Holden Caulfield Innocence

Catcher in the Rye is J.D Salinger's most famous work. This tale follows Holden Caulfield as he wanders through New York as he attempts to make connections with various characters. While in New York Holden also tries his best to preserve the innocence of children everywhere .Though Holden desperately tries hard to preserve the innocence of the people around him, by the end of the novel, Holden began to realize that change is inevitable. He first shows us his desire to do this when he sees a young boy but he then gives up on his dream while watching his sister change before his eyes.
Holden first communicates to the reader that he enjoys the sight of childhood innocence is when he sees a little boy walking. He said that , "the kid was swell"

While heading up the stairs, he found that , "somebody'd written 'Fuck You' on the wall. It drove [him] damn near crazy" (191). It wasn't the fact that that phrase was on the wall; what really bothered him was how all the little kids ,"[would] wonder about what it meant" (191). As he still felt like a protector, Holden rubbed out the sign. Later, he went down a different staircase and found another 'Fuck You' on the wall. He ,"tried to rub it off with [his] hand again, but this one was scratched on" (191). Unlike when he saw the first sign, he wasn't angry or frustrated. Instead Holden admitted that ,"it's hopeless, anyway" (222). Through this Holden began to realize that some things just have to be let go. In this case, it was childhood innocence. He began to understand that the children would eventually see something that would cause them to lose their

Eventually, he found the silver lining of it all when he and Phoebe visited an old carousel they'd rode when they were younger. He realized that the loss of innocence would be okay when he started monologuing about the carousel. He was a little worried because "all the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe..." (232). He was worried because "[he] was sort of afraid she'd fall of the goddam horse..." (232). Through his fear though, he realized that "If they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything" (232). For he realized that the gold ring represented the child's will to ditch their innocence. Through this, Holden fully realized that sometimes that letting go of innocence can be a good thing at times as well as realizing that if they lose their way on the pursuit of this, that its okay. He says this by admitting that "if they fall of, they fall off..." (232). Thus, Holden finally realized you must let your innocence go