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The Catcher in the Rye Symbols, Motifs and Themes
Symbolism analysis of the catcher in the rye
Symbolism analysis of the catcher in the rye
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Holden’s “catcher in the rye” dream represents God’s wishes for the human race in the Garden of Eden. Holden symbolizes God when he dreams that he has to “catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff” (191, Salinger). The imagery of the cliff represents loss of innocence, so when Holden has to keep the kids from going over the cliff into a chasm, he represents God, when God tries to preserve the innocence of Adam and Eve, and when God warns them from eating the apple, which like the cliff, causes them to lose their innocence. In the same dream, Holden thinks that the kids are “running and they don't know look where they're going” (191, Salinger). This vision of the kids shows that the kids don't know that they are going to lose their …show more content…
The repetition of the “Fuck you”s angers Holden and makes him think that “you can never find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when your not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write “fuck you” right under your nose.”(224, Salinger). Holden’s animosity towards the “Fuck you”s resembles God’s thoughts of man in the bible with the passage “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth” (genesis 6:5). Holden thinks that you can find “Fuck you” written anywhere just like how God thinks that men are wicked all over the earth. Holden again resembles God when he wants to “kill whoever’d written” the “Fuck you” and then “[rub] it out” (221, Salinger). His thought of wanting to kill the writer of “Fuck you” and his action of wiping it out resembles God when God said “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land”, because “Fuck you” symbolizes man’s inherent evil. Holden wants to kill the person who wrote “Fuck you” like God wants to get rid of man. The last time Holden symbolizes God before the carousel is when he is in the tomb and thinks “I sort of liked it, in a way. It was so nice and peaceful” (224, Salinger). Holden thinking death is peaceful {AbP}, he symbolizes when God killed almost every single creature on the earth to stop …show more content…
The first time Holden symbolizes God when he is at the carousel is when Holden thinks “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. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them” (232, Salinger). Holden comes to the realization that the loss of innocence is inedible, and that although the loss of innocence isn’t great, trying to preserve innocence is worse. Holden’s realization about the loss of innocence symbolizes God’s realization that humanity is born to loose innocence when God said “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). One aspect of the Catcher in the Rye that symbolizes the Story of Genesis that isn’t Holden, is the rain. The rain, which is described when Holden says “Boy, it began to rain like a bastard” (233, Salinger), symbolizes the flood in Genesis because the rain represents the moment when Holden has his realization about innocence and the flood represents when God has his realization about humanity. The last time Holden symbolizes God is when he thinks “I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddamn Maurice” (234, Salinger). Holden symbolizes God because he ends up missing everyone in the end, even the people who he hated, just like God, when God doesn’t exactly miss everyone who died in
I would like to discuss how Holden’s misinterpretation of the Robert Burns poem, “Coming Through the Rye”, sums up his deepest desires by taking a journey through his troubled adolescence and his journey to self–discovery that results in his breakdown. According to Phoebe, the original line in the poem is “if a body meet a body”. However, Holden’s misinterpretation of “if a body catch a body” removes all sexual connotations from the original poem. Holden is a deeply disturbed adolescent in search of a way to preserve his childhood innocence. His “red hunting cap” is a symbol of his uniqueness and his rejection to conform to society.
The Catcher in the Rye Holden Gets Influenced Everyone gets influenced by someone, even heroes do. The Catcher in the Rye, a novel written by J. D. Salinger, talks about Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old boy that is trying to live through his problems. Holden tries to learn from his experiences as well as from the ones of others. He goes through many hard times, but he always takes them as a chance to imagine how it could have ended if he had done something about them or what cold had happened if he was not so “yellow”.
In the novel, Holden is a conflicted 17-year-old teenager that discriminates, has low self-esteem, and seems to be depressed. The way the author dexterously uses his words depicts how Holden feels, purposely summoning emotions within the reader to understand the situation the character faces. “Then, all of a sudden, I started to cry. I couldn’t help it […] but once you get started, you can’t just stop on a goddam dime,” (Salinger, 179). The use of the profanity in this quote is so that the reader realizes how conflicted Holden is about crying. It produces emotions in anyone who reads it. Students can learn from this storyline because it gives them the ability to feel what they are reading – to understand. This is not flawed writing, nor is it meant to be offensive; it is purely the objective of this form of literature – to present an artificial reality and to inv...
in all but one of his subjects. He does not like to talk about his
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s outlook in life is either the innocence of childhood or the cruelty of adulthood. He believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and it should be protected from the cruelty and phoniness of the adult world. Therefore Holden has a desire and is compelled to protect a child’s innocence at all costs. This is revealed when Holden tells Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. Holden says to Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re ru...
(Holden wants to be a catcher in the rye, He wants to save children from falling from a cliff . Children meaning innocence and falling down to society and losing their innocence) Elaborate
In The Catcher in the Rye Holden fears growing up he will get uncomfortable when talking about adult situations, he would avoid seeing people just to avoid an adult predicament. Whether it will be a confrontation with his sister, or talking about a racy book with an adult he always seems to get timid. He is not quite yet ready for adulthood. This is something he needs to get ready for soon. He is 16 going on 17 and before he knows it he will be a grown up and will have to support himself and have a steady job. That involves communication.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he expresses this attitude through his dialogue, tone, and diction.
D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye", Holden Caulfield describes his lucid imagination to his younger sister, Phoebe. Holden describes a song he had heard as he walked through the streets of New York and tells Phoebe what he thinks the song is telling him. This quote implies what Holden believes to be his true purpose in life. Holden uses descriptive language in order to help Phoebe, as well as the reader, visualize his imagination. Holden states," ...all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye... I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff." Holden uses imagery in order to illustrate the situation of his fantasy. Along with this imagery, Holden states what he believes his role is in this field of rye. Holden describes," I have to catch everybody [little kids] if they start to go over the cliff.. That's all I'd do all day." Holden uses his fantasy as a huge metaphor for his life. He implies that the catcher in the rye is the savior of these little kids, who will never grow up because they are not allowed to "go over the cliff." Holden describes himself as the catcher, and believes his true purpose in life is to save the little kids from going over "the edge of some crazy cliff" because he believes the adult world is phony and that innocence must be kept for as long as possible. He believes in this metaphor so strongly that he could "do [it] all
The Catcher in the Rye revolves around Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, and his disillusionment. Holden’s disillusionment illustrates that he has a problem accepting such. Aforesaid is based upon multiple factors, most which have brought Holden lasting traumas. A remedy is required for Holden to accept his disillusionment and enable an improvement of his situation. For Holden’s remedy, the consultation of psychologists, and additional specialized health professionals would be the core of an apt remedy for Holden’s psychological and physiological state based upon the numerous causes of such and the everlasting trauma of some of the determinants of aforesaid situation. The origins of Holden’s disillusionment revolved mainly around the death of his younger brother Allie three years ago, of which he still experiences the trauma to this day. His disillusionment is caused by both
The Catcher in the Rye is about a depressed boy named Holden who takes the reader on a journey that exposes corruption in the world. Symbolism is an immense literary device J.D Salinger uses to show how he lost his childhood innocence and how losing it should occur naturally. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to convey the theme that people cannot preserve or prevent the loss of innocence due to the corruption of the adult world.
Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
Holden plays the role of the catcher in the rye by physically catching the children before they fall off the cliff proving that we all end up falling. Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to be, Holden responds, “if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them…I’d just be the catcher in rye and all” (Salinger 173). The cliff is symbolic of loss of innocence. Holden’s role of the catcher in the rye allows him to physically catch children before they fall off the cliff, therefore saving their innocence before they fall into adulthood. When the children fall off the cliff, it is much like the fall into adulthood, we fall in not looking where we are going and not knowing what to expect. Not only has Holden become obsessed with trying to preserve the innocence of children, but he also ends up having a nervous breakdown. Holden says to Phoebe, “I know it’s crazy…I know it’s crazy” (Salinger 173). Salinger’s use of repetition emphasizes the word crazy, therefore; foreshadowing that Holden will have a nervous breakdown and go crazy. Not only has Salinger’s use of repetition foreshadowed that Holden will go crazy, but so has Mr. Antolini....
Catcher in the Rye is a complicated book about a young man going through, what appears to be a nervous break down. This is a book about the boy’s negative self-talk, horrible outlook on life, and a life itself that seems to keep swirling down the toilet. He keeps trying to fill his life with something, but the reality of it is he doesn’t exactly now what he needs. It’s complicated to understand at parts, because all he does is think of things in the worst possible conditions.
A big trait in Holden’s character is the stubbornness. Holden is not willing to accept his problems in addition to let others help him. It is equally important to realize that Holden’s stubbornness is fatal to changing, otherwise growing up. One of the first symbols introduced is Holden’s red hunting hat. “This is a people shooting hat. I shoot people in this hat. (3.31)” gives signs that this hat is a way to alienate himself from the world. When Holden articulates it is for shooting people; shooting really means calling them phonies to only stubbornly protect himself from the outer world. Proceeding to Holden’s visit to Phoebe’s school, the f**k you signs on the wall are a way of representing the negative influences on kids. Holden’s stubbornness is shown when he attempts to erase them off the wall, although states “you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘F**k You’ signs in the world.(25.18)” The symbol’s meaning towards the story is understood that it’d be pointless to erase even all of the negative influences in the world because they’d just re-appear, except the protagonist cannot accept the reality of the situation. Jumping right to the end of the novel, when Phoebe ...