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The Catcher in the Rye: Themes and Symbols essay
The Catcher in the Rye: Themes and Symbols essay
The Catcher in the Rye: Themes and Symbols essay
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The Death of Innocence: Unreachable Dreams in The Catcher in the Rye With the death of Allie Caulfield, Holden, of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, fears that he will not survive the transition from adolescence into adulthood, demonstrates his need to believe he is the protector of innocence in order to be able to live in a seemingly “phony” world. Holden often finds himself questioning his sexuality, or sex in general. However, as his story progresses it becomes clear that Holden has a purpose: to protect the young and innocent minds of children from the corruption of the adult world. Holden begins to express his conflict of understanding innocence when he says, “Most guys at Pencey just talked about having sexual intercourse…but …show more content…
He tends to put more emphasis on the innocence of others in society rather than his own. Holden gives the readers insight on his fixation with children and preserving their innocence in chapter 22 when he says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing in some 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… That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (224). Even though his goal is unrealistic, even unobtainable, Holden continues to believe in this dream and lives his life according to this goal. Holden’s use of the phrase “I’d just be the catcher in the rye” in this sentence, he not only gives an explanation for the title of the book; in fact Holden reveals his true ambition. He wants to be what his brother is for him, a guardian angel. Without his brother’s vital role in the story, Holden would not be the person he aspires to be for others. The Cather in the Rye portrays Holden as a depressed introvert who hates the world because it is phony, but on the other hand by Holden sharing his fantasy, it shows how many teenagers may also feel about growing up, and the belief that by falling of this cliff, or becoming an adult, they would lose that sense of innocence and their simplistic view of the
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
In The Catcher in The Rye, by J.D, the main character, Holden, can be seen as a troubled teenager growing up in a less than perfect society. Throughout the novel Holden struggles with the fact that many young and innocent kids will grow up and see the world from a different perspective. He naturally becomes worried for all future generations who will one day grow, as he did, and loose their innocence. The fixation of youth and innocence can be seen in the title of the book, as well as throughout the novel.
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a morally ambiguous character. Throughout the book, Salinger speaks as Holden and introduces him as a callous and subjective individual. However, the author permits the reader to be within Holden’s mind, giving the audience an alternative perspective of Holden’s true character. Without the obscurity of Holden’s personality, the work would lack a crucial element. As the protagonist, Holden serves as an equivocal adolescent that is relatable for the reader.
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.
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
An image he has created in his mind as someone who overlooks children playing in a rye in order to save them shall they fall off the cliff at the end of the rye. Holden’s only dream serves as a parallel of his life, showing his inability to strive for anything real as it simultaneously reveals his fear of falling from childhood or innocence. Childhood is associated with innocence in Holden’s eyes as he sees all things beyond it as something you need to be saved from. Holden believes he needs to save these children before they fall from their
Innocence lies within everyone in at least one point in their lives, but as reality consumes them, that purity begins to vanish slowly as they learn new experiences. In the coming of age novel set in the nineteen-forties, J.D Salinger writes about a sixteen-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield who stands between a road that separates childhood from adulthood and is confused about which path to take. On a three-day trip in New York away from his family and fellow peers at school, Holden encounters many situations in which lead him to think twice about who he wants to become and how he wants to guide others who are in the same situation he is in. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger utilizes symbolism, vivid imagery, and slangy diction to expose Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of the people that he loves while alienating himself from the adult world he calls “phony.”
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a coming-of-age novel set in New York during the 1940’s. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, is a detached seventeen-year old boy harboring feelings of isolation and disillusionment. He emphasizes a general dislike for society, referring to people as “phonies.” His lack of will to socialize prompts him to find nearly everything depressing. He’s alone most of the time and it’s apparent that he is very reclusive. This often leads him to pondering about his own death and other personal issues that plague him without immediate resolution. Holden possesses a strong deficit of affection – platonic and sexual – that hinders and cripples his views toward people, his attitude, and his ability to progressively solve his problems without inflicting pain on himself. The absence of significant figures in his life revert him to a childlike dependency and initiate his morbid fascination with sexuality. In this novel, Salinger uses Sunny, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce to incorporate the hardships of discovering sexual identity and how these events affect adolescents as they try to understand their own sexuality.
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.
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...
To begin with, Holden’s love for the innocence and purity of childhood makes him very hesitant to transition into an adult life. Generally, he finds children to be straightforward, easygoing, and simply pure in every way. This is because they always say what they mean, and never try to set a false façade for...
We see during the novel that Holden wants to be able to protect innocence in the world, however by the end of the story he lets go of that desire. This is a point of growth for Holden. He finds that it is impossible and unnecessary to keep all the innocence in the world. While with Phoebe Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye...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...That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (173). In this moment Holden wants to be able to preserve all the youth and innocence in the world. He doesn’t accept that kids have to grow and change and that they can’t stay innocent forever. Later on in the story when Holden is with Phoebe at a carousel again he thinks, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden 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.” At the end of the novel Holden realizes and comes to terms with the fact that kids grow and lose their innocence. He moves from his want to be the “catcher in the rye” to...
The theme portrayed in this drawing is that while growing up, it becomes harder to hold onto innocence. In the novel Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is having difficulty making the transition from childhood into adulthood. Holden wants to act as a “catcher in the rye” in order to save children from falling into adulthood. He is forced into adulthood after the death of his brother Allie. He is shipped off to boarding school and, due to a lack of parental support, begins to lose faith in himself and others. Holden labels his peers who have successfully made the transition into adulthood as phonies, and isolates himself as a way to avoid furthering the transition. He also wants others to perceive him as older than he actually is such as
While Holden is searching for meaning and purpose in life, his main concern deals with maintaining childhood innocence. Holden admires Jane Gallagher who is a girl that he spent almost everyday with during the summer time. Holden describes that he would play checkers with Jane and how “she wouldn’t move any of her kings…. [because] she just liked the way they looked when they were all in the backrow” (Salinger 31-32). Jane does not move any of her kings because she likes to play safe. This illustrates Jane’s character as she represents an innocent being who doesn’t like to take risks.
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher and The Rye, innocence is the most significant theme. Innocence is usually considered a good thing, yet because of Holden’s mental illness and the grief he must deal with caused by his brother’s death, it manifests into something of great distress for the character. Innocence became the double-edged sword in the case of Holden. Though he had righteous beliefs, it was very detrimental to his state of mind and those around him. The character, Holden, fabricates unrealistic ideals of innocence while suffering through his mental illness. These ideas he creates end up latching themselves onto certain characters Holden is close with.