As defined in The American Heritage Dictionary, symbolism is defined as the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings of significance to objects. The book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger was the only novel he has written. The novel The Catcher in the Rye is about a boy named Holden Caulfield who’s trying to find himself and what he’s supposed to do with his life. Through his journey he gets kicked out of many schools, interacts with unusual characters, and has many different events that are unusual. Throughout the novel, he will be told he needs some kind of help and at the end he too will realize it himself. Why is Holden’s red hunting hat significant because, his hat is red like Allies hair, he’s hunting for truth, and he wears it like a catcher.
First, Holden’s red hunting hat is significant because of him wanting to be the “Catcher in the Rye”. Also, Holden’s red hunting hat demonstrates symbolism because his hat is representing the fact that he wants to “save kids from losing their innocence” by catching them as would a catcher do.
“And I am 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” (173 Salinger).
Also, Holden’s trying to save kids from making the same mistakes that he would by catching them before jumping into adulthood he doesn’t want them to grow up making the same mistakes that he did. Holden soon realizes that he can’t catch every single kid from falling into adulthood because it isn’t in his powers to help them because it’s a move they have to take.
Second, Holden’s red hunting hat has another significance which is being that it’s the same color as the color of Allies hair. This demonstrates symbolism because he really didn’t have a closer relationship with Allie. He feels bad that he had blown them off those few times that he wanted to hang out with him. Also, Allies red hair and Holden’s red hat reminds Holden about his brother and what he meant to him.
Allie’s baseball mitt is a very important symbol in the novel. It is connected to the novel, because the heart of the novel is Holden's grief over his brother's death and his inability to accept it. When Holden finds out that his brother Allie died, he is in denial because he refuses to accept Allie’s death. Holden is in denial because he thinks why his innocent brother had to die and not him. Because Holden needs help dealing with this grief he must always take out the mitt, and acknowledge his feelings over Allie in order to release himself from the guilt he feels. When Holden’s roommate at Pencey, Stradlater, asks him to write a descriptive essay, Holden writes about Allie’s baseball mitt. Holden treats the mitt differentially, taking it with him to Pencey and copying “down the poems that were written on it” (Salinger 38). For Holden, t...
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
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 ...
Holden’s Borderline Personality Disorder is caused by trauma and neglect during his childhood, and separation from family, all mostly circulating around the death of his younger brother, Allie (“Mayo Clinic”). Holden had a very traumatic childhood, because of the death Allie, who he constantly conveys his love and devotion to his dead brother. Holden, often does not seem to grasp that Allie is dead, and seems to bring out Allie’s spirit in objects. The red hunting cap, reminds Holden of Allie, because it is also red like Allie’s hair, Holden also carries this hat with him through the novel (Salinger 17). Another thing Holden carries with him that reminds him of Allie is Allie’s baseball mitten, Holden admits “to have it with me, in my suitcase” (39). This baseball mitten, seems to be the only thing of Allie’s that Holden owns, and reminds him fondly of who and how Allie was as a person, Holden admitting that it was in his suitcase, tells us that he travels with it and that it is a ...
In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger describes Holden as one who is struggling in growing up and making his own choices. He explains Holden’s journey into the transition from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. The author brings up the red hunting hat a variety of times while on his journey.
Holden's red hunting hat was used to camouflage himself from both his problems and actuality. As bother some Ackley disturbs Holden while reading, Holden uses his hat as a defense. "I pulled t...
Holden’s red hunting hat is one of the main symbols in the book, The Catcher in the Rye. The hat represents individuality and uniqueness. It symbolizes the confidence, self esteem, and comfort in who someone is. Holden is only willing to express himself when he is alone, with no one around. He looks for approval. Holden does not want to be seen negatively in any way. The hat is a symbol that Holden uses to tell Phoebe that she should always stay the same. Also, to tell her that she should be confident in whom she is, but, as Holden knows, Confidence and self-esteem can be easily broken. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses Holden’s red hunting hat to symbolize Holden’s uniqueness and a sense security and comfort.
The red hunting hat is one of the most recognizable symbols from twentieth-century American literature. It is inseparable from our image of Holden, with good reason: it is a symbol of his uniqueness and individuality. The hat is outlandish, and it shows that Holden desires to be different from everyone around him. At the same time, he is very self-conscious about the hat—he always...
In the late 40's, the number of people institutionalised for mental health issues peaked, this was caused due to the strict conformity based ideals of the time. The symbolism of the red hunting cap highlights his trauma, its red colour symbolises Allie's red hair. Holden only really refers to the cap when he is reflecting on trauma, such as when talking about Allie's baseball mitt, or when looking in the mirror after being punched by Stradlater, this shows how he uses the hat as protection. Holden's attitude towards societies opinions and judgement is also reflected in the hat, although his unique style, he still wears it "I took my red hunting hat… and put it on—I didn't give a damn how I looked". His red hunting cap then becomes a metaphor for his protection form not only his trauma but also It is his protection from societies perception of trauma. Similar to this in Perks of Being A Wallflower, Sam the reoccurring motif of as Charlies "guardian angel" throughout the text also reflects the idea of protection from societies judgement. The 1990’s was a lot more tolerable time, the idea of grief counselling evolved and it was encouraged to acknowledge grief and its stages. Sam is
The color of Holden’s cap is very important. I believe that Holden chose a bright color hat in order to distract people and not let them see who he really is, which is one of his greatest fears in life. On the brim of his hat, Holden imagines children running carelessly through the rye field, into the darkness and uncertainty of adulthood. Holden relates to the children who join adulthood too early, so is there to catch them with Allie's baseball mitt. He wants to protect them and not let them feel the pain he has in his life.
As the novel progresses, it becomes apparent that Holden Caulfield uses isolation as a form of self-preservation. Holden uses his red hunting hat to symbolize his individuality. As he is leaving Pencey, he puts his “red hunting hat on, and turn[s] the peak around to the back” to advertise that he doesn’t care what the people at Pencey think of him anymore (ch. 7). The hat is obviously ridiculous and represents Holden's need to separate himself from others. While in New York, he decides to put his hunting hat on because he knew that he “wouldn't meet anybody that knew” him (ch. 16). Holden doesn’t want to wear the hat when he is with people he knows because he is insecure about his uniqueness.
While in New York with the fencing team, Holden loses all of their equipment, then buys a red hunting hat. Holden describes the hat as a, “red hunting hat, with one of those very, very, very long peaks… The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around back - very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way.”(Salinger, 24) The hat makes him stand out and seem like a unique person.
Holden’s common use of the word phony when talking about people implies that he believes that society is all about conforming to the beliefs of others. Caulfield uses his red hunting hat to get away from society in moments where he feels isolated. For example, when Ackley, Stradlater and Holden are talking in the room Holden feels uncomfortable and puts on his hat “What I did was, I pulled the old peak of my hunting hat around to the front, then pulled it way down over my eyes. That way, I couldn't see a goddam thing”. Holden uses his hat as an escape. When put in a situation where he feels uncomfortable, Holden puts on his hat and pretends to be blind so he can get away from it all. The hat represents a safe space for Holden, where he cannot be violated nor can his innocence be lost. The hat keeps Holden safe which is especially useful after Holden gets in a fight with Stradlater, his roommate at Pencey. He puts on his hunting hat before he leaves the school “When I was all set to go, when I had my bags and all, I stood for a while next to the stairs and took a last look down the goddam corridor. I was sort of crying. I don't know why. 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!’ I'll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor. Then I got the hell out”. Holden shows emotion in this passage
Holden’s hunting hat serves as a metaphor for his growing up; the more he grows up the less he uses his hat as an aide. Throughout the book it seems as though Holden uses his hat unconsciously, until the end, where he seems to divulge his knowledge of the aide of his hat. Does Holden really know how he is using his hat throughout the book, or does he merely realize at the end? The world will never know. What we do know, however, is that he progressively estranges himself from his hat, until he is independent of it.
Holden Caulfield uses as the red hunting hat as a security blanket in a number of different ways. Holden Caufield will only wear his red hunting hat when he is alone. It makes him feel safe and he knows that he is by himself. After having visiting his teacher, Mr. Spencer, Holden says, “I swung the old peak way around to the back - very corny, I'll admit, but I like it that way. I looked good in it that way” (Salinger, 18). This quote shows how Holden does not care what his appearance is when he is wearing the cap. He admits that he wore it in a “corny” way, but he doesn’t care what he looks like with it on. This also shows how Holden is an individual and doesn’t like to wear it the way it is supposed to be displayed. When Stradlater notices the red hunting hat Holden becomes flustered. The author writes, “He meant my hunting hat. He'd never seen it before. I was out of my breathe anyway, I quit horsing around. I took off my hat and looked at it for about the ninetieth time.” (29). This is an important quote because it shows how Holden is insecure about his cap. When Stradlater acknowledges Holden about his hat he becomes flustered. As said in the quote he took the hat off after Stradlater informed Holden about h...