There are many motifs used in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. These motifs help explain who Holden really is. Throughout the motif of the ducks the reader learns three things about who Holden is: he doesn’t know how to handle adulthood, he wants to have freedom, and doesn't know how to handle his hardest point in life. Through the ducks, the readers can see that Holden isn't ready for his future. “I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over” (Salinger 13). In this quote, Holden is representing the ducks and he is not sure where to go after being kicked out of Pency Prep. Ducks fly away according to the change in season. Just like this, Holden is changing from being a child to becoming an adult. Holden does not understand where the ducks go once they leave. This shows how Holden is rejected by society and he is completely unsure of where to go next. …show more content…
“I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away” (Salinger 13). In this quote, the truck is a forced society, the zoo is a perfect society, and the ducks flying away is the wanting of freedom. The truck represents taking the ducks from their habitat into a different environment. It represents how the society Holden lives in is trying to force him in living in an optimal lifestyle not allowing him to live his own life. The zoo represents a semi-controlled area where the ducks are guaranteed a better future. This shows how Holden does not want to live in a perfect world he wants to live in his own world. The ducks flying away represents how they still have a chance to just leave and avoid being moved to a zoo. This shows how Holden wants to have free will and be able to avoid the environment he is forced to live
Holden Caulfield alienates himself from the rest of society to hopefully escape the means of growing up shown by his dialogue and behaviour. Holden doesn’t want to grow up because he doesn’t want to have to accept the responsibilities that come with it. Holden is constantly getting kicked out of different schools, “They kicked me out… on account that… I was not applying myself and all.” (pg. 3) Not only was Holden not applying himself at school slowing down the process of him growing up, he also kept his mindset young by wondering where the ducks go in winter. “You know those ducks on that lagoon… do you happen to know where they go… when it gets frozen over?” (pg. 54) Holden has a close connection to the ducks as to him it is a change that isn’t permanent as they leave in the Winter and come back in the spring, he asks where they go to see if he can make this un-permanent connection to changes such as growing up in his own life. Holden would love to live in a world where everything is time is practically frozen and nothing ...
At several points during the course of the novel, Holden asks as to what happens to the ducks who are normally on a pond in Central Park, when winter comes and the water freezes. On page 60, Holden asks, "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?
Published in 1951, J. D. Salinger's debut novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was one of the most controversial novels of its time. The book received many criticisms, good and bad. While Smith felt the book should be "read more than once" (13), Goodman said the "book is disappointing" (21). All eight of the critics had both good and bad impressions of the work. Overall, the book did not reflect Salinger's ability due to the excessive vulgarity used and the monotony that Holden imposed upon the reader.
One crucial conversation is with the taxi driver regarding the ducks in Central Park. The conversation seems trivial, of no real significance. However, for Holden it has great importance. His concern about where do the ducks go in the winter seems to deal with the question that young people have about what their direction is in life. The cab driver, Horwitz, responds to an irritating question from Holden: “If you was a fish, Mother Nature’d take care of you, wouldn’t she? Right? You don’t think them fish just die when it gets to be winter, do ya? (Salinger 83) The answer is clear to Holden. Everything will survive the winter, no matter if it’s a duck or a fish. However, this does not give Holden a guarantee of protection from what he fears most-becoming a phony or more importantly, having no choice to become phony in order to
Where do the ducks go during the Winter when the water is frozen? In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the character, Holden Caulfield, has an underlying mental condition. He failed out of four schools; he saw his friend commit suicide; and his younger brother died of cancer. These life-changing experiences paved the way for Holden’s insecure and unstable life. By his narration, Holden hints at his disorder throughout the book without fully explaining his condition. Holden’s many insecurities, his teetering on the edge of childhood and adulthood, and his irrational ideas help the reader realize that Holden has a mental problem.
At various points during the course of the novel, Holden inquires as to what happens to the ducks who are normally on a pond in Central Park, when winter comes and the water freezes. As he inquires, the answers he receives range from as farfetched answers as the idea that the ducks still remain there under the ice, just as the fish do, to uncaring answers such as a simple "What a stupid question!" remark. Despite the answer he gets, Holden is never satisfied with the reply. Holden doesn’t consciously realize that the ducks relate to him. Whether he will admit it or not, Holden is scared. He has been kicked out of numerous schools, he can’t get good grades, his parents are angry with him, and he spends his days wandering through New York City. He doesn’t know where he is going to go, reflecting his question about the ducks. Perhaps if he knew where the ducks went, he could follow their example.
...ing stays frozen and everyone belongs in society. Therefore, during the winter time, the ducks are isolated as once, but they still belong together. Holden is isolated from the people around him and he is more protected within himself. Holden doesn’t know how he is going to make it through his own winter, just like he doesn’t where the ducks will end up during winter.
Moving from school to school, as he cannot seem to thrive in any one place, Holden is mesmerized by the ducks of the Central Park lagoon. He even asks a cab driver, “Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance?” (Salinger 91) Holden’s repeated mention of his question of the ducks gives insight into his thoughts. It shows genuine innocence through spirit of inquiry. Holden’s curiosity of the Central Park ducks also portrays a parallel between the ducks and himself. Holden looks to the ducks, as he may see personal habits of his reflected in them. The ducks themselves never change, though their environment does, just as Holden never changes, as seen through his repeated expulsions from academies, but his environment
...an instead of his 16 year old self. The ducks are symbolic since they show Holden that some things are only temporary and that they do not always stay the same. The ducks vanish every winter but return once winter is over. It shows how the world and things are temporary and how they don’t stay the same forever. The pond is another symbol as it shows that it is “partly frozen and partly not frozen.” It is in two states just like Holden who is stuck between childhood and adulthood. “I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go? I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away.”
Holden is like most teenagers: he’s trying to find his place in society without having any sort of direction. One of the main reasons this is hard for Holden is because he doesn’t have any role models and is misguided. His brother D.B. lives all the way in Hollywood “being a prostitute” (Salinger 2) and he resents his parents. Everyone around him seems to be “phonies “and Holden is continuously trying to be different but notices that the lifestyle he wants just doesn’t fit in the world he lives in . He constantly rejects certain ways of living but can’t seem to find the purpose for his own and because of this he criticizes the life of the...
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
From the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the youthful protagonist Holden Caufield, employs the word “phony” to describe the behavior of a number of characters including Mr. Spencer and Ossenburger, however it is not them who are“phony”, it is the young main character. First, Mr. Spencer, Holden’s ex- history teacher, is not described as phony, but according to the adolescent, his choice of words are. Secondly, according to our main character, Ossenburger is not the generous philanthropist he portrays himself to be, but rather a greedy undertaker. Lastly, the protagonist could quite possibly be the authentic phony. All in all, the main character’s use to describe many other characters in the book is with the single word phony, when in fact the word phony would be the most probable word to describe the lead character.
He often wonders about the ducks in central park and where they go in the winter. Holden asks a cab driver, “does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves - go south or something?” (107). Just like the ducks must somehow escape winter, Holden must escape the pressure he feels as he struggles with his independence. Should he fly south and escape his life, or get provided for by his parents?
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
One final illustration of Holden’s misconception of death is evident in Chapter 12, on pages 81-82. In this instance Holden once again poses the question of what happens to the ducks in the lake in Central Park during the winter. This driver, Horowitz, responds much more climactically than the anonymous driver in Chapter 9. , and he provides a ardent series of remarks. Horowitz changes the subject of the conversation from ducks to fish, because he can cope with them. Horowitz is also a believer of the rightness of things. His departing comment: "Listen,…if you was a fish, Mother Nature’d take care of you, wouldn’t she?