The Catcher in the Rye, written by J. D. Salinger is a story about 16 years old boy, Holden, who doesn’t want to grow up and be a big man and instead he wants to be a child because he is obsessed with his childhood. He believes childhood is the only time that you are innocent. Somehow he stuck between these two worlds, childhood and adulthood, he don’t know choose the innocent world of childhood or the complex world of adulthood. For example he introduced his two siblings, Allie and Phoebe, that how he love them and idolize them. Through the story, Holden is in trouble because he can’t accept the responsibilities and consequences of adulthood. Holden Caulfield who refuse to grow up and take responsibilities in his life and act like adolescent …show more content…
For example, when he was in elevator and elevator man offer him a girl and he says yes and act like someone who slept with another girls. However he is still virgin even after that night. “If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin” (Holden, 92). When he comes close to doing “it” with a girl and suddenly she says “stop” he stops. “She keeps telling you to stop, the problem with me is, I stop” (Holden, 92). This is show how he struggle with his sexual desire and how he wants to dealing with it. Another example Of holden which stuck between the childhood and adulthood world when he is in the lavender room. When he sit in his table and saw three girls in another table he gives them an “old eye a little bit” (Holden, 69). And when finally he meet them he explain how he “just saw Gary Cooper, the movie star, on the other side of the floor” (Holden, 74). His action show how he wants to impress girl with giving them “old eye” looking and telling lie to them. At the end of the chapter, after hanging out with the girls and dancing with them the leave him with unpaid bill. “I think they should’ve at least offered to pay for the drinks they had before I joined …show more content…
He wants to help and rescue the children who are playing in the field of rye, from falling off the cliff. The field of rye is a symbol of childhood world while the cliff is a symbol of the complex world of adulthood. He doesn’t want children taste the adulthood and dealing with it like he deals with it. He doesn’t want them to fall in the complex and complicated world of adulthood. In the chapter 25, he tries to erase the word “Fuck you” written in the wall of elementary school and when he was in museums, “but i rubbed it out anyway, though” (Holden, 201). He wants to protect children like an adult to perevation the swear words that can affect and oisen their mind. Another example, the red hunting hat is a symbol of innocence in the novel. He always wear the hat to protect himself from “hunters [the society]”. He gave the hat to his sister to protect her from the society as well, “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her” (Holden, 198). Erating the sears from the wall and give the hunting hat to to Phoebe, he want to protect children and have their innocent as long as they could. He want to stop and protect children from “jumping off the cliff”. However at the end he get he must let his obsession go because he can do nothing. In chapter 25 when they went to the zoo, they see a carrousel which holden always ride when he was child but this time
It takes many experiences in order for an immature child to become a responsible, well-rounded adult. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger’s main character Holden Caulfield matures throughout the course of the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Holden is a juvenile young man. However, through his experiences, Holden is able to learn, and is finally able to become somewhat mature by the end of the novel. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield’s story represents a coming of age for all young adults.
Holden uses the word phony to identify everything in the world that he rejects or encounters with. People are too talkative, too quiet, or dissimilar. Holden, himself, believes he is this perfect person, but no one believes that he is. This is why Holden believes he is surrounded by "phoniness." For example, Ossenburger of Pencey Prep, emphasizes that "he talked to Jesus all the time, even when he was driving his car." Holden thinks this is a load of crap and asserts, "'that killed me. I just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs" (17). Holden sees why he would pray to Jesus, only to send him some more dead bodies to get more business. Not only do phonies bug Holden, but liars and crooks. Another example is Sunny and Maurice, the elevator boy. Maurice offers Holden a prostitute for the night, "Innarested in having a little tail t'night" (90)? Holden decides to take up on this offer, and later that night, as promised Sunny knocks at his door. After entering the room, Holden cannot make a decision to sleep with the prostitute, an example of Holden clinging on to his childhood. He instead pays the prostitute for her trouble getting to his room, but after leaving, she barges back in with Maurice, complaining of how little she got. Maurice roughs up Holden and gets to his money, where Holden thinks more deprecate towards phonies and liars. Realizing what a real phony and liar people bound to be growing up, he decides to avoids the real world
First and foremost, Holden gifted Phoebe with his red hunting hat as a demonstration of his need to protect her “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn’t want to take it, but I made her” (180). In this quote Holden and Phoebe are dancing around, and Phoebe feels like Holden is acting crazy yet she refrains from judging him. Instead Phoebe wants to support him. To Holden, Phoebe is in no way phony, and in handing over his hunting hat he is trying to protect her, and in doing so he is giving up the protection from himself. Holden’s mission to defend Phoebe is rooted in wanting to protect her innocence’s, and keeping her from becoming phony like the rest of society. Moreover, Phoebe also looks to Holden to protect her not just the other way around “Then what she did- it damn near killed me- she reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head” (212). In Phoebe, giving Holden back his protective hat, she is forcing Holden to watch over her. In order for Holden to protect his sister’s innocence, he will be forced to give up his alienation and be realistic. Holden’s loss of innocence is his driving power to shield Phoebe from the realities of life. The exchange of the red hunting hat from Holden to Phoebe to Phoebe to Holden is the
Holden’s childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.
At the beginning of the book, Holden is shown as a careless boy with animosity towards most people: “I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, “Sleep tight, ya morons!” (52). After Phoebe returns Holden’s hat to him, he watches her on a carousel. To him, seeing her on the carousel is an image of childhood innocence, which he has been looking for throughout the book. His red hunting hat serves as a shield to adulthood as shown in the quote, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyways. I didn't care though. I felt so damn happy all of a sudden” (212/213). His hat acts as a symbol of protection from his depression and fear of growing
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.
I guess you can say he is trying to transition from adult hood but he can’t. He believes childhood is a beautiful and innocent thing where as adulthood is evil and corrupted. In the text Holden says “That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose” Pg. 204 Another reason why Holden is stuck between adult hood and childhood is because he doesn’t understand the concept of sex. He doesn’t get how two adults can have sex without loving each other. Holden tells Luce "You know what the trouble with me is? I can never get really sexy—I mean really sexy with a girl I don’t like a lot. I mean I have to like her a lot. If I don’t, I sort of lose my goddam desire for her and all.”Pg148 Luce then later says “When are you going to grow up?"Pg. 144. This is another example how Holden can’t really grow up. Mr. Antolini brings up an examples that goes “this fall I think you’re riding for – it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling."Pg. 187. This quote is illustrating that Holden doesn’t know where to go, he’s lost and confused from the transition from childhood to
Holden hires a prostitute and although he doesn’t go through with it, it is obvious for the reader that its Holden’s attempt at maturing. You can tell Holden looks at sex as an adult thing to do, and is kind of unsure about it. In the quote “sex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to God I don’t”(p.61) it shows Holden’s confusion on the topic. He wants to grow up by getting the prostitute, but shows that he’s not ready to take the leap by following through with sex.
Holden is not just abnormal, he has problems that other teenagers, including the students at Pencey, experience going through adolescence. An example of this is Holden's jealousy towards Stradlater when he finds out he is going on a date with Jane Gallagher, “Boy,was I getting nervous” (42). Every teenager has bouts of jealously especially about the opposite sex, and Holden is no different. Holden's rebellious nature, to an extent, is typical for a teenage boy. His rebellious nature of smoking when it is not allowed, “You weren't allowed to smoke in the dorm...I went right on smoking like a madman.” (41-42). Holden is also anxious about change, which again to an extent is normal, “Do you happen to know where they go, the ducks...”(60), and he has the right to be; change,especially during adolescence, is a terrifying but exciting ride into the unknown, and similar to other adolescents Holden is afraid but intrigued about the unknown.
There is a singular event that unites every single human being on the planet, growing up. Not everyone can say it was pleasant, but no one can deny that it took place. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing; often forcing one to seek out the answers to questions that likely have no definitive answer. During the process, the adult world seems inviting and free, but only when we are on the brink of entering this cruel, unjust society can the ignorant bliss of childhood be truly recognized. Catcher in the Rye explores the intimidating complexities associated with adulthood and how baffling it seems to the naïve teenage mind. Through the main protagonist, Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of adapting to an adult society.
When Holden portrays the image of the hat he bought in New York he says “ It was a red hunting hat, with one of those very, very long peaks”(Salinger 21). In Holden’s mind the hat makes him seem less vulnerable than what he actually is. Everytime he got nervous or embarrassed his hat was his escape from that kind of situation. Furthermore, the hat is red, the same as Allie’s and Phoebe’s hair. This matters because Holden probably thinks that the hat relates to the innocence and pureness his brother had and sister has.
Holden has a respect for women that he views as unnatural. He feels that his sexual desires should be similar to those of his roommate Stradlater and peer, Luce. Holden shows his confusion by saying, "The thing is, most of the time when you're coming close to doing it with a girl, a girl that isn't ...
The bond between Holden and Phoebe are different from those of Holden and any other characters that we have met. Phoebe seems to understand Holden and is a character that doesn’t want anything from Holden. Phoebe begins to question Holden’s future after bringing him down to the realization that he doesn’t “like anything that’s happening.” When questioned what he wants to be, he replies that he wants to be the ‘catcher in the rye’ (inspired by the poem he misheard’, and wants to save children from running over the edge of a cliff. The symbolism of this is the idea that Holden sees adulthood as something very negative and ‘phony’, yet children, like Phoebe, see it as a positive, natural thing that comes to
Thesis: Holden Caufield is a hostile, negatively charged character that suffers from depression which stems from a desire not to grow up and a lack of closure in his brothers death."If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like . . . "(pg. 1) These first words that Holden Caufield communicates during his tell of events that brought him to his breakdown, show the pent up hostility that still lingers. This pattern of speech, the constant expression of negativity, is a character trait of Holden that shows his inner anguish.
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 ...