Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
Holden Caulfield’s early loss of innocence causes him to fiercely guard the innocence of others, resulting in pain for him when he realizes that his attempts are futile. Holden’s negative experiences with the adults in his life lead to his valuing the idea of innocence. Despite his bad role models, Holden clings to the concept that integrity is the most important quality in a person. While reflecting on one of his old boarding schools, he expresses his dislike for its “phony” headmaster, Mr. Haas. He complains, “[O]ld Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to school. He'd be charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents... I can't stand that stuff. It drives me crazy. …show more content…
This mentality is constantly expressed in all aspects of his life. When Holden’s sister Phoebe asks what he wants to be, he answers, “You know that song ‘If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye?’... I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. What I have to do, I have to catch anybody if they start to go over the cliff... I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be” (Salinger 174). In Holden’s fictional rye field, a child falling off the dangerous cliff represents a child losing their innocence. Since he knows firsthand how terrible it is to be corrupted by the world, his life is consumed with sheltering others from that same fate. This fixation has become so all-encompassing that when Phoebe asks what he will spend his life doing, the only thing that comes to Holden’s mind is a symbolic representation of guarding children’s purity. When he later visits Phoebe’s elementary school, he tells the reader, “I saw... ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. I tried to rub it off... but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn’t come off. It’s hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘Fuck you’ signs in the world. It’s impossible” (Salinger 202). Holden is so passionate about preserving innocence that he literally tries to erase potential corruption from kids’ lives. The swear words that Holden finds on the walls embody the fathomless amount of wickedness that he sees in the world. Despite Holden’s best attempts to protect the elementary school children, he finally comes to terms with how useless his endeavors are. As he strives to guard innocent children from the world’ s evil, Holden comprehends that this desire is in fact
Holden's Use Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye
654 Words | 3 PagesIn his eyes he values youth and innocence, he’s in love with the idea that children tend to have their own world that is much different than adults. Holden is very protective over the youth, almost too protective. Youth is Holden’s only golden treasure that he keeps close to him. “But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written “F*** you” on the wall.
How Does Holden Present The Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
1076 Words | 5 PagesIn the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger uses the main character Holden Caulfield to portray the loss of innocence. Holden is a teenage boy who struggles with adulthood and the innocence of being a child. Through Holden's experiences, Salinger shows that the loss of innocence can be painful and difficult, but it is also necessary for personal growth and maturity. Holden's journey towards loss of innocence is shown by several events, such as his expulsion from Pencey Prep School and his roams in New York City. Holden's expulsion from Pencey is a turning point in the novel, as it marks the beginning of his realization that he can no longer hold on to the innocence of childhood.
Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
776 Words | 4 PagesHolden Caulfield dreams of being a “catcher in the rye”. This job would entail preventing small children from accidentally skipping, running, or hopping off a cliff. We are led to believe that the edge of this cliff is adolescence, with adulthood waiting below, claiming the innocence and joy of those who fall victim to it. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden frequently expresses his thoughts, including thoughts on politics, Lillian Simmon’s “knockers”, phonies, and the loss of innocence. He seems almost fascinated with innocence, whether he recognizes it or not.
Examples Of Obsession In The Great Gatsby
718 Words | 3 PagesIn more depth, this quotes shows his need to save children like his sister phoebe or his dead brother Allie from losing their childhood innocence and becoming adults which he believes are all phonies. In reality, Holden is one person so he can not be the catcher in the rye; despite that he keeps trying to be till he reaches a loin where he is truly lost in touch with reality and blinded. He does however realize that in the back of his mind, which is what leads him on such a destructive path of competing with himself constantly on meeting the idea he believes he is. He does this by drinking, smoking, becoming involved in fights and even attempting to have meaninglessness sexual encounters. However in the end he comes to the realization that he can not be the catcher in the rye despite what he’s done, and what triggers this realization for him is when he sees the word “Fuck you” on the walls of phoebe’s school.
Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
1065 Words | 5 PagesFor example when Holden sees all the naughty words on the walls of the elementary school that Phoebe goes to, he wants to try and erase them. This shows how he struggles with allowing young minds to be corrupted by things he feels they shouldn’t be exposed to, like when he says “I thought how Phoebe and all the other kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant,...” (201). He goes on to say how some dirty kid would tell them, furthering the thought that their young minds would be corrupted. Another example is when Phoebe asks Holden to tell her one thing he really likes and his response is, Allie and sitting there talking with Phoebe. This shows his contentedness with being in the simple and innocent world of his childhood.
What Are The Effects Of Holden Dying
851 Words | 4 PagesAltogether, Holden wants to protect children to prevent them from dying at a young age because Allie’s death is already too much for him to handle. He is even going beyond the limits to do this, as he is willing to dedicate his life to it. Secondly, as Holden is walking through the school, he notices, “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 se it…” (201)
Examples Of Childhood In Catcher In The Rye
905 Words | 4 PagesHolden stops at his old school that Phoebe attends. The school is place of living. Holden sees the challenges of adulthood in a static building where innocent children go through life. There he sees the challenges of adulthood. When Holden is looking around the school he sees “F*** you” written on the wall and, “Thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they 'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them” (201).
What Are Holden's Struggles In Catcher In The Rye
858 Words | 4 PagesThis means that he wants to protect children from the nasty adult world, and to protect their innocence. " What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they 're running and they don 't look where they 're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That 's all I 'd do all day. I 'd just be the catcher in the rye and all " (p.156).From this quote you can see, this is what his purpose is. Due to alienating himself, he finds out that he want to help kids and protect them because they are the only real people in the world according to Holden.
Examples Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
812 Words | 4 PagesHolden’s job as “catcher in the rye” is to catch any kids that come too close to the edge of the cliff they are on. In saying this, Holden is referencing the idea of catching kids from falling off the cliff of losing their innocence. Holden’s biggest aspiration is to protect children from something he was robbed of in his childhood. This dream demonstrates Salinger’s desire to preserve children’s innocence for as long as
Catcher In The Rye Themes
891 Words | 4 PagesWhile Holden is visiting Phoebe, she asks Holden what his dream job is. Holden answers that question by saying he wants to be the catcher in the rye. “His basic kindness comes through in glimpses, particularly in the passage where he reveals that the only thing he would like to be is a "catcher in the rye" protecting innocent children from falling into the abyss of adulthood.” ( Guilt and Innocence 124). This quote from Novels for Students is letting the reader know that Holden wants to preserve innocents in children by being the catcher in the rye.
Catcher In The Rye Theme Analysis
531 Words | 3 PagesPhoebe represents childhood innocence for Holden, and he is fiercely protective of her. In one particularly telling passage, Holden states, "I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me." (Chapter 22, p. 166). This passage highlights the contrast between Holden's idealized vision of childhood innocence and the reality of the world around him.
Short Summary Of The Catcher In The Rye
1457 Words | 6 PagesAlthough Phoebe is happy to see Holden, she quickly deduces that he has been expelled, and chastises him for his aimlessness and his apparent dislikes towards everything. When asked if he cares about anything, Holden shares a selfless fantasy he has been thinking about (based on a mishearing of Robert Burns's Comin' Through the Rye): he pictures himself as the sole guardian of thousands of children playing in a huge rye field on the edge of a cliff. His job is to catch the children if, in their abandon, they come close to falling off the brink; to be, in effect, the "catcher in the rye". Because of this misinterpretation, Holden believes that to be the "catcher in the rye" means to save children from losing their
Catcher In The Rye Character Analysis
661 Words | 3 PagesI tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something. It wouldn't come off. It's hopeless, anyway. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "F%@k you" signs in the world. It's impossible.”
Literary Analysis Essay On Catcher In The Rye
2150 Words | 9 PagesHolden thinks that most everything is about him in a childish sense. When he sees vulgar words written on walls, he believes that they are aimed at him somehow and thinks that the entire adult world doesn’t accept him. The F you written on the wall is a statement made more towards society and not to one specific person, especially Holden. However, he takes this “F you” very personally and lets it affect his behavior. He backs away from the adult life and thinks about the amazing relationships he has when he was a child.
Catcher In The Rye Innocence Theme
618 Words | 3 PagesWhen Holden goes to Phoebe’s school to visit her, he sees something in the stairwell, “Somebody'd written ‘fuck you’ on the wall... I thought how Phoebe and all the other kids would see it... I kept wanting to kill whoever’d written it” (221). Infuriated by this because ‘fuck you’, which as an expression, is full of anger, Holden is reminded of how hateful the world can be. Everyone grows up; it’s inevitable.
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