In The Catcher in the Rye, we get a first-hand look at Holden's exact thoughts and emotions. The superficiality, falseness, and phoniness of the adult world, his fondness, and affection for his sister Phoebe, and his curiosity, and fascination with ducks in a pondall come into play about his character. Holden's mentality about the adult world secretly scares him causing him to be afraid to move on and mature. He believes that “Certain things they should just stay the way they are” (Salinger 122). If he could just stay the same he would be content. JD Salinger uses many symbols throughout the novel that reveal Holden’s personality and disposition towards his transition into adulthood- his fear of change and growing up. (P9) Holden is obsessed with the whereabouts of the ducks in the lagoon in central park. On multiple occasions he finds himself “wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got …show more content…
all icy and frozen over… if some guy came in a truck and took them away to the zoo or something. Or if they just flew away” (13). Holden finds that he relates to the ducks in the pond as he realizes they are both transitioning. As the ducks fly south, or suddenly vanish he interprets that as them entering adulthood. He too is on the verge of becoming an adult and ultimately tries to avoid conforming to the phony society. Holden is so obsessed and anxious to find and answer about the ducks, not only in concern for the ducks but for himself as well. Holden struggles to figure out if someone is going to assist him as he matures or will he have to do it on his own. Holden is viewed as a child and also admits that he sometimes acts childish. He is sixteen and “acts like [he’s] about thirteen” (9). Holden just simply doesn't want to grow up and wants to delay the consequences of facing reality. By acting younger than his actual age -in his mind- he can keep a grasp of his child self, as he also does with his sister. (P7) Holden strongly expresses his aversion towards adults and their corrupt world numerous times.
Despite his dislike for adults, there is one person whom he finds absolutely flawless and undamaged; his little sister Phoebe. Phoebe represents the youth that Holden can no longer get back. Holden's relationship with Phoebe reveals his thrive for connection with his younger self. Holden is lost between childhood and adulthood so he leaves himself with no other choice but to hold on to Phoebe, as he figures out how to avoid maturing. His fears of adulthood are reflected on the way he wants to “catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…” (173). Not only phoebe but other children as well. He doesn't want others to experience growing as he has and he wishes to preserve the innocence that phoebe still has. Phoebe has yet to be corrupted by the adult world; therefore, he idolizes her. (P1A) His actions and way of thinking is a reflection of his fear of taking the full step into the adult society. It is through Phoebe that we see Holden as a child who doesn't want to grow
up. The museum is one of the only things that Holden really likes in New York. He clearly remembers every aspect and detail that he experienced as a kid. His fascination and love for the museum is brought by the immutable objects and scenery inside. His vivid description of the perpetual state of each exhibit substantiates his fear of change. As he tells the reader about his memories he explains that “The best thing though in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (121). The museum is something that never changes, and is the sole reason why Holden admires it so much. He doesn't want to take part in the changing, and “phony world around him. In Fact, he is troubled by the fact that he changes every time he visits the museum. “It didn't exactly depress me to think about it but it didn't make feel gay as hell either” (122). He begins to realize that he can't go back in time to what he used to be. After taking a long walk across the park toward the museum, he “wouldn't have gone inside for a million bucks” (122). Since Holden is not a little kid anymore, he fears that if he goes inside the museum his new perception will change the happy memories the museum brought him as a child. It's too bad, he isn't “able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.” (122). Salinger's use of symbolism in the novel conveys Holden’s inside thoughts, and feelings on his journey from a boy to manhood. Holden is on the run from entering the adult world but, doesn't know where to go or how he's going to get there. He is trapped in memories: memories of the past. (P3) He attempts to escape from falling into the corruption of adulthood, by holding on to his childhood innocence, but struggles to soon realize the importance of moving on and not being the “Same old Caulfield” (144).
James Bryan notes that Holden is “is poised between two worlds, one he cannot return to and one he fears to enter”. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden embodies the limbo between childhood and adulthood by trying to maintain both “worlds”. For example throughout the novel Holden behaves like an adult but still behaves like a child and tries to preserve his innocence and the innocence of children. He also embodies both worlds by often contradicting himself, which shows the limbo of both worlds.
He often wonders about the ducks in central park and where they go in the winter. Holden asks a cab driver, “does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves - go south or something?” (107). Just like the ducks must somehow escape winter, Holden must escape the pressure he feels as he struggles with his independence. Should he fly south and escape his life, or get provided for by his parents?
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.
Holden’s childhood was far from ideal, with Allie dying, his dysfunctional parents and the revelation that he had some “perverty” stuff happen to him when he was a kid. Due to this, he isn't ready to step into adulthood and leave his childhood behind. This is why Holden is mostly alienated from adults and connects more to the innocence of children like the girl at the park and his sister, Phoebe. However, Holden is disillusioned with both adulthood and childhood. He already knows how it feels to be an adult; drinking alcohol, being independent, living by himself and caring for Phoebe, but isn’t ready to immerse himself in it.
Holden’s apparent desire to be separated from the majority of his family and friends appears to have been triggered by the death of his younger brother Allie. From Allie’s there has been a downward spiral in Holden’s relationships, as he begins to avoid contact with others and isolate himself more. The reason I believe this is because we can see how immense his anger is after Allie’s death, ‘I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist’. The death of Allie has become like an awakening to Holden, and has alerted him how precious childhood innocence is, when Holden comes to this realisation he convinces himself to do everything within his power to protect the innocence of himself and those around him, to protect them from what he sees as a false adult world. Although Holden clearly fails to protect himself, as he falls into all sorts of situations which hardly boasts of innocence and virt... ...
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes:
Holden wants to shelter children from the adult world (Chen). In Chapter 16, the catcher in the rye finally appears. This is also a symbol for what Holden would like to be when he grows older. He pictures a group of many kids playing in a field of rye, where it is his job to catch them from falling off the cliff. This shows Holden’s love for childhood and his need to preserve it in any way he can. According to Alsen, “The way Holden explains why he wants to be the catcher in the rye shows the kindness and unselfishness of his character. However, the surreal nature of the metaphor also reveals his unwillingness to face the real life choices he needs to make now that he is approaching adulthood.” By the end of the book, Holden realizes in order for kids to grow, there can’t be protection from all of potential harm. “He therefore gives up his dream of being the catcher in the rye and is ready to make a realistic choice of what he wants to do with his life” (Alsen). Holden’s dream world, that doesn’t involve change, is unrealistic. He is terrified by the unpredictable changes of the adult world, but there is no way for Holden to avoid the experiences and changes that the
In the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger,Holden the main character tries to take on adult and mature situations but finds himself in reality not getting very far. Holden Caulfield who goes to Pencey has failed four out of five classes and gets the notice that he is being expelled from the school. He leaves the school and goes out and tries to adventure into the real world. Holden takes on many challenges and obstacles throughout the book . Although Holden wants to be independent many people perceive Holden in numerous different ways to his actions and feelings. Faith and Stradlater both perceive Holden as irritating, when in reality he tries to distract himself from being depressed. For example when Holden was in the phone
In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden is an immature boy. Holden’s immaturity cause him many problem throughout the book. He is physically mature but not emotionally mature. He acts like a child. “All of a sudden I started to cry. I’d give anything if I hadn’t, but I did” (p. 103). Holden shows his emotional unstableness.
...oes want them to turn into “phonies.” Holden seeks for a peaceful and uncorrupt world but he cannot obtain that due to the actions of others. Despite Holden’s attitude and outlook on life, he is quite passionate. Although he is a firm pessimist, calling every person he comes across a “phony,” there is an alternate side to him. In his interaction with Phoebe and the other children in the book, he tries to protect them from the rest of society, since children are still naïve and pure. It is justifiable why Holden craves to preserve the innocence of others. For most of us, growing up, we begin to understand more. We start to look at life in a different perspective, different from the one we did when we were young, but as a person who has seen and experienced more in life.
When Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to do with his life he replied. This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet he
Holden and the Complexity of Adult Life What was wrong with Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D.Salinger, was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called "phoney" and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young, in whom he saw reflected his own lost childhood. There is something wrong or lacking in the novels of despair and frustration of many writers. The sour note of bitterness and the recurring theme of sadism have become almost a convention, never thoroughly explained by the author's dependence on a psychoanalytical interpretation of a major character. The boys who are spoiled or turned into budding homosexuals by their mothers and a loveless home life are as familiar to us today as stalwart and dependable young heroes such as John Wayne were to an earlier generation. We have accepted this interpretation of the restlessness and bewilderment of our young men and boys because no one has anything better to offer.
Holden shows a particular liking towards children over adults. He values the innocence and authenticity of children and he tries to protect them from the phoniness and evil of the world. When he goes back to his old school at the end of the novel to give a note to Phoebe, he sees an obscenity on the wall that infuriates him. He says, "Somebody'd written `F*** you' on the wall. It drove me near damn crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them-all cockeyed, about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (201). When Holden's sister Phoebe demands that he tell her one thing that he really likes, Holden's responds saying, "I like Allie...And I like doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff..." (171), showing that he's most content in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
Holden is a pessimistic, remote, and miserable character and he expresses this attitude through dialogue, tone, and diction. Throughout the book he has remained to be a liar, a failure, a loner, and lastly, a suicidal guy who feels like he has no purpose in life. Perhaps Salinger expressed his perceptions and emotions of his teen years in this book and it was a form of conveying his deep inner feelings of his childhood. Readers can see this clearly shown in The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger.