We approach the world of adulthood in many ways. Graduating from high school, heading to college, attaining your dream job, buying a new house to later call home, or even getting married. We move on from our childhood because that is the way of life. As human beings we change for the better. As we reach adulthood, we can still cherish the memories we had as children but we no longer are fully attached to them. However, the main character Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye, struggles with facing reality and maturity. He fears change and wants to remain in his childhood bubble forever. Throughout the novel, multiple symbols are used to convey Holden’s fear of moving on and losing his innocence. Both the author J.D. Salinger and critics Dennis McCort and S. N. Behrman offer evidence from “Hyakujo’s Geese” and “S. N. Behrman on Holden’s Innocence” to show Holden’s doubts about progressing into the adult world. Throughout J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden shows a fear of maturity therefore grasping onto his innocence and dreading entering the phony adult world. Holden is caught multiple times questioning the presence of the ducks and fish in Central Park, when in reality; he is questioning what he will do when he too faces hardship. The ducks appear to be a subject that Holden uses for small-talk with the cab drivers to dismiss his loneliness, but in actuality, he sees the ducks as a mirror image of himself. While Holden is sitting in the cab, he asks the driver, “You know those ducks in that lagoon near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where the ducks go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know by any chance?” (Salinger 60). Hold... ... middle of paper ... ...ome like the rest of the world; he can be his own individual. It is time for Holden to truly face the world. No matter where we go in life, our childhood memories will always be with us. It does not mean that we are fully attached to them but they still remain. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye we see Holden making large realizations about life. For much of Holden’s life he feared losing his childhood and innocence and fought hard to preserve it. Many symbols were used to express Holden’s desire for stability and childhood. The ducks and fish allowed Holden to wonder where he would go if his life got difficult, the museum gave him stability, and the carrousel let him live in his childhood. They appear to be small subjects in the novel but they speak volumes. By the end, Holden still refuses to mature but you can tell that he realizes that growing up is inevitable.
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.
In chapter 2 of The Catcher in the Rye Holden ponders while conversing with his teacher “where the ducks go when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over.” Holden views himself as one of the ducks that are forced to adapt
In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger involves many symbols and motifs that help understand more about Holden, the main character in the book, and who he is. The motif that stands out the most in the book are the ducks in central park. The ducks help us understand that Holden doesn't want to grow up, he wants to stay a little innocent child. There are more than one example of symbols that show the innocent side of Holden.
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
Once Holden left school, he had gotten into a cab and started a conversation with the cab driver. Holden had asked the driver, about what happens to the ducks in the Central Park Lagoon when the pond freezes over, during the winter. Whether or not someone comes and picks them up and takes them somewhere or if they fly away. The cab driver was getting so annoyed with Holden’s questions that he ignored Holden, until they got to the hotel. When Holden gets to the hotel and checks in, he then heads for his room. As he enters the elevator, the operator strikes up a conversation, which leads to a deal with a prostitute. Holden agrees and accepts the generous offer of five dollars for the prostitute, instead of the regular ten dollars. The operator was to send Sunny to Holden 's hotel room. Sunny comes to the room and Holden just wants to talk with her and do nothing else. After a bit of talking with Sunny she falls asleep and when she awakes, she asks for her ten dollars, but Holden refuses and just gives her the five bucks that he thought he owed her. Sunny leaves and two guys show up later to get the other five dollars, Holden refuses to give the rest of the money and was brutally attacked. After they beat up Holden, they took the five dollars that they came for and left.
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.
There is a certain process that every human being on the planet has in common. Not everyone can say it is a pleasing experience, but nobody can deny that it happened to them. ‘Growing up’ happens to everyone one whether they like it or not. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing, which often reveals questions that can never be answered. The novel Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger explores how the adult life has its complexities and can be very puzzling to teenagers starting that phase in their lives. The main character Holden Caulfield realizes the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenges of adapting to an adult society. The catcher in the rye shows the inevitable loss of innocence
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.
He complains about his school, saying that it is just like any other school and uses language that makes him sound very obnoxious. Holden seems to focus on girls quite a bit, just like any other teenage boy. He seems to focus on one girl in particular, a girl named Jane. We soon learn that Holden’s personality is not your average personality. Holden does seem to have some friends but he does not fall into many peer groups with the type of personality he has. Holden isn’t able to read social cues like most teenagers learn to do. For this reason, he seems to play around a lot in the wrong situations. Even his friends have matured enough to recognise that Holden needs to ‘grow up’. Holden’s resistance to emerging adulthood is the cause of many of the problems he is faced with during the
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 works of J.D. Salinger's Catcher and the Rye has resonated inside society for generations. Throughout the novel, Holden–a teenager who is spiraling towards a mental breakdown–experiences difficulties growing up. After the loss of his brother and the expulsion from his school, he starts to form his own opinions on the adult world. Throughout Holden’s experiences, his mind becomes more and more tainted as he his innocence slowly leaves him. He idolizes other people who have not yet been through what he has. Salinger uses symbolism to demonstrate how Holden despises the loss of innocence in growing up.
Holden’s self-punishment had landed him in the hospital, forcing him to miss Allie’s funeral, which could have offered him an immense amount of comfort. Instead, Holden is left with survivor’s guilt that is even greater than before. While D.B. had begun to help Holden in the healing process, he is unable to see it through to completion. Holden is incapable of coming to terms with Allie’s death, just as he wasn’t able to see Allie’s burial. This lack of closure enables his past guilt to stay with him into the future, leaving Allie’s death as something Holden must always contend with. It has shaped and molded him into the extremely unhealthy and bereaved person that he is during the events of The Catcher in The Rye. His guilt has forced him closer and closer to a mental break down, and eventually, after Holden’s first full day in the city, the mental collapse sets in. Holden enters a deranged state and believes he is about to die of pneumonia as he sits in Central Park next to the lagoon of ducks, which is representative of Holden’s fear of change. “In this fantasy he acts out his anger against his parents and inflicts upon them the ultimate punishment, his death” (Miller). Holden’s
It takes a lot of courage to grow up. At a young age, adolescence seems like it is full of endless opportunities. In reality, growing up is much different than what childhood implies. Taking on new responsibilities and facing new challenges are all part of transitioning from being a child to an adult. As Peter Pan once mentioned, “I’ll never grow up, I’ll never grow up!” Set on the same mindset as this children’s character, Holden also fears growing up and facing reality. He is threatened by taking on new responsibilities and is not ready to face new hardships ahead. Holden is fixated on the idea that childhood lasts forever, and is wedged between staying a child and being an adult. In Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses symbolism in order
For example, Holden says, “I was wondering if it [the lagoon] would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go” (Salinger 13). Throughout Salinger’s novel, Holden asks himself and many others questions about the ducks. These questions never get answered, and each time he asks, his frustration increases. From this behavior, Holden demonstrates his incapacity to live with uncertainty. Later, Holden informs the reader, “For one thing, I figured I ought to get some breakfast. I wasn’t hungry at all, but I figured I ought to at least eat something” (Salinger 196). Holden’s lack of initiative shows his refusal to act like an adult. Holden’s “inner child” still has a strong hold on him despite his outward, physical adult
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.