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The catcher in the rye summary essay
Symbolism thesis statement the catcher in the rye
Message of Salinger throughout Catcher in the Rye
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In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger employs the Shirley Beans record, the museum, and the carousel to demonstrate that the loss of innocence and resulting maturity are imminent and natural. When Holden stumbled through the park, very drunk, after going to a nightclub, he “dropped old Phoebe’s record” (J.D. Salinger 154) which broke even though “it was in a big envelope” (Salinger 154). The record, which told the story of a young child’s dilemma, represented innocence, and so when Holden dropped it, the innocence “shattered.” Still, Phoebe wished to keep the broken pieces of the record, which symbolizes her desire to hold on to childhood and innocence. The record and the envelope demonstrate Holden’s inability to protect his own innocence.
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.
The form of diction used in The Catcher in the Rye is a topic on which many people are strongly opinionated. Because the narrator speaks solely in the vernacular, the novel is ripe with vulgar language. Most of this language is used to characterize Holden, the protagonist and narrator, as a typical American teenager living in the late 1940s or early 1950s, but some of it is utilized to convey Salinger’s theme of innocence versus corruption. When Holden is walking through his sister Phoebe’s school, he sees a scrawl on the wall saying “Fuck you.” He imagines the writing was etched by “some perverty bum that’d sneaked in the school late at night to take a leak or something” (260-61). Again in the museum, Holden encounters another such sign. Both the school and the museum are places he identifies with his childhood, but they have been perverted by the corruption of the world. He is concerned for the children who will inevitably see these signs and be told what they mean by “some dirty kid…all cockeyed, naturally” (260), spoiling the children’s innocence. This is just one more step towards adulthood and corruption. He is disgusted by the people in the world, saying “You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write ‘Fuck yo...
One of the main conflict’s in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is the recurring theme of innocence. Holden attempts to resist maturing and wants to live his life as an innocent adolescent, by staying the same, like the exhibits in the Museum of Natural History. As he reflects on the corruption of innocence throughout the novel, he realizes that he cannot remain innocent forever. While sneaking home to see his mentally unblemished little sister Phoebe, she asks him what he wants to do with his life. Holden responses to her question with a quote from a poem called “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” by Robert Burns. This poem is about two kids having sex in a field, but Holden believes that the poem is about kids playing in a rye field. He relates this to what he wants to do in life by stating, “ 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. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (Salinger 173). Holden implies if you fall of the cliff of childhood you mature, but if Holden catches you, you remain innocent.
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.
The first symbol shows Holden’s desire for children to embrace their childhood innocence just as he would like to. The second symbol, Phoebe, displays the maturity which Holden refuses to grasp onto. The last symbol, The Museum of Natural History, represents how Holden would like to freeze time. J.D. Salinger's use of symbolism in The Catcher in the Rye develops Holden's character and provides insight as to why he does not want to grow up. The three models, the poem, Phoebe and the Museum of Natural History individually provide the reader an impression of what operates within of Holden's head, yet even when it is not openly
People, places, songs, and even simple items such as a stuffed animal, a pillow, or a blanket can foster a person’s memory and take them back to a memory they hold dearly in their hearts. Often, such items of remembrance are used to bring back a person to their carefree and blissful childhood years. For many Americans, the Central Park Carousel in New York brings back memories of the entertainment of growing up in New York, and the wonderful memories of birthdays, family gatherings, and more. This historic carousel remains a timeless memory for those who enjoyed its delightful music, gleaming horses, and cheery atmosphere-never failing to bring a smile to ones face. A classic landmark in Central Park, the Central Park carousel has intregrated itself into the hearts of Americans. In his classic American novel, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger puts such memories into writing through the relationship between Holden and Phoebe, and uses the carousel as a primary symbol in the novel, enhancing the overall theme.
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old boy, transitions from childhood to adulthood. The death of Holden’s little brother signifies the beginning his loss of innocence and growth of maturity. As he enters adulthood, Holden views society differently from his peers by characterizing most of his peers and adults he meets as “phonies.” Thus, Holden takes the impossible challenge of preserving the innocence in children because he wants to prevent children from experiencing the corruption in society. The Catcher In The Rye embodies Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of children and reveals the inevitability of and the necessity of encountering the harsh realities of life.
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.
It is widely agreed that Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye is unarguably the quintessential coming of age and initiation story . This story has been compared against Ellis’ Less Than Zero and T.S. Elliot’s Wasteland as being among the literature that best elucidates the alienation of our youth . The story of Holden’s transition into manhood has been compared against the American transition into consumerism after the world wars . The story has been elevated above bildungsroman to an epic of Odyssean proportion . Certainly the chronicle tackles Holden’s identity crisis to include the desire to be authentic . Adolescent development is explored through Holden’s exploits . Small details of the story, such as the name Caulfield, have been critically dissected as allusions . Most unusually, a critic even explored the relationship between the siblings, Holden and Phoebe, through the lens of feminism . Even though there are many different ways to look at Catcher, everyone agrees that this story employs the loss of innocence model of the fall from disillusionment and pain which leads to wisdom.
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.
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.
In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger argues how innocence is easily corrupted and can’t be fully preserved, through using the symbols of the mummies and carousel .
Salinger’s demonstration of use of physical falls leads to a metaphorical fall for Holden, his nervous breakdown that has him checked into a mental institution. Salinger’s demonstrations of these physical falls revolve around Holden’s role of the catcher in the rye, protecting children from losing their innocence and becoming phonies. This metaphorical fall for Holden was caused by the fact that he realized that growing up is necessary and we all end up falling. Holden realizes this through his role of the catcher in the rye, Mr. Antolini, Sally, and Phoebe. When transitioning into adulthood we all lose our innocence, therefore we become phonies.
it. The author of Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, tells an interesting story about a boy who has avoided his home after getting kicked out his fourth school. This boy, Holden Caulfield, loves perfection and innocence. Holden is a strange character, he makes a snowball, but can’t throw it, imagines the museum as a perfect place because things don’t change, daydreams about his childhood sweetheart constantly, and after seeing “F” you written on the walls of the school, Holden tries to erase every one of them. Life for Holden is sad and uplifting at the same time, but he has to face the fact that he is growing up and can’t be the protector of children. Holden tries to imagine that everything is perfect and the children are innocent without realizing the truth.
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes: