After watching the movie A Rebel Without a Cause and reading Catcher in the Rye they both share the theme of Loss of Innocence. Both the novel and the movie went by is that life is too short to grow up and be responsible. Loss of innocence is shown in both because both main characters are trying to anything possible to protect someone they love. In the novel Catcher in the Rye the Holden Caulfield a 16 year old kid that goes to Pencey Prep School. He had just gotten expelled from Pencey Prep because he had just failed four of his 5 classes. Holden really cares about other people lose their innocence and honor. Holden's parents do not take responsibility of him. He faces issues with sex and acting his age. He also struggles with the fact that he lost his brother. One thing that Holden wants to prevent other kids from doing is growing up. …show more content…
The characters that play a big role in the movie are Judy, Jim and Plato. Plato has had problems ever since he was young because his parents were not there for him. That is the reason that is stopping him from growing up and becoming an adult. His parents don't care much about how he's doing. In the movie Plato invited other characters to his house and he mentioned that he didn't have anyone to talk to. He also said that they could have breakfast in the morning like he and his dad used too. His parents not being around have caused his not to become an adult and that is why he is losing his innocence.
To conclude both the Catcher in The Rye and Rebel Without a Cause share the theme of loss of innocence. Characters in both have trouble do not want to grow up because in their early life they lack parenthood and they did up to the point where they could become adults. Holden tried stopping people from growing up to saying that they did not know what they were getting into. Loss of innocence was the theme that they
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.
Teenage years are difficult. Time tells this story of struggle again and again. The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel showing the struggles a teenager goes through while transitioning into adulthood. The main character, Holden Caulfield, is a judgmental and temperamental boy who struggles to see the positivity in life. Throughout the story, Holden searches to find himself, as he feels forced to grow up. He holds onto aspects of his childhood and isolates himself so much that it is even harder for him to transition. J.D. Salinger uses the red hunting hat, the museum and cigarettes as important symbols in the story to convey the themes of transitioning from childhood to adulthood, loneliness, and isolation.
Holden Caufield emphasizes on the loss of innocence in children. He feels that once they lose their innocence, they will soon turn into phonies like everyone else. The loss of innocence is very common in the development in human existence. It is caused by many factors. Past a certain age, children are either forced or led unintentionally into a pathway of corruption. A child is also known to lose their innocence by desires, fantasies, and attention. But once they lose their innocence, they tend to desire to go back and pretend to be young again. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden discusses the importance of innocence in children's lives. He feels that once a child loses his/her innocence, he/she will soon be leaded to a
One of the main conflict’s in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, is the recurring theme of innocence. Holden attempts to resist maturing and wants to live his life as an innocent adolescent, by staying the same, like the exhibits in the Museum of Natural History. As he reflects on the corruption of innocence
The novels Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger portray main ideas surrounding childhood and the theme loss of innocence. Both novels deal with the theme loss of innocence which means the lack of experience of life or knowledge. These novels also deal with the protagonist’s journey from childhood to adulthood. The theme loss of innocence is demonstrated through both protagonists Billy Pilgrim and Holden Caulfield. The protagonists have to endure journies while growing up. Both these novels feature main ideas surrounding childhood and the loss of innocence, and while their plots appear different, they share a variety of similarities through common elements.
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.
Themes in literary works are central, recurring ideas or messages that allow us to understand more deeply about the characters. It is a perception about life or human nature that is often shared with the reader. In The Catcher in the Rye, there are several themes that can be found in the words and actions of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. The dominating theme in this novel is the preservation of innocence, especially of children. We can see this throughout the novel, as Holden strives to preserve innocence in himself and others.
The Catcher in the Rye displays that if you try flunk out of school and break all of the rules, you will end up in as much trouble as Holden was throughout the book. It also shows how that if you alienate yourself from everyone else you will slowly suffer a mental and emotional breakdown due to loneliness. Finally, The Catcher and the Rye keeps children from “going over the cliff” and makes sure that children know to keep their innocence while they have
In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulifield views the world as an evil corrupt place where there is no peace. Holden has a phony phobia that restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendship, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way; including the realization that he is powerless to change the world.
“Those who improve with age embrace the power of personal growth and personal achievement and begin to replace youth with wisdom, innocence with understanding, and lack of purpose with self-actualization” (Bennent). In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher In The Rye, a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield has to go through a plethora of different turbulent obstacles that no other normal kid his age would ever have to go through. He has flunked out of five schools, has had to cope with his younger brother Allie’s death and just never ever gets along with anyone. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, Holden has the fear of losing innocence. This is shown through the curse on the wall, the Little Shirley Beans record and finally the incident
The title ‘Catcher in the Rye’ ultimately depicts Holden’s, the one who struggles with the problem of how to reach the authentic state of ‘growth’ without losing one’s innocence as going through numbing processes, constant concern
A prominent theme in the novel The Catcher in the Rye is teenage rebellion. Throughout the novel, Holden
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.
Loss of innocence is one of the major elements of The Catcher in the Rye that make the novel so renowned. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is about an adolescent named Holden who wanders around New York City after being kicked out of a prestigious boarding school in eastern Pennsylvania. While learning more about himself and the adult world, he experiences alcohol, prostitution, and sexuality. Holden struggles with issues such as identity and maturity. Eventually, he realizes what it means to become an adult and accepts that maturity and development is inevitable. Holden suffers from a loss of innocence when
The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger is a coming of age story. It is a story narrated by the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, who is a sixteen year old boy, but has a mind of a ten year old innocent kid. In the beginning he thinks of innocence as important, but later he realizes that growing up cannot be stopped. He wanders around the New York City by himself and gains experience of life that teaches him to become mature. This book is clearly written to show the theme of coming of age because it shows many symbols of coming of age, it shows the changes of young adults in modern life, and it creates an image of Holden growing up.