Theme Of Childhood In Catcher In The Rye

There are many examples of this throughout Holden’s endeavors, such as his reluctance to call Jane and Phoebe; Holden procrastinates when calling them because he did not want to face rejection, but more importantly he did not want either of them to have changed. Furthermore, Holden also treats his deceased brother Allie as a kind of guardian angel because of Allie’s innocence when he passed away. Holden glorifies Allie as “the nicest, in lots of ways” (43)- he has an unrealistic perception of Allie ingrained in his mind, because Holden wants to preserve any innocence he can, as he aspires to “just be the catcher in the rye and all”, or protect children for a living (191). Holden’s fondness for the Natural History Museum also serves as an example of his desire to keep life stagnant, as “the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (135). Holden’s paralyzing fear of growing up, combined with his obsession with innocence, culminated in the desire to freeze time - chasing this unattainable concept would inevitably lead to insanity for

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s outlook in life is either the innocence of childhood or the cruelty of adulthood. He believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and it should be protected from

Salinger utilizes setting to show the importance of childhood innocence. Not only does Holden cherish childhood innocence, but he worries about what can damage it. When at Phoebe’s school, Holden notices a phrase on the wall that makes him worry about kids at the school. Holden says “I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it and how they’d wonder what it meant” (221). Phoebe’s school represents innocence because of the kids that spend their day there playing and learning. The writing on the wall shocks him. It worries him that Phoebe and the little kids would see it, later figuring out what it meant and losing their innocence. Another example Salinger gives of Holden noticing the childhood

Many readers will agree that The Catcher in the Rye is a coming of age, but some may disagree that it is not because of Holden’s personal view of children. The disagreement may have resulted from Holden’s childish acts, such as, being

In Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy who has been kicked out of his school, Pencey Prep. He is now back in New York City, wandering about since he didn’t tell his parents about his expulsion. Through his journey, Holden discovers the many hardships of adulthood, one of them being the loss of innocence. J.D Salinger uses tone to develop the theme that innocence is short-lived.

“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.

Despite his longing for acceptance, “His efforts to connect with any stereotypical kid his age result in abject failure“(Privitera 204). Salinger thoroughly emphasizes this through Holden’s relationships with Stradlater and Ackley, with both of whom he has a strenuous and artificial relationship, demonstrated by his internal, flippant commentaries on his peers as he discusses them in the book (Salinger 31-40). Holden’s peers ostracize him due to his more introspective and introverted nature, as seen in Stradlater’s angry response to Holden’s reflective response to this writing assignment, saying that he doesn’t “do one damn thing the way [he’s] supposed to”(Salinger 47). These difficulties stem not from deficiencies of his peers, but rather a problem of Holden’s refusal to accept anything different from what he expects, making excuses about his reasons throughout the book to cover his actions. His rationalization of his internal wants and desires impedes any proper connection he could possibly make with his peers. He, “Subconsciously longs to be accepted yet feels he cannot make the connection”(Privitera 205).

Adolescence is often a confusing time where people still have elements of childhood, but they are beginning to enter the world of adults. People end up stuck between two points in life and feel that they can not quite fit into either. In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, sixteen year old Holden Caulfield experiences the contradicting feelings of being a teenager while he is alone in New York City. He masquerades as an adult and his experiences represent various aspects of being an adult. He tries to act grown-up and engage in adult life, but at the same time he resists it and tries to hold onto the way things are. Salinger explores the image of adulthood using symbols. Symbols of adulthood hold for Holden a certain longing and resentment as he struggles with the turmoil of adolescence.

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

JD. Salinger’s 1951 book, The Catcher in the Rye, shows us how society treated their confused and changing teenagers during their transition into adulthood. The book’s main character Holden Caulfield is being pressured into growing up even though he doesn’t feel ready, to lead an adult life. He is still struggling socially and mourning for his deceased brother whose death turned Holden upside down and into a negative, hopeless person from a young age, which causes him to be distracted, indifferent and to flunk every school he goes to.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, Holden Caulfield, a seventeen-year-old boy, transitions from childhood to adulthood. The death of Holden’s little brother signifies the beginning his loss of innocence and growth of maturity. As he enters adulthood, Holden views society differently from his peers by characterizing most of his peers and adults he meets as “phonies.” Thus, Holden takes the impossible challenge of preserving the innocence in children because he wants to prevent children from experiencing the corruption in society. The Catcher In The Rye embodies Holden’s struggle to preserve the innocence of children and reveals the inevitability of and the necessity of encountering the harsh realities of life.

Humans develop through childhood with innocence and purity, while remaining vulnerable to the corruption of society. The novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, reveals the complications of Holden Caulfield’s childhood and the loss of his innocence, which motivate Holden to protect other children from society’s darker aspects. His misunderstanding of a poem, Coming thro’ the Rye portrays his desire to “catch” children from falling into harmful situations. Holden continues to show his concern about society’s negative influence on children when he witnesses profanity and vandalism on the public buildings. In addition, the constancy of the carousel music pleases Holden because the music represents the eternal innocence of childhood.

Holden also talks of innocence as if he isn’t innocent himself, and he always remembers to show us his pure side from time to time, “Then, all of a sudden, I started to cry. I couldn’t help it…” (Salinger 198) This is a defining moment because of how in touch he is with his emotions, this seems to be him breaking out of his shell to notice that he can’t always be the tough one, and he needs someone to be there for him during some of his hardships. It’s these types of instances that we can see Holden evolving to become a genuine young adult, and is trying his best to stay calm in these struggles of his, “What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie.” (Salinger 110) He expresses his feelings to Allie, his late brother, when he feels out of place. He tries his best to keep his feelings locked up, because he thinks that’s the adult act to take on, yet when he shows us his true side in these occasions, we can really see him thrive.

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 Catcher in the Rye, Salinger explores the impactful life of a high school boy growing up in a societal standard that he despises. Adolescence is shown throughout the novel as a moment of growth and fear to losing innocence, fighting against growing up and becoming a part of what society expects. By wanting to fight against, Holden Caulfield takes the responsibility of keeping the innocence of children, never wanting them to grow out and view the world differently in its disappointing reality. Innocence is a primary virtue of greater knowledge. Yet death provokes desires to hold on his innocence, not wanting to have any mature bonds to avoid loss of someone he cares about.