How Is Holden Caulfield Loss Of 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.

Catcher in the Rye is a book of many themes of many different types of different things. The main character of the book is Holden Caulfield, this guy has major problems. He’s alone and he knows it, he hates everyone and judges them too. Some themes of this story are the sadness, the lies and deceit, and Holden’s youth. Every one of these themes describe Holden in different ways, mostly it describes what he’s like.

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

In The Catcher in The Rye, by J.D, the main character, Holden, can be seen as a troubled teenager growing up in a less than perfect society. Throughout the novel Holden struggles with the fact that many young and innocent kids will grow up and see the world from a different perspective. He naturally becomes worried for all future generations who will one day grow, as he did, and loose their innocence. The fixation of youth and innocence can be seen in the title of the book, as well as throughout the novel.

Throughout the story Holden emphasizes his love for childhood innocence. In a passage he says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything.” (Salinger 211) This immediately points to his affinity for innocence and not having the limits of being and adult. The

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger. It is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a cynical teenager who recently got expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and main character of the story, the focus of Salinger’s tale is not on Caulfield, but of the world in which we live. The Catcher in the Rye is an insatiable account of the realities we face daily seen through the eyes of a bright young man whose visions of the world are painfully truthful, if not a bit jaded. Salinger’s book is a must-read because its relatable symbolism draws on the reader’s emotions and can easily keep the attention of anyone.

“The Catcher in the Rye” is about a sixteen year old teenager talking about the story of his mental break down. It is really impressive because J.D. Salinger’s writing style is very direct as if Holden is talking exclusively to me and telling me about his struggles between childhood and adulthood. “The Catcher in the Rye” illustrates Holden’s hope to protect childhood innocence from adult phoniness.

Holden Caulfield plays a timeless character in the sense that his way of life is common for the American teenager, in his time as well as now. Today parents dread the terrible and confusing adolescent years of their child's life. In J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is in this terrible and confusing point of his life. At this point in his life, as well as in modern teenager's lives, a transition occurs, from child to adult. Holden takes this change particularly rough and develops a typical mentality that prevents him from allowing himself to see or understand his purpose in life.

When Holden finally encounters someone willing to genuinely listen to him (in the form of Phoebe), he remarks that “If somebody at least listens, it’s not too bad” (172). After hours of searching, Holden gets his chance to spill his heart out. And though Phoebe might not fully understand the pain he’s going through, it doesn’t matter because Holden is no longer closing himself off. And from here, Holden begins to see that despite his attempts at withdrawing from society – he did genuinely make some kind of connection with his peers. Holden tells Mr. Antolini that after not seeing he classmates for a while, “[he] sort of missed them” (187).

The novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is about a boy named Holden Caulfield who cannot let go of his childhood and embrace adulthood. Throughout the novel, Holden expresses which things he likes or dislikes, but those things he likes or dislikes are more than they seem. Everything that Holden enjoys has to do with his childhood and everything he hates has to do with the phoniness of adulthood. Holden is an outcast of society because he hates things that represent adulthood and embraces his childhood, while everyone else around him embraces adulthood and hates childish things.

As Holden wrestles with with wanting Phoebe to stay innocent forever, “the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round. All the kids tried to grap for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say or do anything. 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 is bad to say anything to them” (Salinger 208). Holden shows improvement in maturity and in impulse control when he makes the deliberate decision to let her go by herself. He usually does what he want to do. He rarely thinks before doing anything, but he realizes that she is growing up and he can not stop her from seeing and feeling the corruption of the world.

Catcher in the Rye deals with a lot of topics that many adolescents go through as they’re growing up. Ever since Holden’s brother died nothing has been the same for him. His world was turned upside down. After getting kicked out of his boarding school, he has to struggle through many problems in the book. As he’s wandering around New York he deals with innocence, his fear of change, and depression. Even though the story takes place in a few days, Holden ends up learning a lot about himself in the end.

Holden has a brother named Allie, who died awhile back. Holden does not want Phoebe or other loved ones to grow up because he knows that Allie died at such a young age, which prevents him from allowing himself and others to grow up. He wants children to stay pure and innocent. He feels that he has a responsibility to catch people that are on their way to growing up. Childhood is a safe place, while being an adult can be a scary big place that Holden does not want to visit.

Holden gains the understanding that he cannot stop Phoebe or himself from growing up, and that even though it may be scary he needs to face reality. Holden watches Phoebe go around the carrousel. Holden thinks, "All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. 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 bad if you say anything to them" (pg. 273-274).