Catcher In The Rye Symbolism Analysis

All throughout our life, things come along that mean something to us. I’m not talking about people. I’m talking about symbols; objects that are used to represent something about ourselves. Symbols are everywhere in literature. In particular, symbols are in a book called The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. This book is about Holden, a sixteen-year-old prep school student who, after getting kicked out of four schools and pretty much failed at life, runs away to find himself, and what his purpose is in life. His brother, Allie, dies of leukemia, and his most prized possession is his baseball mitt. This is not an ordinary baseball mitt. This mitt means something to Holden, and it really contributes to the message of the story. Allie's mitt contributes a lot to the novel because it’s represents innocence, it represents goodness, and represents what it means to be a catcher in the rye.

First, Allie’s mitt contributes a lot to the novel because it represents innocence.

Allie’s always been the type of person to never really grow up, like Holden, but he’s always been ambitious. Allie plays on the baseball team, and when he doesn’t play, he wrote poetry in green ink on his glove to read. Allie did that so that the mitt could be full of life, and not dull. Also, he did that so that the mitt could remain youthful. The innocence of this part is that when people around Holden tell him to grow up and be more focused about school, he just takes the mitt and reads the poems on it. Plus, the mitt could never grow old. Just because Allie died and went to heaven, doesn’t mean that he can’t still be young in spirit, and he transfers that to his

mitt.
In particular, Allie’s mitt represents goodness. Allie has always represented intelligence and goodness. Allie has been the type of person to never really get upset about anything or be mean to people. He’s always been smarter than Holden. Holden describes him as, "But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody. People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair” (Catcher
Third, his mitt represents what it means to be a catcher in the rye. A catcher in the rye is basically supposed to “catch” a person when they fall. It could be psychological or physical. When Holden first started at the beginning of the story, he made it seem like he had a really easy life, when in reality, he was suffering because of Allie’s death. He was grieving because of it, and in his anger, he smashed the window. Whenever Holden bottles his feelings up inside, he tries to accept it by taking Allie’s mitt and reading poetry. As a result, Holden and Allie have developed a spiritual connection like no other. It’s not just when he’s grieving. Holden looks to the mitt whenever he feels lost. Plus, in the beginning, Holden wasn’t sure what to do with his life. As time went on, he was motivated by the mitt to continue searching for his purpose. He feels like Allie is with him now wherever he goes. So, the mitt “catches” Holden whenever he is down. He looks to the mitt, and lets his brother’s creativity flow through him. Holden lets the words motivate him.
In conclusion, Allie’s mitt represents a big part of the story, but also, we can bring this to real life. Everyone needs a “catcher” to bring them up whenever they’re down. To be the support that that person needs.