Nathalie Pineda
Mrs. Kawano
English 11/B, P. 4
22 February 2017 The inevitable cycle in the Catcher in the Rye Mandy Hale once said “Growth is painful. Change is painful… but nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong”, meaning that accepting the fact of change and growth will bring comfort instead of trying to control something that is beyond oneself. This is shown in J.D Salinger's book the Catcher in the Rye, that trying to change the inevitable leads to disappointment. This is expressed through the symbolic objects of the Museum of Natural History, the red hunting hat, and the Central Park carousel. Holden from the Catcher in the Rye illustrates how trying to change
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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. Later on in the book he took his hunting hat out “ and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn’t want to take it, but I made her”(Salinger 199). Holden thinks that this hat has protected him from the world and wants to pass it on to his little sister. He is worried that one day Phoebe will lose her innocence, grow up and become an adult, which will eventually happen. Also, the reason Holden might of given the hat to Phoebe at this point is because he became aware with the fact that he has to move on and accept that he can’t hold on to his childhood forever and Phoebe should be the one who should enjoy her childhood while it …show more content…
When Holden took Phoebe to ride the carousel and it started he “watched her go around and around”(Salinger 232).When he sees Phoebe go around and around it sort of cheers him up because it looks like she’ll never go anywhere or change. The carousel symbolizes life and the journey from childhood to adulthood. This is when he stops seeing change as a horrifying thing and accepts it as an unavoidable cycle,. He also said that “ All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. 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”(Salinger 232). The reason Holden doesn’t say anything to Phoebe because he starts realizing that he can’t protect a kid from growing up, so it’s better to just accept it despite the fact that she might “fall”. In other words, Holden accepts that Phoebe’s future is up to her ,not his, that growing up is probably necessary and children are sometimes capable of making their own
Phoebe tries to help Holden by asking him to name one thing he likes. However, when Holden mentions Allie, Phoebe tries to be his wake up call and remind him that Allie is dead (Salinger 171). This part in the novel shows how Holden is still attached to Allie, and will not forget about him. However, Phoebe tries to remind Holden that Allie is dead, attempting to make Holden let go of what happened in the past. Phoebe attempts to get Holden’s mind off of his removal from his school by asking him what he wants to become in the future (Salinger 172). This is when Phoebe’s words of advice and support start effecting Holden. Holden begins to think about his options, and what he truly wants to do in the future. “Why can’t I? Please, Holden! I won’t do anything-I’ll just go with you, that’s all! I won’t even take my clothes with me if you don’t want me to-I’ll just take my-” (Salinger 206). This quotation shows how supportive and encouraging Phoebe is towards Holden. When Holden tells Phoebe that he is leaving, Phoebe’s reaction is very affectionate. Phoebe brings a suitcase filled with her clothes, and begins to beg Holden to let her follow him. Phoebe’s encouraging words of advice, is another source of familial love for Holden to move on, and look forward towards his
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 hat allows him to show and hide his emotions. Holden uses his hunting hat to speak freely and emotionally about his brother in an essay for Stradlater. After Holden gets back from being out with Brossard and Ackley he sits down to write a composition about Allie. Before he does this, he “put on [his] pajamas and bathrobe and [his] old hunting hat,” (37). Holden puts on his hunting hat so that he can write about his brother who died three years before this story takes place. Holden would not normally wear his hat to bed, so we can assume that he doesn’t wear it as a part of his pajamas. Putting it on before he writes an essay about his brother suggests that he put it on for that reason. At another time Holden uses h...
Throughout the whole novel Holden has always been in denial of everything. As stated by Freud, denial is the “Refusal to recognize a threatening impulse or desire” (Sigmund Freud). When he visited his ten year old sister Phoebe, she was trying to communicate with Holden but she was nervous that it would displease him. She stated “Because you don't. You don’t like schools. You don't like a million things. You don't…Why the hell do you have to say that?” I said. Boy was depressing me” (Salinger 169). Even though Holden is very fond of Phoebe he didn't bother to listen to what she had to say, this demonstrates that Holden is very in denial because he got very upset when Phoebe said that he dislikes everything. Which furthers shows how he is unable to recognize that what Phoebe is
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 the beginning of the novel, Holden believes that the world is out to get him, so he alienates himself for protection. A way to do so, he brings forth his hunting hat, “‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said. ‘I shoot people in this hat.’” (Salinger, 22) Holden’s hunting hat is the strongest symbol in the novel. It gives Holden protection from people who could be potentially harmful to him. Whenever he is afraid or anxious he regresses and puts on his hunting hat for comfort. This anxiety is triggered by memories from his past. The world has stepped on him and beat him down, so now he uses his hunting hat to symbolize his independence and alienation from the world. He consciously knows that the hat will not physically protect him, but, “the nihilist does not believe in the necessity of being logical.” (“On the Pathos of Truth”) So, since he doesn’t need to be logical, he uses the hunting hat regardless if it is actually going to work or not. Holden feels disconnected to the world in the beginning of the novel. Holden states that he feels trapped on “the other side of life.” (Salinger, 8) When Holden says this, he is in a distressed point in his life because he has recently just been expelled from his fourth school. The expulsion could be a reason why he feels so disconnected, but since this didn’t happen during his last expulsions, he
The distance that Holden makes sure to keep in place isolates him from others and manifests in curious actions and mannerisms. One example could be the red hunting hat, which advertises his uniqueness and also gives him a sense of protection. Holden explains to Ackley that his red hat is not a “deer shooting hat” but a “people shooting hat”. Out of all the mentions of the red hat in the novel, this is the most enlightening. Holden uses the hat as a sign of individuality and independence; this hat serves as another way Holden is able to isolate himself from the rest of the world. The red hat serves as symbol for Holden’s desperate desire for independence and his distaste for conformity. Although Holden does not kill anyone in the novel, he does “shoot people” in his own cynical way by spending all of his time and energy belittling the people around
There will always be a moment where we all change, but most of us would prefer to hold on to remaining an adolescent. "Catcher in the Rye" written by J.D. Salinger, is a story about a high-school student, Holden, who looks for a reason to change and move on from his depressing page of life. The novel depicts the adventures of Holden as he processes a change. Through Holden's resistance to change, Salinger expresses that people sometimes crave for the past which impacts us negatively, but we would be better off if we learn to move on and find something special.
A scene where she shows her influence over Holden is where Holden states, “I kept thinking about old Phoebe going to that museum on Saturdays the way I used to see, I thought how she’d see the same stuff I used to see, and how she’d be different every time she saw it… Certain thing is they should stay the way they are… I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway.” Holden shows his fear of change. He also demonstrates that he does not want to change, and does not want to grow up, but to stay as a kid.
In the beginning of the novel, Holden says to Mr. Spencer he feels trapped on the “other side of life.” This clearly demonstrates how Holden doesn’t feel that he belongs in the world he lives in. Holden has his hunting hat as a source of protection. Holden buys a red hunting hat in New York for a dollar. The hat has a very long peak, and Holden wears it backwards with the peak aiming behind him. “…I swung the old peak way around to the back-very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way” (17), Holden explains. Holden puts his hat on when he’s under a lot of stress. The hunting hat not only symbolizes protection, but it also symbolizes Holden’s uniqueness and individuality. Holden doesn’t wear his hat because it’s fashionable, but only to keep his individuality and to feel safe. In the cab Holden put his hat on and says, “I’d put my red hunting hat when I was in the cab, just for the hell of it, but I took it off before I checked in” (61). This quote illustrates how Holden thinks it’s necessary to wear the hat in order to feel safe. But at the same time, Holde...
The hat symbolizes security, protection, and comfort. Whenever Holden is confronted with difficulty, he puts on the hat. The hat unconsciously helps him get through a variety of situations. It is support for him as he struggles to enter the adult world. The hat also makes him feel different from everyday “phonies.”
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, the cyclical symbols of the broken record and the carousel imply that Holden will ultimately be unable to avoid adulthood.
His hunting hat is a symbol that appears frequently all through the book that, in his search for protection, temporarily shields him in times of weakness. After acquiring his hat back from Phoebe, Holden puts it on, as it is raining outside, but then comments, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway” (Salinger 213). Holden has multiple moments throughout the book where he feels weakness, such as when he is writing Allie’s composition. His hunting hat is his protector whenever he feels weak, and in the times through the book that he puts on the hat, he is experiencing weakness. It is not a physical type of protection that he obtains from the hunting hat, but a mental protection from the thoughts and ideas that bring him into states of depression.
This is Holden’s want to protect anything that he considers weak, vulnerable, or innocent. Holden’s hat that he wears can be attributed to his revolt against conformity and his desire to be unique, but can also act as a safety blanket for him. He always puts it on when he is feeling alone and also gives it to Phoebe when he sees her in the end of the novel. The snowball in Chapter 5 also represents his Protector Complex. When Holden packed a snowball, he started to throw it at a car.
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 ...