Some people have special tokens in their lives, which they hold dear to their hearts. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows Holden Caufield’s special object to be his red hunting hat, which he bought at a local store for a dollar. This hat holds symbolic meaning throughout the novel. Although it simply is a red hat, in The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows that it is so much more, for it acts as Holden’s security blanket, allows him to show his inner confidence, and his homesickness throughout the novel.
Holden Caulfield uses as the red hunting hat as a security blanket in a number of different ways. Holden Caufield will only wear his red hunting hat when he is alone. It makes him feel safe and he knows that he is by himself. After having visiting his teacher, Mr. Spencer, Holden says, “I swung the old peak way around to the back - very corny, I'll admit, but I like it that way. I looked good in it that way” (Salinger, 18). This quote shows how Holden does not care what his appearance is when he is wearing the cap. He admits that he wore it in a “corny” way, but he doesn’t care what he looks like with it on. This also shows how Holden is an individual and doesn’t like to wear it the way it is supposed to be displayed. When Stradlater notices the red hunting hat Holden becomes flustered. The author writes, “He meant my hunting hat. He'd never seen it before. I was out of my breathe anyway, I quit horsing around. I took off my hat and looked at it for about the ninetieth time.” (29). This is an important quote because it shows how Holden is insecure about his cap. When Stradlater acknowledges Holden about his hat he becomes flustered. As said in the quote he took the hat off after Stradlater informed Holden about h...
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... take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats.” (180). This quote displays Holden’s love he has for his little sister. This very simple action that Phoebe does touches Holden’s heart in a different way. This quote also shows that Holden has missed Phoebe very much. As Phoebe takes Holden’s hat out of his pocket, he thinks, "Than what she did--it damn near killed me--she reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head." (212). This quote is pinpointed when Holden and Phoebe go to the zoo. Holden is remembering Phoebe and how much he misses her. Holden looks up to Phoebe even though she is at the young age of ten. He believes that she is exceedingly mature for her age. The author writes, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway.” (213).
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows the journey of a young boy, Holden Caulfield, from adolescence to adulthood. There are a number of symbols that Salinger uses to help to portray the various stages that Holden goes through as he matures into adulthood. The snowball incident, his sense of fulfillment when at the museum, and his run in with a pimp, are all representations of how Holden is deeply obsessed with innocence thoughts and how reluctant he is to give them up.
First and foremost, Holden gifted Phoebe with his red hunting hat as a demonstration of his need to protect her “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn’t want to take it, but I made her” (180). In this quote Holden and Phoebe are dancing around, and Phoebe feels like Holden is acting crazy yet she refrains from judging him. Instead Phoebe wants to support him. To Holden, Phoebe is in no way phony, and in handing over his hunting hat he is trying to protect her, and in doing so he is giving up the protection from himself. Holden’s mission to defend Phoebe is rooted in wanting to protect her innocence’s, and keeping her from becoming phony like the rest of society. Moreover, Phoebe also looks to Holden to protect her not just the other way around “Then what she did- it damn near killed me- she reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head” (212). In Phoebe, giving Holden back his protective hat, she is forcing Holden to watch over her. In order for Holden to protect his sister’s innocence, he will be forced to give up his alienation and be realistic. Holden’s loss of innocence is his driving power to shield Phoebe from the realities of life. The exchange of the red hunting hat from Holden to Phoebe to Phoebe to Holden is the
Holden’s hat allows him to show and hide his emotions. Holden uses his hunting hat to speak freely and emotionally about his brother in an essay for Stradlater. After Holden gets back from being out with Brossard and Ackley he sits down to write a composition about Allie. Before he does this, he “put on [his] pajamas and bathrobe and [his] old hunting hat,” (37). Holden puts on his hunting hat so that he can write about his brother who died three years before this story takes place. Holden would not normally wear his hat to bed, so we can assume that he doesn’t wear it as a part of his pajamas. Putting it on before he writes an essay about his brother suggests that he put it on for that reason. At another time Holden uses h...
At the beginning of the book, Holden is shown as a careless boy with animosity towards most people: “I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, “Sleep tight, ya morons!” (52). After Phoebe returns Holden’s hat to him, he watches her on a carousel. To him, seeing her on the carousel is an image of childhood innocence, which he has been looking for throughout the book. His red hunting hat serves as a shield to adulthood as shown in the quote, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyways. I didn't care though. I felt so damn happy all of a sudden” (212/213). His hat acts as a symbol of protection from his depression and fear of growing
In the beginning of the novel, Holden believes that the world is out to get him, so he alienates himself for protection. A way to do so, he brings forth his hunting hat, “‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said. ‘I shoot people in this hat.’” (Salinger, 22) Holden’s hunting hat is the strongest symbol in the novel. It gives Holden protection from people who could be potentially harmful to him. Whenever he is afraid or anxious he regresses and puts on his hunting hat for comfort. This anxiety is triggered by memories from his past. The world has stepped on him and beat him down, so now he uses his hunting hat to symbolize his independence and alienation from the world. He consciously knows that the hat will not physically protect him, but, “the nihilist does not believe in the necessity of being logical.” (“On the Pathos of Truth”) So, since he doesn’t need to be logical, he uses the hunting hat regardless if it is actually going to work or not. Holden feels disconnected to the world in the beginning of the novel. Holden states that he feels trapped on “the other side of life.” (Salinger, 8) When Holden says this, he is in a distressed point in his life because he has recently just been expelled from his fourth school. The expulsion could be a reason why he feels so disconnected, but since this didn’t happen during his last expulsions, he
The distance that Holden makes sure to keep in place isolates him from others and manifests in curious actions and mannerisms. One example could be the red hunting hat, which advertises his uniqueness and also gives him a sense of protection. Holden explains to Ackley that his red hat is not a “deer shooting hat” but a “people shooting hat”. Out of all the mentions of the red hat in the novel, this is the most enlightening. Holden uses the hat as a sign of individuality and independence; this hat serves as another way Holden is able to isolate himself from the rest of the world. The red hat serves as symbol for Holden’s desperate desire for independence and his distaste for conformity. Although Holden does not kill anyone in the novel, he does “shoot people” in his own cynical way by spending all of his time and energy belittling the people around
Spencer, having been told he has been expelled from Pencey, he seeks solace in his red hunting hat. In this scene, Holden states that he “swung the old peak way around to the back – very corny, I’ll admit, but I like it that way. I looked good in it that way” (Salinger 18). Here, the reader is given a glimpse into Holden’s feelings toward his hunting hat. He understands that the hat is quirky and mostly unattractive, but he connects with it in a way because he feels that, just like his hat, he is an outcast and an oddity. Holden feels that the hat looks “good” on him because he and his hat possess similar qualities, and he feels that the hat suits his personality. It is also clear that Holden feels a sense of protection when he is wearing the hat, probably because he feels a strong connection with it. After his fight with Stradlater in the dorm room, Holden immediately seeks comfort and protection with his favorite hat. Holden states, “I couldn’t find my goddam hunting hat anywhere. Finally I found it. It was under the bed. I put it on, and turned the old peak around to the back, the way I like it, and then I went over and took a look at my stupid face in the mirror” (Salinger 45). Holden puts the hat on before checking to see the extent of his injuries in the mirror. This action makes it clear that Holden sees the hat as a symbol of
In “The Catcher In The Rye”, J.D. Salinger uses Holden’s red hunting cap, the exhibits at the Museum of Natural History and “kings in the back row” as symbols whose meanings help tell the story. Holden’s red hunting hat stands for Holden’s disapproval of adult society and phonies. Although, Holden and his hat are out of place in New York, he loves this hat because it demonstrates his difference and independence from other kids his age. He becomes more and more attached to his hat because he feels like a catcher in the rye when he wears the hat. Holden cannot let go of his hat, like he cannot let go of his childhood.
One of the many symbols that Salinger uses in the novel The Catcher in the Rye, was Holden’s “Red Hunting Hat”. This red hunting hat helps Holden feel like
...When Holden concludes that you have to just let a kid go for what they want to do, even though they might get hurt doing so, he might be saying admitting growing up is in fact significant for Phoebe and for himself. He learns that he cannot protect a child from doing what they want to do, so he realizes that he should let them be.
In the beginning of the novel, Holden says to Mr. Spencer he feels trapped on the “other side of life.” This clearly demonstrates how Holden doesn’t feel that he belongs in the world he lives in. Holden has his hunting hat as a source of protection. Holden buys a red hunting hat in New York for a dollar. The hat has a very long peak, and Holden wears it backwards with the peak aiming behind him. “…I swung the old peak way around to the back-very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way” (17), Holden explains. Holden puts his hat on when he’s under a lot of stress. The hunting hat not only symbolizes protection, but it also symbolizes Holden’s uniqueness and individuality. Holden doesn’t wear his hat because it’s fashionable, but only to keep his individuality and to feel safe. In the cab Holden put his hat on and says, “I’d put my red hunting hat when I was in the cab, just for the hell of it, but I took it off before I checked in” (61). This quote illustrates how Holden thinks it’s necessary to wear the hat in order to feel safe. But at the same time, Holde...
He has nothing but nice things to say about her and wants to protect her. She makes many adult observations that you would not expect a ten year old to notice, yet still acts like a ten year old. She realizes that Holden got kicked out of school, and then responds by repeating, “Daddy’ll kill you!”(214). She corrects Holden about the words in a Robert Burns poem and realizes that Holden does not like anything, yet at the same time acts like a ten year old. She resembles Holden in the way she goes between adulthood and childhood. She is like a younger version of Holden. Holden wants to protect her and keep her from ending up like him. Holden gives his hunting hat to Phoebe, this shows how much he cares about her. He is able to give up the symbol of his independence and accept that he has ties to his family. The only time Holden is happy during his trip is when he takes Phoebe to the carousel. After deciding not to run away Holden realizes, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off,” (274). At this point he realizes that growing up might not be the worst thing in the world and that even if he gets hurt in the process it is something he needs to
Allie’s baseball mitt is a very important symbol in the novel. It is connected to the novel, because the heart of the novel is Holden's grief over his brother's death and his inability to accept it. When Holden finds out that his brother Allie died, he is in denial because he refuses to accept Allie’s death. Holden is in denial because he thinks why his innocent brother had to die and not him. Because Holden needs help dealing with this grief he must always take out the mitt, and acknowledge his feelings over Allie in order to release himself from the guilt he feels. When Holden’s roommate at Pencey, Stradlater, asks him to write a descriptive essay, Holden writes about Allie’s baseball mitt. Holden treats the mitt differentially, taking it with him to Pencey and copying “down the poems that were written on it” (Salinger 38). For Holden, t...
A big trait in Holden’s character is the stubbornness. Holden is not willing to accept his problems in addition to let others help him. It is equally important to realize that Holden’s stubbornness is fatal to changing, otherwise growing up. One of the first symbols introduced is Holden’s red hunting hat. “This is a people shooting hat. I shoot people in this hat. (3.31)” gives signs that this hat is a way to alienate himself from the world. When Holden articulates it is for shooting people; shooting really means calling them phonies to only stubbornly protect himself from the outer world. Proceeding to Holden’s visit to Phoebe’s school, the f**k you signs on the wall are a way of representing the negative influences on kids. Holden’s stubbornness is shown when he attempts to erase them off the wall, although states “you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘F**k You’ signs in the world.(25.18)” The symbol’s meaning towards the story is understood that it’d be pointless to erase even all of the negative influences in the world because they’d just re-appear, except the protagonist cannot accept the reality of the situation. Jumping right to the end of the novel, when Phoebe ...
Holden’s red Hunting hat was very crucial to him as he bought it in New York on the Saturday morning that he visited. The hat is the center of attention for Holden as many people such as Ackley ask about the hat. Holden only puts the hat on at crucial moments in his life such as writing the composition for Stradlater, leaving Pencey Prep, and acting confident in front of the mirror. “It was this red hunting hat, with one of those very, very long peaks. I saw it in the window of the sports store when I got it out of the subway...it only cost me a buck” (17). In the novel, Holden also wears the hat when he leaves Pencey Prep as he says “Sleep tight, ya morons”. In the novel, it can be noted that Holden doesn’t like to wear the hat outside as