Holden Caulfield Symbolism

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The beauty of youth lies in its transience as well as its existence as a painful but necessary transition to adulthood. Whether internal or external, people will always experience turmoils during youth. How each person copes with these difficulties becomes his or her own definition of youth. In The Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a seventeen-year-old who describes his and others’ youths from a sanatorium. Salinger uses symbolism, diction, and Holden’s point of view to express that youth is not youth without pain.
From Holden's perspective, Carl Luce, his ex-student advisor from Whooton, had inner troubles when he was younger. Holden states, "The thing he was afraid of, he was afraid somebody'd say something smarter …show more content…

From Holden’s point of view, she is a possible victim of sexual abuse. Salinger writes, “‘... all I ever saw him do was booze all the time... and run around the goddam house, naked. With Jane around, and all’” (37). One of Jane’s coping methods for her stepfather’s sexual intrusion and emotional abuse is to always keep her kings in the back row during chess. In this way, she is subconsciously protecting both herself and her emotions. To Holden, Jane Gallagher’s youth involves her conflict with her …show more content…

Salinger chooses this particular location because its name represents what Holden wants the world to be like: natural and “phony”-less. This place contains mummies, which symbolize Holden’s struggle in youth—he wants everything and everyone to remain the same. Holden refuses to grow up because his brother Allie died young, perpetually mummified in the pain of youth that Holden desperately tries to save everyone from. Ultimately, however, this concept is impossible—he himself, for example, cannot escape the impact Allie’s death has on his emotional state. Holden wants to preserve the memory of his brother like the mummies and not forget him like his parents did. As a result, he eagerly rejects adulthood and fixates himself on the notion of eternal, painless

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