The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. 1984 by George Orwell. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The Odyssey by Homer. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Throughout all of time, literature has played an important role in people’s lives. Books are more than just stories to laugh at, cry with, or fall asleep to, but books can teach. Literature …show more content…
One such symbol is the red hunting hat. Throughout the novel, Holden uses the red hunting hat for warmth because it is the dead of winter. Holden said, “But it was freezing cold, and I took my red hunting hat out of my pocket and put it on--I didn't give a damn how I looked. I even put the earflaps down.”(88). Although the red hunting hat looked like it was just something for warmth, the symbolic nature of it goes much further. The red hunting hat makes Holden unique. It makes him feel different, but he is content with that. According to “Setting and Symbols in Catcher”, the article stated that the red hunting hat “can be seen as a badge of Holden’s deliberate nonconformity.” Holden is his own person, and many readers can learn a lot from him. Personally, I know that I have many weird quirks and things that I say and do, but that is who I am. I relate to Holden on this aspect. Being different is not something that should be frowned upon, but because I live in a society of conformity, differences should be something that can help society learn. I live in a world that is always changing. I am thankful for the person that I am in society, and like Holden, I would not change my personality because of societal …show more content…
On the other hand, there are many critics who disagree with this statement. One claim that they might make is that the storyline and life of Holden Caulfield is extremely drawn out over the course of the book. The Catcher in the Rye is a novel of 234 pages jam packed with a lot of details about Holden and his life. However, the story only follows three days of his life-Saturday to Monday. The scenes were drawn out way too long. The detail that Salinger included did add to the novel sometimes, but sometimes it ended up taking away from it. Personally, I found myself daydreaming or falling asleep while reading a chapter. There is some truth that a teenager’s life is drawn out and boring on certain days, but this book has been coined as “life altering”, and it put me to sleep sometimes. However, the important themes and engaging symbolism help carry the slack that the plot can hold at certain
Catcher in the Rye uses excellent symbolism to convey ideas to the reader. One might compare it to Lord of the Flies, an average book that teachers force students to read once in their lives for its use of symbolism. Personally, I think Catcher in the Rye has better symbolism than Lord of the Flies. This is because the symbolic objects are easier to identify than the objects in Lord of the Flies. As a result, the reader spends more time focusing on what the object represents, rather than wondering whether the object is symbolic or not. Take the red hunting cap, for example. This can be identified as a symbol based solely on the fact that these hats are almost never worn, whether the story’s set in the 50’s, the 1700’s, or
Literature; it has compelled us, entertained us, educated us, and drove us to madness. It has served as life instruction, by using the characters as the lesson plan. It is sometimes blunt, sometimes ugly, and in Truman Capote’s case, is so gruesome that we do not dare forget it.
Literature has always relied on techniques to catch the reader’s attention and format the story, and “the Catcher in the Rye” is no exception. Salinger brought many different writing styles into his novel to make it a bestseller. With his knowledge, Salinger was able to depict the persona of Holden to the reader without directly stating his characteristics. Salinger proves Holden is a lonesome figure who wanted to fit in but struggles to be accepted. The Catcher in the Rye depicts Holden as one who struggles with his sexuality and adulthood and wants to save children from adulthood because of the difficulties that it has brought himself. Salinger greatly expresses Holden through the use of metaphor, imagery, symbolism,
But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game” (8). Holden does not understand Spencer’s metaphor. Holden believes that life can only be a game if people are given advantages. From his point of view, he is one of the unlucky ones, but in reality he is on the side with the hot-shots, because he is given many advantages that others are not. Salinger emphasizes Holden’s immaturity in a very subtle way by having Holden’s authority figures always calling him “boy”. Both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini call Holden “boy”. Of Spencer, Holden says, “I wished to hell he’d stop calling me ‘boy’ all the time” (12) and then later on, Antolini tells Holden, “You’re a very, very strange boy” (193). Both Mr. Spencer and Mr. Antolini recognize and acknowledge Holden’s immature behaviour in calling him “boy”. This only stresses the fact that Holden cannot seem to realize he is acting more like a child than a teenager. Holden’s red hunting hat is a very important symbol in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden uses this hat as a way to hide from society. He says, “That hat I bought had earlaps in it, and I put them on–I didn’t give a damn how I looked. Nobody was around anyway” (53). Holden thinks that wearing his red hunting hat makes him an individual, but in reality, he will only wear it when no one is around to judge him. It is his immaturity that makes him believe that he is being unique,
Holden’s red hunting hat is one of the main symbols in the book, The Catcher in the Rye. The hat represents individuality and uniqueness. It symbolizes the confidence, self esteem, and comfort in who someone is. Holden is only willing to express himself when he is alone, with no one around. He looks for approval. Holden does not want to be seen negatively in any way. The hat is a symbol that Holden uses to tell Phoebe that she should always stay the same. Also, to tell her that she should be confident in whom she is, but, as Holden knows, Confidence and self-esteem can be easily broken. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses Holden’s red hunting hat to symbolize Holden’s uniqueness and a sense security and comfort.
Can a hat really provide a person with emotion, or for that matter, can a hat ever protect a person from their own emotions? In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger the image of the main character’s red hunting hat comes up many times. Holden, the main character buys a hat while he is in New York with his school fencing team. Holden has just been kicked out of his school because for academic reasons, he decides to leave his school before the winter break starts, so he goes to New York. Steering clear from his family, except for his sister, he stays there for about three days on his own. During this time a lot happens to Holden, causing him to grow up. Holden’s hat is a metaphor for Holden’s growing up; in the beginning
Salinger manages to incorporate various symbols into his novel The Catcher in the Rye, all of which represent different aspects of the conflict that Holden faces. The symbols are a reflection of Holden’s thoughts and mirror his emotions externally. The red hunting hat is an extremely important symbol because it stands for protection, comfort, and as a reminder that Holden is not always alone. The hat is representative of times when Holden acts immaturely and when he comes to a realization that he must mature. Salinger encourages a broad interpretation of the hat by never completely describing the significance of the hat. The reader is left to infer and create their own meaning of what the hat represents. The hat relates to his siblings and
Throughout the novel Catcher and the Rye, the author J.D Salinger presents Holden Caulfield as someone who is battling with growing up and who is putting up barriers. Holden’s brother died when he was eleven years old, meaning he lost his innocence at a young age. Holden keeps this in the inside and lets out his anger by calling everybody “phonies”.He does find comfort in a red hunting hat and his dead brother Allie. Holden's comfort in materialistic hat shows how he doesn’t appreciate the people close to him.
The first symbols that Salinger uses to convey his message is the red hunting hat. The main character of the novel Holden Caulfield has an iconic and important red and black hunting hat which he frequently wears in different situations for more than just its obvious use as a hat. Holden is a very secluded character and is very critical of the individualistic society that he lives in, often criticizing others for not being themselves and being “phonies”. Even the way that Holden acquired the hat is special and symbolic of Holden and the theme of the novel. While giving the reader some background on his
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are,” (Cooley). Throughout our lives, reading has impacted us in many ways. Often times books give people different perspectives on their lives. People with high stress levels often find comfort in reading books to take their mind off of their concerns. Sometimes, people just need to take a step back from their lives and relax for a while; therefore, reading is a great tool. In fact, all kinds of books have also helped me become a better writer. There are many different books that have impacted me over the years.
Lies, failure, depression, and loneliness are only some of the aspects that Holden Caulfield goes through in the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger. Salinger reflects Holden’s character through his own childhood experiences. Salinger admitted in a 1953 interview that "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book.… [I]t was a great relief telling people about it” (Wikipedia). Thus, the book is somewhat the life story of J.D. Salinger as a reckless seventeen-year-old who lives in New York City and goes through awful hardships after his expulsion and departure from an elite prep school. Holden, the protagonist in this novel, is created as a depressed, cynical, and isolated character and he
In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield uses his hunting hat to represent who he wants to be. Holden doesn’t want to be the same as everyone else because he believes that they are phonies. He wears his hunting hat to show his difference from others. Holden is also a very self-conscious person, despite the fact that he pretends otherwise. However, when he wears his hunting hat, he becomes more comfortable. The only times when Holden feels truly content are when he has his hat on. When Holden wears his hunting hat, he temporarily becomes the person he strives to be.
At the end of the novel, Holden finally becomes happy with himself and it is the turning point of the story. One major symbol that repeats throughout the story is Holden’s red hunting hat. The hat is very protective and covers most of his head. Throughout the novel, Holden searched for companionship and someone to comfort him. Holden always wore the hat when he was alone and felt very solitary and lonely, symbolizing that it was some way he could connect to people he cared about. . At the end of chapter 25, Phoebe, “...reached in my coat pocket and took out my red hunting hat and put it on my head. ‘Do you want it’ I said” (Salinger 212). At this point, Holden had actually offered to give his hat to Phoebe. The offering away of his hat symbolizes how Holden finally felt accompanied and like he had found his companionship. When Holden meets with Phoebe the
Holden's hunting hat also shows symbolism of different moods and feelings he may be experiencing. First, the fact that it was a "hunting hat" symbolizes that he is searching for himself. And second, there is a pattern as to the way he wears he hat. When he is in a lost and depressed mood he would "turn peak around to the back" (Salinger 45), when he was in a good mood he would "pull the peak around to the front" (Salinger 34). There is no specific sequence in these changes, his hat turns with his mood. It is as if the hat is directing him and comforting him in his quest to find himself.
One of the literary devices in this novel is symbolism. Holden’s red hunting hat is the symbolic feature that alienates him from society. Ackley tells Holden “Up home we wear a hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake… That’s a deer shooting hat” (Salinger 30), meaning Holden’s hat is only worn while hunting. Holden does not seem to care much for Ackley’s opinion and he wears it anyways. This shows Holden’s individuality and his uncommon desire compared