The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

When someone loses his or her innocence it causes him or her to see the world how it really is. They do not see the world as a perfect place. People usually lose their innocence when they witness or are part of a life-altering event. In the Catcher in The Rye by JD Salinger she shows how a person can lose their innocence at a young age using Holden as an example. She says how when Holden was 13 his brother died of leukemia. Holden talks about his brother, Allie like he was a saint. He said how “He was two years younger (he) was but about fifty times as intelligent” (Salinger, 38). Holden also had to go through another death of someone he knew. James Castle, a fellow student at Elkton Hill School. He jumps out of the window because he did not want to take back something he said to another student. Holden feels connected to him in a way because James Castle is wearing Holden’s turtleneck sweater when he dies. Holden feels like children should not have to lose their innocence when they are young. He feels this because of his past experiences with the death of James Castle and the death of his brother

In the book, the reader sees how someone can lose their innocence by losing their virginity. Throughout the book Holden is put in situations where he can lose his virginity, but he ends up not going through with it. One example of this is when he agrees to spend the night with a prostitute. He says to the pimp in the elevator that he wants to give her the time. Yet, when he is actually put in the situation, he cannot go through with it. When the prostitute arrives, he try’s to think of an excuse so he would not have “give her the time”. He ends up telling her that he just had an operation on his clavicle, so he can’t “g...

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... bench watching his sister ride.

This quote near the end of the book summarizes the whole story, “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, but it’s not bad if you say anything to them” (211). In this quote he finally realizes that he has to let her find out about the world on her own. He can’t protect her for her whole life. He accepts now that he cannot be the catcher in the rye anymore. He can’t do this because he now knows that kids will eventually lose their innocence it is just a matter of time until they do. In a persons life they are going to go through things that will help for them to see the world how it really. No matter how hard one tries they cannot shield someone from falling from innocence. They can only help them on their journey.