Catcher In The Rye Symbolism Analysis

People need to read Catcher in the Rye at least once before they die. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is a book that takes the reader inside the head of Holden Caulfield, a depressed sixteen-year-old, who enters a strange series of adventures in New York City. Holden writes his story from a mental hospital in California, about how he was expelled from a fancy prep school, his experiences after spending a few days in NYC. The book has had critical success since its publication in 1951, selling sixty-five million total copies, after a splendid review from the New York Times. Catcher in the Rye is a great novel because of its subtle symbolism, amazing portrayal of Holden Caulfield and ends on a higher note than most people realize.

In J.D.Salinger’s novel, Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield, the main character of the novel, is a walking paradox who desires to hold onto his innocence and ,in his mind, thinks that people who lose their innocence will either turn into a “phony” or a “jerk”. During his journey towards trying to preserve his innocence Holden affected his desire to hold on to his innocence through his action, such as his experience with a prostitute named Sunny, his interaction with Sunny shows him that most of the world of adults is just an illusion. Another person who affects Holden desire is his 10 year-old sister Phoebe Caulfield, his interaction with his sister phoebe shows how it’s ok to lose your innocence because with the loss of that innocence you

Furthermore, both Salinger and Shelley display an effective use of motifs which also assist in demonstrating the theme of innocence and corruption. The most recognized motif used by Salinger is without a doubt Holden’s red hunting hat. Salinger suggests that the hat is a symbol of Holden’s uniqueness and individuality. The hat is a bit strange, which shows Holden’s desire to be different from everyone else, thus isolating himself from others. It is worth noticing that the colour of the hat, red, is the same as that of Allie and Phoebe’s hair. Perhaps Holden associates his hat with the

Holden uses innocence to describe the kids surrounding him. Phoebe and Allie stand out as examples. “‘I like Allie,’ I said. ‘And I like doing what I’m doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking and thinking about stuff, and ---’” (Salinger, 171). In Holden’s mind, only children are innocent in this world. Children don’t have sexual desire; they are not fake. However, Allie’s death due to leukaemia destroys his belief in childhood innocence. He thinks that pure kids never die, but his brother’s death goes against his thoughts. To be able to deal with his sadness logically, he always thinks that his brother will come back just like the ducks in Central Park. Holden protects his belief in childhood innocence through the hope that the ducks will eventually return. What’s more, he also mentions he wishes to be the catcher in the rye in his conversation with Phoebe. He imagines children running around in a rye field. He says he would like to catch children before they fall from the end of the cliff. This is symbolism for Holden trying to protect childhood innocence from adulthood

Arguably, the novel’s most obvious symbol can be found in the title. Holden discusses and explains with Phoebe that he wants to be the “catcher in the rye”. He imagines himself wearing a giant baseball glove, ready to catch the kids as they ponder and fall off the cliff while playing in the rye. The children in the poem symbolize childhood. Furthermore, the field in the poem represents innocence, the action of falling from the cliff is the fall from innocence. Moreover, Holden symbolizes the protector of children, he protects them from losing their innocence and childhood. Furthermore, it also represents his desire to avoid the harsh reality of the adult life. Ironically, Holden mistakes the meaning and words of the song, much in the same way he mistakes the cause of his torment, it comes from himself, not from others. For example, "I thought it was 'If a body catch a body,'" I said. "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where

Innocence is a major theme in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye.” Holden Caulfield, the main character in the novel, feels like his purpose in life is to save peoples’ innocence. This basically means that he wants to save immature and young people from being exposed to the scariness and phoniness of the adult world. Throughout the story, Holden realizes that while he tries to save his own and other peoples’ innocence, everybody will eventually lose their innocence and grow up in their own time. Holden mainly feels two things about people’ innocence: he feels like he needs to save other peoples’ innocence and catch them before they jump in the adult world too soon and he thinks that innocent people should not have to learn about things that

In the novel Catcher In The Rye, by Holden experiences the spectrum of childhood and innocence versus adulthood and experience, but has a hard time choosing where he belongs. This shows that those who lack innocence have an inability or unwillingness to bear and accept a harsher reality. Holden struggles to maintain his innocence due to his childhood trauma of losing his older brother Allie from Leukemia. Holden’s subliminal philosophy is to not hold onto his innocence due to the risk of having to face reality and getting hurt like he did when his brother died. The only innocence Holden can cling to is of his brother or those who have not grown up. Other than those, he does everything in his power to not face reality. This is reflected

First, a symbol that epitomizes the preservation of innocence can be simply explained in the story’s title. Holden’s dream of wanting to be the “catcher in the rye” illustrates how he wants to protect children and keep their purity. The scenery of his dream

Recently a teenager posted a racist comment on social media and it blew up. People from everywhere started sharing it, even people that weren’t apart of it. In today’s society these kinds of things happen all the time. We try to put a stop to it just like Holden, from The Catcher in the Rye, does. In the J.D Salinger novel the main character, Holden, goes into a bathroom stall and sees “someone written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall.” He tries to wipe it off so no kids see the vulgar word and start using it themselves. Through Salinger’s use of symbolism, he depicts the message of innocence in The Catcher in the Rye is that we lose our beautiful outlook on life and this is a problem because kids are becoming everyday sinners.

In The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, general theme of innocence is conveyed throughout the text. In the book, Holden Caulfield, a sophomore in high school is expelled from Pencey Prep because he has failed most of his classes. He travels to New York City to attempt to waste a couple days before he must return home. Holden Caulfield is a relatively innocent character, he is confused about sex and contains a childlike curiosity about the world, especially concerning ducks. In the book, Salinger shows how Holden must face his fears of the loss of innocence innocence in order for him to grow. He is told by many characters in the book including Mer. Antolini and his sister Phoebe that he must mature. There is also evident symbolism in

“The knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable. ”(Irving Howe Quote) The classic novel, The Catcher in the Rye, demonstrates this loss of innocence through a young boy’s corruption of a poem by Robert Burns. The poem is titled “Coming Thro’ the Rye” but the young boy misinterpreted one of the lines. Instead of saying “If a body meet a body, coming through the rye,” the line from the original poem, he sang“If a body catch a body, coming through the rye.

J.D. Salinger uses many symbols in The Catcher in the Rye that enhance the meaning of his novel. The first symbol is Allie’s baseball mitt. Throughout the book, Holden seems to be lagged behind in his emotions and his reactions to others. Allie, who is Holden's younger brother died of leukemia at a younger age and has seemed to have forged a large mark in Holden's life emotionally.

Everyday people face the hard decisions of what path to take and the consequences that may come after. On a daily basis people make these decisions, those decisions can dictate whether or not you keep your innocence. For some letting go of that innocence is hard and they can not cope with losing it and entering adulthood. Similarly, from the start of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger to the finish, innocence is questioned and tested. Holden is staying in New York trying to find a way to protect his innocence from adulthood that he feels is creeping up on him every so quickly. During his visit to New York Holden is faced with prostitutes, graffiti, and many adults. These factors tried to influence Holden's innocence,

Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, the reader follows Holden through his internal struggles and ultimately watches his growth throughout the three days in which the novel takes place. Holden’s brother, Allie, will never get a chance to grow up, because he died of leukemia, and Holden feels somewhat regretful that this happened to his brother, a “terrifically intelligent” (Salinger 49) boy, not someone of a lesser character and cleverness, such as Holden himself. Because of this, Holden acts as though he has to stay as a child for Allie and maintain his innocence for Allie. However, as the novel goes on, Salinger uses symbols such as the carousel and the gold ring along with the imagery of the parents

When innocence is lost, there is no going back. Losing innocence and growing up is difficult. In the book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden gets kicked out of boarding school and decides to go to New York for a few days to avoid his parents and gets himself into multiple ill-fated circumstances. Throughout the book Holden is desperately trying to figure out how to be an adult by asking random adults that he comes across. Holden also attempts to preserve the innocence of the people around him, but isn’t able to. In The Catcher in the Rye, innocence is important to Holden because he associates innocence with Allie being alive, and the loss of innocence with the death of Allie. Through the static state of the museum and the preserved memory of Jane and Allie, Salinger displays that Holden can’t accept that losing innocence is an inherent part of growing up.