Catcher In The Rye Loss Of Innocence Quotes

Holden visits a place he used to go to during his childhood, the Museum of Natural history. that symbolizes a world where nothing has to change. Holden wishes he can apply the same thing to his life.While Holden thinks about the memories he had at the museum, he realizes the reason that liked it so much is that he could count on everything to stay the same, “ The best thing though in that museum was that everything right where it was. Nobody’d move… the only thing that would be different is you” (Salinger 157). Holden knows that he has become different, and he recognizes this in the quote. He knows that he holds less innocence than the last time he visited the museum. Holden’s fear of change is evident in this quote as he is afraid of becoming

He thinks that it is his job to preserve the innocence of all the children, but he knows it is not possible. When Holden visits Phoebe’s elementary school, he recognizes that profanity is written on the wall, “ Somebody’d written f**k you sign on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other kids would see it and they’d wonder what the hell it means, and then some dirty kid would tell them all cockeyed…. What it meant” (Salinger 260). Holden believes that kids should not be exposed to anything that will corrupt them. In this event, Holden believes that he is responsible for saving the children from corruption. He cannot accept the fact that the children can’t avoid losing their innocence, just like he can’t. While Holden is still at school he comes across another “ F**k you sign” on the walls of the school, “ I saw another f**k you sign on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on with a knife or something. It wouldn’t come off. If you had a million years to do it you couldn’t rub over half the f**k you sign in the world (Salinger 262). Holden is witnessing the loss of innocence in inevitable. Although the writing is permanently scratched on the wall, he still attempts to rub it off. This signifies Holdens attempt to preserve his innocence as, even though he has changed. When Holden is at the museum, in the tomb exhibit he sees more profanity on the walls, however, this time it was written in Crayola, “ You’d never guess what I saw on the wall. Another F**k you sign on the wall. It was written with a red crayon or something right under the glass part of the wall, under the stone” (Salinger 264). Holden is beginning to realize that the signs of profanity are everywhere, which gives many opportunities for children to lose their innocence. Since the sign