Holden Caulfield Innocence

Childhood Innocence in Catcher in the Rye

    “The notion of innocence refers to children’s simplicity, their lack of knowledge, and their purity not yet spoiled by mundane affairs. Such innocence is taken as the promise of a renewal of the world by the children” (Buhler-Niederberger). The main character of Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, faces harsh adulthood realities which compel him to protect childhood innocence. Throughout Holden’s 3-day journey in New York, he demonstrates his desire to retain childhood innocence in himself and other children. In The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger develops Holden Caulfield as a reflection to the main theme of childhood innocence through his use of characterization, stream of consciousness point

of view, and symbolism.

J.D Salinger’s use of characterization through Holden Caulfield signifies Holden’s child-like behavior, as he fears to rid his childhood innocence. As Holden’s character never fully matures into and adult, Holden refrain from committing adult-like behaviors. At Pencey Prep, Holden’s boarding school, Holden once said, “Most guys at Pencey just talked about having sexual intercourse with girls all the time – like Ackley, for instance – but old Stradlater really did it. I was personally acquainted with at least two girls he gave the time to. That's the truth” (Salinger 48). While most students at Pencey Prep were sexually active with girls, Holden remained virgin and never gives into sex because of his child-like self he did not want to corrupt. When Holden found out Stradlater “gave the time to” two girls he had been personally acquainted with in his childhood, he became irritated because he believed Stradlater destroyed the innocent people from his childhood (Salinger 49). As Holden did not believe in sexual interactions at his age, he informs readers everyone at Pencey Prep depraved. Salinger intentionally characterized Holden as an individual who

wanted to preserve innocence and this led to Holden’s distaste in certain ideas, such as sexual interactions. After Holden leaves Pencey Prep and takes a 3 day journey in New York, he returns home, not wanting his parents to have any sight of him.This leads Holden visiting his teacher, Mr.Antolini, and staying the night. At night, Holden finds Mr. Antolini petting his hair when he wakes up from a deep sleep. Holden describes the eerie situation by saying “That kind of stuff's happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid. I can't stand it” (Salinger 212). Although Holden often over exaggerates about his stories, he reveals he had been touched pervertedly before.This confession could be a component to why Holden refrains from growing up and developing into an adult. Holden always felt the desire to protect his childhood innocence and the innocence he believed in possibly could have been weakened when Mr. Antolini touched him inappropriately. The unexplained history of this type of incident that had occurred several times could illustrate why Holden did not want to lose his childhood innocence and often seemed stuck in between childhood and adulthood. Professor of English at the State University of New York, Cortland, Eberhard Alsen, described Holden “as though he were much older than sixteen and sometimes as though he were much younger.” Holden portrays his desire to preserve innocence in various ways, as it was once portrayed through a snowball. One morning at Pencey Prep, Holden finds a perfect snowball to throw throw, however refrains from throwing it because he desires to preserve the beauty of the landscape. Holden states to readers“ The car looked so nice and white. Then I started to throw it at a hydrant, but that looked too nice and white, too. Finally I didn’t throw it at anything” (Salinger 41). While most children would have thrown the snowball, Holden did not want to disturb the purity and beauty of the landscape. The pureness and whiteness of the snowball is similar to Holden’s character, as he desires to preserve and maintain the innocence of his childhood. While the other boys were throwing snowballs, Holden refrains from throwing his snowball because of his tendency to hold onto everything that is perfect. This accurately describes Holden’s character because he avoids growing up and losing his childhood innocence, similar to the way he refrains from throwing the snowball. J.D Salinger accurately created Holden Caulfield as a reflection of the theme of childhood innocence through his elaborate usage of characterization in various situations.
Through the use of symbolism within Catcher in the Rye, Salinger effectively represents Holden’s desire to protect childhood innocence through various sites.

Throughout the novel, readers are informed of Holden’s obsession with the ducks in Central Park. Holden is very curious to find out the habits of the ducks, and he specifically questions how they vanish in the winter and are able to reappear in the spring. Through Holden’s journey, he finds himself asking the same question repeatedly to various adults. Holden first proposes the question to a cab driver, as he says "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? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" (Salinger 67). The ducks at Central Park are a symbol of reassurance to Holden because they always are able to find out where they are supposed to be, no matter spring or winter. In the novel, Holden was lost and afraid of becoming an adult and losing his childhood innocence, but he knew the ducks had a sense of direction and they always made it to their destination safely. Further on in the novel, when Holden is waiting for Phoebe to get out of school, he visits the local museum, an important symbol in the novel because of its purity. No matter the changes Holden faces in his life, the museum was a place he could go from his childhood that retains its purity and innocence, as it tends to be

“frozen, silent, and always the same” (Salinger 122). Addityionally, the museum symbolizes an ideal world Holden wishes to live in; one full of constancy where nothing changes. At the end of the novel, when Holden sneaks into his own house and proceeds into Phoebe’s room, he talks about his desires and wishes for his future with Phoebe. Holden explains he does not want to be a lawyer or a scientist, but says his dream job is to be a “catcher in a rye field.” Holden states he pictures “...All these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all... 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 - 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” (Salinger 191). When Holden plans on being a “catcher in the rye” for his future job, the children represent childhood itself, the field represents innocence, and the cliff represents the fall from innocence. Holden’s main goal throughout the novel is to prevent children from losing their childhood innocence, which corresponds to his idea of catching them when they fall off a cliff. Holden presumes,  “If they’re running and dont know where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them”, meaning when children start to lose their childhood innocence, he wants to be the person who “catches them” and saves their innocence. The use of symbolism in Catcher in the Rye provides a deeper meaning to symbolic places throughout the story that correspond to Holden’s desire to protect childhood innocence.