“Life is a game boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules” (Salinger 8). At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Spencer presents some advice to Holden about how to play the game of life. He claims there are rules that Holden must follow. While he originally dismissed this statement as irrelevant to his life, it becomes clear as the novel progresses that Holden’s life has clear ties to an actual sports game. Relating to the analogy Mr. Spencer tells Holden, Holden’s life is very similar to an actual field hockey game in terms of opposing teams, defense, and ‘the corner scenario’.
When a field hockey game is started, the playing field is equal. There are the same number of players on each side of the field and everything appears
…show more content…
Their job is simply to defend the goal. To do this, they have to block the ball, reposition themselves, and constantly be on guard. Holden’s position in the sport of field hockey would definitely be as a defensive player. However, instead of defending a goal, like a field hockey player, Holden would be defending his innocence. This is very similar to the ‘Catcher in the Rye´ scenario, Holden’s dream job. In this scenario, Holden feels he has to keep the children in the rye, (their innocence), and stop them from falling of the cliff, (into adulthood) “.. . . I’m 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” (). In terms of field hockey, the ball would represent the children and the goal would represent the cliff. In both scenarios, Holden is the last line of protection before the kids fall of the cliff, or the ball enters the goal. Holden viewed himself as the last line of hope before the children lose their
When Holden hears the quote, “if a body meet a body coming through the rye,” he hears it as, “if a body catch a body coming through the rye.” Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm 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.” (47-50.2) Holden believes that maybe if he catches the kids, and saves them from the cliff, maybe that means he can protect their childhood purity innocence as well. Another article, “Dealing with the Death and Loss of a Sibling.” states that, “this brother or sister’s death can make you feel older.” This may be where Holden's connection innocence comes from, like other surviving children, he feels as if he had to grow up too fast to deal with his
Part of the irony in Holden’s story is that physically, he looks mature, but mentally, he is still very much a child: “I act quite young for my age, sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now … I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair ” (9). There is no middle ground, adolescence, for Holden. He can only be an adult, physically, or a child, mentally. Holden’s history teacher, Mr. Spencer, tries to appeal to him by using a metaphor: “Life is a game, boy.
2) I think the author chose to use this quote to show that Holden believes the "children in the rye" represents childhood and when they "go over the cliff", meaning grow up, he wants to save them. In other words, he doesn't want to grow up, he wants to stay young and innocent.
Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that”(Salinger 8). Holden is expressing his beliefs that life is a game he can cheat through. He knows that with becoming more mature means taking responsibility and applying the brain in school; though after failing out of 3 other schools before it is obvious Holden does not believe in changing his ways and applying himself. In current time many kids still fail out of school (Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone, found from dosomething.org), having no desire to go back and change their ways because they believe they are still kids and should not be held accountable for their mistakes. Modern time teenagers can relate to Holden and believe it is not his fault he can not learn from all the
When Mr. Spencer explains that “life is a game that one plays according to rules” Holden reveals that he feels imprisoned on the “other side of life” where there are no “hot-shots”. Here, Mr. Spencer is lecturing Holden on his failed attempts at schooling and illuminates key aspects of Holden’s character. After hearing this advice from Mr. Spencer, Holden immediately goes on the defensive and internalizes his thoughts of not belonging in this world. This event shows Holden’s failed attempts of trying to find his way in this “phony” world that he feels is against him and leaves him feeling alone and victimized. This interaction emphasizes the theme of isolation by showing how lonely Holden views himself; he clearly identifies with those on the “other side” of the
This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet
An image he has created in his mind as someone who overlooks children playing in a rye in order to save them shall they fall off the cliff at the end of the rye. Holden’s only dream serves as a parallel of his life, showing his inability to strive for anything real as it simultaneously reveals his fear of falling from childhood or innocence. Childhood is associated with innocence in Holden’s eyes as he sees all things beyond it as something you need to be saved from. Holden believes he needs to save these children before they fall from their
Holden wants to shelter children from the adult world (Chen). In Chapter 16, the catcher in the rye finally appears. This is also a symbol for what Holden would like to be when he grows older. He pictures a group of many kids playing in a field of rye, where it is his job to catch them from falling off the cliff. This shows Holden’s love for childhood and his need to preserve it in any way he can. According to Alsen, “The way Holden explains why he wants to be the catcher in the rye shows the kindness and unselfishness of his character. However, the surreal nature of the metaphor also reveals his unwillingness to face the real life choices he needs to make now that he is approaching adulthood.” By the end of the book, Holden realizes in order for kids to grow, there can’t be protection from all of potential harm. “He therefore gives up his dream of being the catcher in the rye and is ready to make a realistic choice of what he wants to do with his life” (Alsen). Holden’s dream world, that doesn’t involve change, is unrealistic. He is terrified by the unpredictable changes of the adult world, but there is no way for Holden to avoid the experiences and changes that the
... His being the lone "big" person expresses his desire of being in control. The playing in the rye field next to a crazy cliff would depict the nearness to his fall while being oblivious to the danger. His one wish is to be able to prevent this, to be in control. Then, after establishing his wishes, he considers it impossible by expressing thoughts of it's craziness. He has resolved that he cannot be in control, but it is all he wants. In a world before alternatives to his painful lifestyle, what can Holden do but blindly play the game in the rye field, right beside his cliff of sanity. "But life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one must play by the rules."
...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.”
He explains how he ended up at the very bottom in life, and that there is no happy ending. Author J.D. Salinger is able to get the theme of innocence across by the characterization that attributes Holden, such as his attempt to protect himself from the adult world, to stop himself from growing up, and to preserve purity. Although Salinger does not explicitly state that innocence is a theme, it can be assumed by the characterization in the novel. Holden makes the comment, ‘what really knocks me out is a book, that when you're all done reading it, you wish that the author who wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it (Salinger 18).” But Holden’s mistake is that a book is not its author. Therefor the theme of this story can not be found within J.D. Salinger but within the text. Holden may not have been in any war battles, but he takes the reader through battles of his own. In the text, the items and objects that hold symbolic meaning, can be a way that Holden gets the reader to see the world through his eyes, to empathize, and to make the conclusion that this classic novel is revolved around
We see during the novel that Holden wants to be able to protect innocence in the world, however by the end of the story he lets go of that desire. This is a point of growth for Holden. He finds that it is impossible and unnecessary to keep all the innocence in the world. While with Phoebe Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye...I’m 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...That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (173). In this moment Holden wants to be able to preserve all the youth and innocence in the world. He doesn’t accept that kids have to grow and change and that they can’t stay innocent forever. Later on in the story when Holden is with Phoebe at a carousel again he thinks, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden 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.” At the end of the novel Holden realizes and comes to terms with the fact that kids grow and lose their innocence. He moves from his want to be the “catcher in the rye” to...
In his fight with Stradlater, Holden’s character is shown as a defender of innocence. He defends the memory of his brother through the report he writes for Stradlater. Because of Stradlater’s criticism on his brother’s death, Holden destroys the essay and says “All right, give it back to me, then,’ I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddamn hand. Then I tore it up.” Holden is tormented by the memory of his brother throughout the novel, and in this fight he defends his brothers memory by protecting the baseball glove. Later in this scene Holden is upset with Stradlater’s relationship with Jane. Holden explains, “If you knew Stradlater, you 'd have been worried, too. I 'd double-dated with the bastard a couple of times, and I know what I 'm talking about. He was unscrupulous.” Holden tries to defend Jane’s innocence and the reader is able to see Holden’s ethical code to protect the innocence and memory of others. In Holden’s confrontation with Maurice, Holden displays his detestation of the evil phony. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I 'd give anything if I hadn 't, but I did. 'No, you 're no crooks, ' I said. 'You 're just steeling five ' 'Shut up, ' old Maurice said and gave me a shove.” The scene between Maurice and Holden over the prostitute Sunny shows his emotions when it comes to fake people. In this scene he
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
This is in J. D. Salinger's novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," Mr. Spencer lectures Holden on why he has been expelled from Pencey and about how life is like a game and should be played by the rules that have been made for it. Here, Salinger's use of a metaphor to describe life as a game suggests that not everyone is given the same advantages to succeed. Holden himself comes from a wealthy family but refuses to conform to society and the role of his social class and play the game "according to the rules. " This suggests a theme in the novel of nonconformity which relates back to when Salinger first wrote "The Catcher in the Rye." Individualism beginning in the 1960's turned into a cultural movement for young people and is expressed through Holden's defiance in the game of life.