Have you ever been afraid to grow up as a child, wondering what would happen in the future? These are the thoughts that Holden Caulfield, a young protagonist in J.D. Salinger’s, “Catcher in the Rye,” focuses on. Unable to stay at Pencey Prep any longer after flunking most of his classes, he takes his special red hunting hat and suitcase, and leaves. He then wanders around New York City, trying to live his life in his childish ways, but everyone he encounters tells him he must grow up. After his little fiasco, he decides to return home and meets up with his sister, Phoebe, at the Museum of Natural History. They later end up at the carousel in Central Park, and there, he realizes that within the past three days, his experiences are signs of his dread for adulthood. J.D. Salinger presents Holden Caulfield’s fear of growing up through the events that he encountered with the red hunting hat, the museum, and the carousel.
Holden was on his way to New York for a fencing match when he accidentally left his team’s equipment
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on the subway. On the way back, Holden is fascinated with a red hunting hat he sees, and buys it. Holden then wears it at times during his stay at Pencey Prep, and throughout New York City to hide himself from other people. Salinger includes the hunting hat to show Holden’s fear of growing up as he tries to be different and stand out from the crowd while protecting himself. To prevent himself from growing up, Holden knows he must try to isolate himself from the other grownups and act individually. When Holden wants to be distinguished and alienated, he would "take out [his] hat… and put it on, since I knew I wouldn't meet anybody that knew me." (Salinger, 122) By wearing the hat, it signifies that Holden doesn't want to encounter anyone in hopes of avoiding events that will make him question his thoughts about growing up. At times, he would alienate himself even more by turning it backwards, “… [Which] suggests that his values are reverse everyone else’s.” (Alsen) While everyone else tries to mature, Holden believes that he will be happy by staying the way he is. Salinger not only uses the hat to show how Holden isolates himself with it, but how he protects himself with it as well.
When his neighbor, Ackley, talks about how people usually shoot deer with his hat, Holden takes it off, and explains how "… [It’s] a people-shooting hat… I shoot people with this hat." (Salinger, 22) What Holden is trying to say is that the hat helps to protect him from the phonies of the adult world and expel them out of his view. Besides himself, Holden also hopes to protect children from growing up and having to experience the phoniness of the adult world. Holden wishes that he could be a "catcher in the rye" and protect the innocence of the children. When he wears his hat, he sometimes likes to turn it around “the way baseball catchers wear their caps…” (Takeuchi) Since Holden likes to wear his hat backwards, it indicates his part as the “catcher in the rye” and his efforts to prevent himself and other children from growing
up. After his stay at an inexpensive hotel, Holden decides to meet up with his sister, Phoebe, at the Museum of Natural History. While waiting for his sister to get out of school, he decides to go inside and walk around for a bit. As he walks around, he starts to reminisce about the experiences he had there when he was younger. Holden has always enjoyed the peacefulness and innocence of the building. Salinger creates an experience for Holden at the museum to provide an experience to recognize Holden’s fear of growing up. As Holden grows older, he has difficulty adjusting to new ways of life for adulthood. Worried about growing up, "…we realize Holden is troubled by change in general." (Alsen) Holden struggles to change to nr what he wants to be, as he always seems to be indecisive and uncaring about what kind of person he is or what his actions are and how they affect others. While he is nervous about adaptation, he is fascinated by the dioramas and exhibits in the museum. Holden admires how they never have to worry about change, “everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move." (Salinger 121) It can be seen that Holden is struggling with change and wishes that life could be simple and unchanging like the exhibits, as he continues to find out what person he wants to be. Holden once believed that he could find a place that was filled with innocence for him and younger children, and considered the museum for its peacefulness. But as Holden gets older, he realizes there is no place that is innocent, and worries about the future of the younger children. Walking around the museum, Holden notices something on the wall: the phrase "f*** you," written on the wall multiple times. While he was able to get some of them off, he eventually realizes, "You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful… you may think there is, but once you get there, somebody sneaks up and writes “F*** you” right under your nose.”(Salinger, 204) Seeing how someone could do this, Holden realizes that growing up, the adult world can never really be innocent and is afraid he'll lose his innocence as well. Holden soon learns that the innocence only stays when you're a child. He finally understands and worries about he is becoming a young adult, and that he can't go back to his childhood anymore - "that’s locked up in the Museum of Natural History, where Holden doesn’t make it past the front steps…” (Medelsohn) Holden gets the idea that his innocence is lost, and all he's done lately is to try and avoid his fear of growing up by gaining it back. Before having gone to the museum, Holden visits Mr. Antolini, a teacher he used to have. There, he explains to him what has happened lately. Mr. Antolini responds back saying that everyone will experience a fail in their life, in which they realize that they must accept fate and go through change. Later at the museum, as Holden is heading to the restroom, he passes out and falls to the ground for a split second. When he comes back to normal, he mentions that "…it was a funny thing though... I didn't feel dizzy anymore." Holden comes to notice that this was the fall Mr. Antolini was talking about, and starts to comprehend his fear of growing up. He finally distinguishes that the cause for his fear is because of his dread for changing into a phony in the adult world. When Holden finds Phoebe in front of the museum, she has her suitcase with her, and wants to run off with Holden. When Holden says no, she starts to get mad, so he takes her for a walk to the zoo until she settles down. Once at the zoo, Holden spots the carousel that he remembers riding as a child, and asks Phoebe if she wants to ride it. As he sits and watches her go around, he notices how happy she looks, and starts to feel happy himself. Salinger includes this scene for Holden to express his fear of growing up through the blindness and experience he has had on his adventure, ending with the carousel. While Phoebe goes around on the carousel, Holden sits on a bench and watches her go around. As he watches her, he notices how joyful the whole moment is, from the smiling children to the cheerful music. At this moment, “I felt so happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around… it just looked so nice in her blue coat and all.” (Salinger, 213) Holden wishes he could be like the children, innocent and blind to the phony world of adulthood. Not only do the children help to resemble blindness towards phoniness, but the music that is playing contributes as well. As the carousel moves around, “this is the one thing he likes about carousels; they play the same song...” (Alsen) While the children are moving around in circles, the song “Smoke in your Eyes” is being played over repeatedly. By playing the same song, it resembles how the children’s blindness allows them to be the way they are without worrying about changing. Holden wishes that he was blind to all the phoniness as well, and tried his best to avoid having any changes occur to him. The title of the song also signifies how the “smoke” gets in to the children’s eyes, allowing them to be blind and carefree about the adult world. While Holden was venturing through New York City, Holden had tried to participate in all kinds of activities before coming home to Phoebe and going to the carousel with her. Through all the worries that Holden had, he learns and realizes that while the children are still “blind,” they must learn and experience difficulties and events themselves before they are opened up to the adult world. As Holden watched them go around on the carousel, “All the kids kept trying to grab the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was afraid she’d fall, but I didn’t say anything… you have to let them do it.” (Salinger, 211) By suggesting to not warn Phoebe or anyone else to be careful, “Holden’s willingness to let his beloved sister fall has perplexed many readers because it seems to contradict his dream of being a “catcher in the rye.” (Takeuchi) While Holden’s original dream was to be a “catcher in the rye” and protect the children’s innocence, Holden realizes it’s best to let them experience the challenge themselves and have them learn from it. Holden purposely doesn’t warn anyone to be careful because if they fall, he wants to see what they would do. Holden believes that by letting them fall, the children would learn to get back up and find a resolution to their difficulty. Holden knows that part of his fear for growing up before was because he had no idea on how to experience and face challenges. Holden presents his fear of growing up through moments encountered with the red hunting hat he bought, the museum he remembered as a child, and the carousel he watched Phoebe go on. From the events, Holden has yet to question what the adulthood will be like, and things that he'll have to experience. While everyone that he has encountered before has encouraged or asked him to grow up, he has tried everything to avoid the idea of being an adult from occurring. After everything that he went through from the past three days in New York, Holden recognizes every part that leads to his fear of growing up. As he tries to find solutions to soon overcome his fear, Holden continues to look back to the times he had as a child and now and enjoys it while he can.
In his fight with Stradlater, Holden’s character is shown as a defender of innocence. He defends the memory of his brother through the report he writes for Stradlater. Because of Stradlater’s criticism on his brother’s death, Holden destroys the essay and says “All right, give it back to me, then,’ I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddamn hand. Then I tore it up.” Holden is tormented by the memory of his brother throughout the novel, and in this fight he defends his brothers memory by protecting the baseball glove. Later in this scene Holden is upset with Stradlater’s relationship with Jane. Holden explains, “If you knew Stradlater, you 'd have been worried, too. I 'd double-dated with the bastard a couple of times, and I know what I 'm talking about. He was unscrupulous.” Holden tries to defend Jane’s innocence and the reader is able to see Holden’s ethical code to protect the innocence and memory of others. In Holden’s confrontation with Maurice, Holden displays his detestation of the evil phony. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I 'd give anything if I hadn 't, but I did. 'No, you 're no crooks, ' I said. 'You 're just steeling five ' 'Shut up, ' old Maurice said and gave me a shove.” The scene between Maurice and Holden over the prostitute Sunny shows his emotions when it comes to fake people. In this scene he
While in New York with the fencing team, Holden loses all of their equipment, then buys a red hunting hat. Holden describes the hat as a, “red hunting hat, with one of those very, very, very long peaks… The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around back - very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way.”(Salinger, 24) The hat makes him stand out and seem like a unique person.
Holden Caulfield, portrayed in the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye as an adolescent struggling to find his own identity, possesses many characteristics that easily link him to the typical teenager living today. The fact that the book was written many years ago clearly exemplifies the timeless nature of this work. Holden's actions are those that any teenager can clearly relate with. The desire for independence, the sexually related encounters, and the questioning of ones religion are issues that almost all teens have had or will have to deal with in their adolescent years. The novel and its main character's experiences can easily be related to and will forever link Holden with every member of society, because everyone in the world was or will be a teen sometime in their life.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is seen by some critics a a drop out student destined for failure in life, but I see him as a symbol of an adolescent who struggles to adapt to the reality of adulthood.
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
Growing up is not easy. The desire to slow down or stop the process is not unusual for adolescents. Resisting adulthood causes those who try to run away from it to eventually come to terms with the reality of life: everyone has to grow up, and fighting against it makes it much harder to accept in the end. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield often tries to resist the process of maturity in an effort to avoid the complicated life he might face as an adult, making him an unusual protagonist for a bildungsroman; this struggle, however, opens Holden’s eyes to the reality and inevitability of growing up, helping him realize that innocence does not last forever. Holden’s preference of a simplistic lifestyle is evident throughout the novel, but stands out especially when he visits the Museum of Natural History.
In his novel Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger portrays childhood and adolescence as times graced by innocence when his protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is faced with the reality of becoming an adult. Holden’s desperation to maintain his innocence and the manner in which he critiques those he deems to have lost theirs, emphasizes his immaturity and ignorance while highlighting the importance the author places on childhood.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a coming-of-age novel set in New York during the 1940’s. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the story, is a detached seventeen-year old boy harboring feelings of isolation and disillusionment. He emphasizes a general dislike for society, referring to people as “phonies.” His lack of will to socialize prompts him to find nearly everything depressing. He’s alone most of the time and it’s apparent that he is very reclusive. This often leads him to pondering about his own death and other personal issues that plague him without immediate resolution. Holden possesses a strong deficit of affection – platonic and sexual – that hinders and cripples his views toward people, his attitude, and his ability to progressively solve his problems without inflicting pain on himself. The absence of significant figures in his life revert him to a childlike dependency and initiate his morbid fascination with sexuality. In this novel, Salinger uses Sunny, Sally Hayes, and Carl Luce to incorporate the hardships of discovering sexual identity and how these events affect adolescents as they try to understand their own sexuality.
in all but one of his subjects. He does not like to talk about his
In J.D. Salinger’s controversial 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, the main character is Holden Caulfield. When the story begins Holden at age sixteen, due to his poor grades is kicked out of Pencey Prep, a boys’ school in Pennsylvania. This being the third school he has been expelled from, he is in no hurry to face his parents. Holden travels to New York for several days to cope with his disappointments. As James Lundquist explains, “Holden is so full of despair and loneliness that he is literally nauseated most of the time.” In this novel, Holden, a lonely and confused teenager, attempts to find love and direction in his life. Holden’s story is realistic because many adolescent’s face similar challenges.
In J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield believes that innocence is corrupted by society. He exposes his self-inflicted emotional struggles as he is reminiscing the past. For Holden, teenage adolescence is a complicated time for him, his teenage mentality in allows him to transition from the teenage era to the reality of an adult in the real world. As he is struggling to find his own meaning of life, he cares less about others and worries about how he can be a hero not only to himself but also to the innocent youth. As Holden is grasping the idea of growing up, he sets his priorities of where he belongs and how to establish it. As he talks about how ‘phony’ the outside world is, he has specific recollections that signify importance to his life and he uses these time and time again because these memories are ones that he wont ever let go of. The death of his younger brother Allie has had a major impact on him emotionally and mentally. The freedom of the ducks in Central Park symbolize his ‘get away’ from reality into his own world. His ideology of letting kids grow up and breaking the chain loose to discover for themselves portrays the carrousel and the gold ring. These are three major moments that will be explored to understand the life of Holden Caufield and his significant personal encounters as he transitions from adolescence into manhood.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
There is one event that unites all human beings. This event is the process of growing up and becoming an adult. The transition into adulthood from childhood can be very long and confusing. As a kid most of them can not wait to become an adult but once you experience adulthood you miss your childhood. The novel Catcher in the Rye shows how a teenager on the break of entering adulthood can get scared. Through the main protagonist Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of adapting to an adult society. Holden is faced with many problems as some teens
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
In the beginning of the novel, Holden exclaims “I put on this red hunting hat that I had bought that morning [...] right after i lost the foils” (number here). Here he is telling us that same morning he proceeded to lose the whole fencing team’s equipment he happened to pick up the hunting hat at a local sports store just off the subway. This is no coincidence, the hat has to assume the position of comfort for holden after his failure. The novel takes place around Christmas time in New York City, so the weather conditions are undoubtedly cold. Holden has no sort of paternal guidance and help throughout his journey. The hat is an important protection aspect in getting him by the couple of frigid night he endures. In the same quote from above he states “it was freezing cold, and I took my red hunting hat out of my pocket and put it on--I didn't give a damn how I looked. I even put the earlaps down. I wished I knew who'd swiped my gloves at Pencey, because my hands were freezing” (88). This is only one of the many cases Holden uses the hat out of desperation to stay warm and even alive. At the end of The Catcher in the Rye Phoebe "reached into [Holden’s] coat pocket and took out [his] red hunting cap and put it on [his] head" (212). Holden then stated that his "hunting hat really gave [him] quite a lot of protection, in a way, but [he] got soaked anyway" (213). Holden became extremely happy once Phoebe puts the hunting hat on