Holden Caulfield Innocence

Holden Caulfield faces a dilemma throughout “The Catcher in the Rye”. Holden wants to protect his innocence as a child. As he leaves Pencey Prep; venturing off into the vast city of new york, he tries to get somebody to listen to him and meaningfully respond to his fears about becoming an adult. Holden has grown six inches in the past year and one side of his head is full of grey hair, both symbols of the inevitability of the progression of time towards adulthood and its disappearance of innocence. He is so obsessed with protecting his innocence he can't even through a snowball at a car because, “it looks so nice and white.

Holden is still not convinced that he cannot stay a child forever. Holden shows this in his response to Phoebe's chastisement. "...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 they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them" (Salinger 173). The ledge Holden wants the children to stay on is childhood while the pit they will eventually fall into is adulthood. He wants to keep everyone, including himself, from becoming an adult.

The author J.D. Salinger was able to represent the theme: the loss of childhood innocence, by describing the internal as well as the external characteristics of the main protagonist Holden Caulfield. Holden is portrayed as innocent due to his “lousy vocabulary” and also his childish mannerisms. His constant use of the term “boy” is ironic when Holden himself is a boy at heart. While internally Holden Caulfield may appear to be naive; this representation contrasts with his external appearance. Holden is struggling internally to be himself and is clinging on to his innocence, at a time where his body is continuing to become more mature and transitioning out of adolescence. The reader is able to note his struggle because of Holden Caulfield’s

Holden then realizes that he wants to help preserve children’s innocence before they go out in to a corrupt world. He wants to become a catcher in the rye, and catch children before they go off the “cliff”, as he did. “ 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 they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.”(P173) Holden can be compared to peter pan in the

There is only one experience that unites every single person in the world. Many people in the world can agree that it isn’t always the greatest experience, and many people have an extremely hard time getting through it, but every single adult goes through the act of ‘growing up’. For many, the transition can be very depressing, and confusing. When a child is young becoming an adult seems to be enjoyable and exciting, but it isn’t until that child is forced into the cruel, harsh world where the innocence of childhood can be appreciated and missed. The novel Catcher in the Rye explores how teenagers who are nearing adulthood see the adult world to be incomprehensible. J.D Salinger illustrates the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of transitioning into adulthood using Holden Caulfield.

Every human actions meets in nature and they find their own characteristic feature in a good or bad way. Not everyone can say it is a pleasant experiment, but no one can deny that it happened. This single event is ‘growing up’. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing, often uncovering questions that cannot be answered. During this time the adult world seems inviting and free, but only when we become members of a cruel, society can the happy ignorance of childhood be appreciated and missed. The novel Catcher in the Rye examines how adult life appears complex and incomprehensible to teenagers on the brink of entering it. 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.

There is an only event that unites every single human being on the nature. Not everyone can say it is a pleasant experience, but no one can deny that it happened. This single event is labelled ‘growing up’. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing, often uncovering questions that cannot be answered. During this time the adult world seems inviting and free, but only when we become members of a cruel, society can the happy ignorance of childhood be appreciated and missed. The novel Catcher in the Rye examines how adult life appears complex and incomprehensible to teenagers on the brink of entering it. Through the main protagonist Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced

Between the bars, prostitutes, and perversities that Holden encounters during his time in New York City, it swiftly becomes clear that the adult world that Holden is forced to live in is a dark, uncaring, vile place. However, the one example of all the horrors of the adult world that stands out the most is the obscene graffiti scrawled on a wall of Phoebe’s school. Continuing the theme of wanting to protect the innocence of children, Holden feels absolutely disgusted with whoever wrote it, describing the person as “some perverty bum” (Salinger, 108). Holden’s fury with the hypothetical offender even grows to the point that he wishes to murder the man. While Holden’s intentions are noble (albeit extreme), they can also be interpreted as misguided. His assumption that a homeless man with perverted intentions broke into the school is unlikely, to say the least. In fact, it’s infinitely more likely that the graffiti was left by a rude child at Phoebe’s school who has unfortunately been exposed to the adult world Holden so despises. However, Holden is completely unable to come to this conclusion. “In his world, children are innocent and adults corrupt. While this keeps everything nice and simple in Holden's mind, it also makes it impossible for him to really understand the process of growing-up” (Shmoop Editorial Team). Holden is so desperate to keep his worldview that all children are innocent that his mind completely shuts out the possibility of children who have learned of the monstrosity of the adult world, not wanting to believe that kids have snuck past him in his role as a proverbial Catcher in the Rye. Furthermore, the appearance of the salacious vandalism occurs near the end of the novel, when Holden is on the verge of a breakdown. The precise moment in the story where

The journey between adolescence and adulthood is one of great discovery and introspection. As the blissful innocence of childhood is washed away by the passing of time, a long and confusing period of discovering one’s identity takes center stage. Prior to the process, the adult world seems one of great freedom and opportunity and is treated with a sense of keen enthusiasm. But, only as we become members of this cruel and unjust adult society, does the veneer of privilege corrode away, and the simplicity and innocence of childhood truly appreciated. As such is explored in The Catcher in the Rye, where a young teenager in New York City is faced with the daunting task of transitioning and maturing to an eventual adulthood, one that terrifies him. Holden responds to adulthood with resistance, fear andidealism, before slowly but surely succumbing to its certainty.

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

Mr. Spencer reads this aloud to Holden when he was at his house and he was furious. He becomes angry because Holden is not trying but he was even more angry at the fact that he admitted that he was not trying and he did not care if he was flunked. Mr. Spencer thinks that Holden has potential and he just wants him to realize it before it is too late. In addition to Mr. Spencer, Holden’s parents think of him as a troubled kid.

155) into . When his sister Phoebe accuses him of being unable to love and to be interested in life, he confesses, without lying, that his biggest desire would be to catch, these little boys who are playing in the rye, in case they risk to fall off the cliff. In this way, unlike his dad, who (Salinger, p. 97) and who is only interested in becoming a instead of really helping people, Holden manifests his intentions to truly save children from the temptations of the phony world. All Holden is interested in is to save and be saved from the corrupted world and to preserve a state of innocence and

J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher In The Rye, is a coming of age story. Through the protagonist, Holden Caulfield’s journey of self discovery, the story conveys the struggles faced by teenagers during times of adolescence. The journey from adolescence into adulthood results into teenagers developing feelings of anxiety, fear and, being misunderstood. Moreover, teenagers will often seem lost, and withdrawn from their surroundings. In fact, they will alienate themselves from others due to the fear of rejection coupled with loss, inability to be who they truly are, and fear of failure.

All of us will have to grow up at sometimes in our lives. J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye is about a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield who travels around New York trying to discover himself. In the book, Holden wants to protect childhood innocence and he wishes to be a child himself. He hears the poem, “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye”, in the book and this affects Holden.

Holden, being the character that he is, gives readers an insight and a reliable source on what it's like to be a teenager struggling to fit in due to his mature mind a passive nature. Salinger uses this