What Does The Red Hat Symbolize In Catcher In The Rye

*The Red Hunting Hat:

In the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield buys an odd red hunting hat in New York City. He believes the hat is a bargain since he only paid $1 for it. The red hunting hat has a large amount of significance in the book. The symbolism behind the red hat is Holden’s attraction to unusual items. This attraction to unusual items shows his uniqueness and individuality. It also shows his constant need to be different and isolated from others. The need form Holden to be different and isolated from others is one of the central conflicts in the story.

* The ducks in the park:

The ducks in the park show Holden’s curiosity. Him asking the cab driver where the ducks in the pond go in the winter shows his more childish and immature side. Through his inquiry about the ducks, he is shown as an immature and youthful person. The ducks are also one of the only things that Holden seems to be genuinely interested in through the story. Holden’s actual question about the ducks in the pond represents change, which Holden has resented since the death of his brother Allie. The pond where the ducks reside is a reflection of Holden’s own life, that change is cyclic and inevitable.

*Museums:

Museums are appealing to Holden

because they are static and unchanging. Holden likes the Museum of Natural history because he used to visit it as a child in primary school. Holden is found on a few occasions wandering through the museum, musing over statues. He talks about the Indian statues, with the birds that never change. He also helps a few kids in the museum find the mummy exhibit. The museum most of all symbolizes Holden’s longing for a static life as an innocent child.

*Allie’s Baseball Glove:
Allie is Holden’s deceased younger brother. He was said to have died a few years before the story took place. Allie’s baseball glove was etched with poems in green ink so he would have something to read on the field when he got bored. The baseball glove’s significance to Holden is the memory of his brother, Allie. After Allie died, Holden resented change. The glove also shows the love between brothers, since the glove is one of Holden’s cherished possessions, since he doesn’t value most of his possessions much.

*The Carrousel:
The Carrousel in The Catcher in the Rye is an old carrousel that is in the zoo. Holden allows his younger sister, Phoebe to ride it. While Phoebe is on the carrousel, Holden is crying because he’s just so happy for the first time in the book. The carrousel symbolizes happiness for Holden. Going around in circles without change makes Holden happy because ever since Allie passed away, Holden has resented change. Also, the carrousel makes Holden happy because even though the children grow up and change, the carrousel stays the same.

*Erasing the profanity from the walls:
When Holden goes to drop a note by for his sister, Phoebe, at her primary school, he discovers profanity written all over the walls.

He then tries to wipe the writing off with his sleeve. Holden does this to shield the innocence of the kids. He wants to shield the children from the evil of the world and wants to make the school environment where they can play and be children. This is Holden’s way of keeping the children from growing up. With the profanity on the walls, Holden is trying to be the Catcher in the Rye, and push the kids away from the cliff of adulthood. Holden feels that swear words are bad for children and are reserved for adulthood, thus making him feel enticed to erase the profanity from the walls of the

school.

*The Catcher in the Rye
The title of the book, The Catcher in the Rye, is from a poem written by Robert Frost. The significance of it is quite deep since Holden imagines himself pushing kids away from the edge of a cliff. By pushing them away, he sees himself as “saving” them from adulthood. Childhood is very important to Holden because he views it as one of the things that’s true and innocent. Holden views adulthood as “phony”. Holden’s vision reflects on himself because it seems as if he is on a cliff between childhood and adulthood. Holden often wants to blind children and keep them innocent from things that are associated with adulthood such as swearing and sex. However, Holden finds these things interesting himself, which makes him a “phony” also. The main symbolism in the title, The Catcher in the Rye, is to try and save kids from transitioning to adulthood even though by the end of the book Holden realizes and begins to accept that you cannot save children from growing up.

*Conflict:
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the main conflict is inside of Holden himself. Holden has a difficult time dealing with life in general. His thoughts are often misunderstood due to a problem within himself. His one teacher and respected friend, Mr. Antolini realizes this and tells Holden that he should read poetry and learn about others who were troubled with life. Mr. Antolini is one of the few people in Holden’s life who sees that he is not acting out to be rebellious, but sees that Holden is troubled deeper within himself. Holden often distorts reality in order to cope with the real, and harsh reality. Holden is quite cynical and evaluates others’ actions as ‘phony’. In reality, it is Holden’s way of evaluating himself. It is also his way of distracting himself from his own flaws. Holden’s other conflict is the transition from childhood to adulthood. Holden is still desperately trying to cling to childhood, which is showed in the book. When he sits in the museum on occasion, he is clinging to childhood because he likes how nothing in the museum ever changes. Through a more critical lens, this is Holden’s way of showing that he despises change himself and wishes things could be more static like the statues in museums. The book also shows Holden clinging to childhood through his fantasies of living in a cabin in the woods. Through his fantasy of living in the woods, he thinks if he isolates himself, he will not have to ever grow up, and he doesn’t have to face the adult world. The idea of living in the forest in a cabin, isolated and acting mute is quite a childish and immature thought. Holden’s ways of clinging to childhood are evident, but not always obvious. He thinks that if he blinds himself and children from the harsh reality of the adult world, that he can save children from growing up, but in the end he realizes he cannot save children from growing up.

*Theme:
The main theme in the book, The Catcher in the Rye is Alienation in societies. Through the book, it is seen that Holden tries so hard to fit in the works with children, and the adult world. He fails miserably at trying to fit in both worlds. Through the book Holden tries to be someone he isn’t so he doesn’t feel so alone. Holden also suffers from loneliness. It seems that he just can’t seem to connect with anyone except for his kid sister, Phoebe. Alienation within society is Holden’s issue. The theme is illustrated when Holden asks Jane if she will run away with him into a cabin in the woods, and later he has the same vision where he has a cabin in the woods, and acts mute. His dream of having a cabin in the woods, isolated from everyone is seen as immature and childish, but it is Holden’s way of isolating himself because he feels so alienated. What makes Holden so alienated from society is the way he doesn’t want to conform to society’s unwritten rules. He deals with this by calling these rules that are made up within American society “phony”. The main theme of the book is Alienation within a society.