holden admits he doesn't like change. Holden fear of growing up , becoming an adult and thinking of of it disgust him. For example the museum, Holden like it because the exterior of it did not change and says the only thing that would change would be you.In the text Luce says “Same old Caulfield.When are you going to grow up already?”(144). Holden wants things to stay how they are and how his life is. Holden considers adults phonies and he doesn’t want to be consider phony as well. When he describes the museum he says the best part about it is that it never changes, only you do.Holden bonds with his sister taking her to the zoo, museum and the carousel.He wants to Phoebe to experience what he did and to get the memories alive. “What I have to do, I would have to catch everyone if they start to go over the cliff- what I have to do, I mean if they are running and they don't look where they are going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That is all I have to do. I would just be the catcher in the rye”(173). This quote show how by holden is catching them from falling down the cliff which symbolizes stopping them from adulthood. “Thousand of little kids and nobody’s around- nobody big , I mean except me”(173). This quotes implies how young innocent kids won't be exerted by adults
...others, Holden does not want to grow up and Holden does not want to advance into the world of adulthood. Holden wants to preserve the innocence of him and the innocence of others but he can't simply because that is how life is. An example is “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it and not say anything” (Salinger 211). This is a quote were Holden finally noticed that he can’t help the kids to keep their innocence because he can't. Holden just needs to let them reach for the gold rings and if they fall you should let them get back up. This is an important thing Holden learned throughout his adventure, that he can’t become The Catcher in the Rye.
When Holden took Phoebe to ride the carousel and it started he “watched her go around and around”(Salinger 232).When he sees Phoebe go around and around it sort of cheers him up because it looks like she’ll never go anywhere or change. The carousel symbolizes life and the journey from childhood to adulthood. This is when he stops seeing change as a horrifying thing and accepts it as an unavoidable cycle,. He also said that “ All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.
The carousel never changes, and continues to move in circles and always stays in the same speed; it stays the same while the children who ride it grow older. However, these children riding the carousel “kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and [Holden] was sort of afraid she’d fall off” (232). These children are teetering on the edge of innocence, close to falling from the safety of childhood into maturity. Holden, sitting on a bench watching these children on the edge of the cliff, cannot protect them from the fall. Holden explains this incapability as he admits, “if [children] want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (232). Holden concludes that he cannot protect these children or himself from falling off the metaphorical cliff into adulthood; therefore, he abandons his dream of being the catcher in the rye and accepts his own transition into adulthood. Although Holden’s bold efforts proved incapable, the symbolism of cyclical objects conveys that Holden’s desire of endless innocence cannot transcend
Holden and the Complexity of Adult Life What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one has anything better to offer.