The Theme Of Innocence In The Catcher In The Rye

Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye and save the children from falling off the cliff. This cliff, however, is the real world, and Holden himself is afraid of it so he wants to protect children from it. This is also demonstrated when Holden visits his sister 's school and sees swears written on the wall. This makes Holden very mad, "It drove me damn near crazy. I thought of how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they 'd wonder what the hell it meant…But I rubbed it out anyway, finally"(201). Holden was able to protect the children for a short while but a few moments later he sees the same thing written on the wall again. Only this time it is scratched in with a knife or something and Holden is unable to rub it away like before and realizes "It 's hopeless, anyway…it 's impossible" (202) he indicates here that growing up and facing certain reality is inevitable. Holden finally realizes that he can 't protect the kids from the real world when he watches Phoebe ride a carrousel at the zoo. "All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring…this thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let

By looking at the book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, we can see that the primary message was the preservation of innocence. There are many ways this is represented in the story. The thing that most readers do not realize is that the story is that you have to go in depth in-order to get a better understanding of why Holden wants to preserve innocence. This is important because you get a better understanding of how he does not want other kids to turn out like himself.

Holden says, “I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing i’d really like to be” (Salinger, 173). Holden says that he would catch the kids that are about to fall of the edge of the cliff. This symbolizes Holden trying to protect the kids innocence. He wants to be a hero and save all the kids. For Holden when someone loses their innocence it means that they have just fallen and now they have to be an adult. This isn't true because you could lose your innocence at any time and it doesn’t mean that now you have to be an

While talking with Phoebe about a poem by Robert Burns, Holden explains, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing…And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff…I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff” (Salinger 173). Holden shows signs of being a hero many times, including this time. Holden does not want the children to hurt themselves if they fall off the cliff, so he will be there in order to catch them once they fall. Instead of injuring themselves, Holden rather hurt himself in order to save them. Furthermore, by being “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden is able to protect children, especially Phoebe, from the realities of the outside world. At this age, Holden doesn’t want them to learn about violence, phoniness, and other aspects of adulthood that is superfluous. He fears that if they start to learn some of these characteristics of adulthood, they will lose their innocence as a child; but, he wants to maintain their adolescence and

Throughout the book, Catcher in the Rye, Holden faces the opportunity to learn that with age people don't lose all innocence. In fact innocence filters around just like a carousel. But instead of learning what there is to learned Holden’s faulty thinking seems to keep him mad and keep him blind.

The most important theme in this novel is innocence. Holden demonstrates this theme constantly throughout the novel. Holden wants to be the “the catcher in the rye” and save all the innocent children from losing their innocence and going into adulthood (Catcher). Holden believes in this because he thinks that he has fallen into adulthood too early and his main enemy is the adult world so he does not want kids to fall into the adult world and wants them to stay kids for as long as they can (Catcher). Towards the end of the novel, Holden slightly changes his view on this.

Many teenagers struggle with the concept of self-identity and growing up. Troubled 16-year old Holden, from the Catcher in the Rye, is no exception. The Catcher in the Rye follows the story of Holden and his journey to adulthood. To Holden, this adulthood is a world full of lies and phoniness. Due to his lack of interest in the world of growing up, Holden is a character who seeks to find the innocence in others and is a strong believer of staying young and preserving yourself. In the Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger argues that as you come of age, innocence is replaced by the hardships of

In this excerpt from J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the loss of innocence after the transition from childhood to adulthood is conveyed through the explanation of his ideal occupation. Talking to Phoebe, Holden pictures himself as a “catcher in the rye,” someone who prevents children playing in a rye field from falling off a cliff: “I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re doing I have to come out from somewhere and catch them” (Salinger, 224). Holden’s image is a metaphor conveying his desire to act as a shield protecting the innocence of childhood from the corrupt nature of adulthood. Throughout the novel, Holden portrays adults as phony, and children as innocent. Here, he expresses a desire to stop children from

In The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, there are several themes that stand out. Among these thematic ideas is the topic of innocence. Within the novel, there are numerous areas and characters that represent the various aspects of innocence, whether it be the very image of innocence or a view of it from someone who has lost their innocence. These display a common message, which is that innocence is a value that should be held onto for as long a time as possible, but will sooner or later be lost.

Holden is first reminded of Jane when his roommate, Stradlater, takes her on a date; and this initial moment starts the entire “saga” of Jane Gallagher. Stradlater comes up to the dorm room and told Holden that his date knew him and after Holden asks who, Stradlater utters out the name Jane Gallagher. “‘Jane Gallagher’ I said. I even got up from the wash bowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead.” (35). From this initial reaction Holden has from just hearing Jane’s name, it shows the impact that Jane had on Holden and how important she was soon to become in the novel. The idea of innocence being represented through Jane is first displayed after Stradlater comes back from his date with her. Stradlater tells Holden that the two of them

At this point, I was struggling to understand the ending and why Holden wouldn’t tell us what happened after him. I was curious of what will happen in the last chapter and I expected so much, but the ending was honestly really disappointing. Not only for me, but everyone else who has read this book. It can be inferred, but I wish I had clarification from Holden himself what had happened. Again, I still focused on finding major themes. One of the examples of the theme of immaturity is the curse words on the wall. I focused more on that because it supported the idea that Holden doesn’t want to grow up. However, I think there is something more to it where Holden finally realized that he can’t not grow up, but he is still upset that there are these curse words around Phoebe’s school, knowing that little kids wonder what those words mean. Again, I did not sympathize with Holden because he doesn’t seem interested at all about changing his unhealthy lifestyle. Wherever he is, whether in a psych ward or hospital, it is evident that he still doesn’t apply himself to the real world to try to get better.

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.

can become one’s only form of comfort and protection. The novel, The Catcher in the Rye

Humankind has the gift of memories, not a reply button. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, fights his imminent transition to adulthood. After expulsion from a prestigious all-boys preparatory school, Holden embarks on a journey through wintery New York before retiring home to his family. Throughout the novel, he offers commentary on those around him, often by critiquing them. As Holden progresses through his self-exploratory excursion, he forms a critical insight: that he wants to preserve innocence. Salinger’s use of symbols, irony, motif; conveys that experience trumps innocence.

Holden Caulfield's foreshadowed mental breakdown was directly caused by his loss of innocence. Holden realizes that he can't save all children from growing up. Holden goes to Phoebe school, where he sees “fuck you” written on the walls, which infuriates him. He thinks about his sister and all the little kids that have to see that. “But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written “fuck you” on the wall...I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it”(page 201) “I went down a different staircase, and I saw another “fuck you” ...I tried to rub it off with my hand again…’’(202) “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 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.”(page 211) It drives holden crazy to see profanity witting on the walls where kids are able to see it. Holden realizes that he cant stop children from growing up and experiencing life challenges. Eventually, they will grow up and there's nothing that can stop that. “Holden has the following thought in reference to the children on the carousel: "If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them" (274). Holden's