Holden’s Red Hunting Hat A hat can do many things. It can protect, it can cover your head, it can keep one warm, especially in the cold weather. It can hide your hair, if it's worn backwards then it's a sign of rebellion. In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D Salinger uses this red hunting hat to show how Holden covers up his past and his search for a better future. This object has a huge meaning in Holden’s world. Holden Caulfield feels that his hat is more that a hunting hat, it is more like a “people shooting hat” (22). The red hunting hat is symbolic to Holden and throughout the novel he uses it in different ways, than what a common person would. But to truly understand the significance of the hat, we must look at it as an everyday function and see how J.D Salinger creates the meaning. First of all, Holden uses his hunting hat to cover his hair because it is gray with …show more content…
He believes someone will come in a truck and take him away or that he would fly away. The flying ducks represent Holden’s childhood going away and that it will not come back. The hat, protects Holden form the world and covers his maturity. Without his hat, his hunt is totally over. Holden wear his hat to feel as a child and have his innocence because when his hat comes off he becomes mature. Holden wants his sister, Phoebe, to see an everlasting childhood, but Phoebe is a strong character that does not think the same way as Holden, she has no desire to keep her childhood for long since she knows that one day she will grow into an adult. Phoebe helps Holden by comforting him with being “the catcher in the rye” who saves kids from falling. She has a good understanding that one must move on because for her Allie is dead and that people should need to interact and not try to save something that is completely
A baseball mitt from your dead brother isn 't something that you would usually carry around with you. It makes him feel better inside. As well, Holden’s red hunting hat is a representation of him and his qualities. The hat is its own and unlike everyone else. It symbolizes that holden is out of place, and that he is his own person.
Throughout the book, Holden Caulfield occasionally feel lonely and depressed. He hates how people are trying to pretend someone they are not. Holden Caulfield wears his hunting hat while he was in one of the biggest city in the world, which is unique. Caulfield’s red hunting hat made Holden
Holden’s red hunting hat is a symbol of Holden’s uniqueness and difference from the others in the book. It is also the same color as his sister Phoebe’s hair and his friend Allie’s hair which could help connect the important people in his life. Holden never wears the hat when he is around people he knows giving the reader insight that when he wears the hat he feels the need for his isolation. 8. Imagery-
At this moment, Holden finds himself in a very vulnerable position because he is walking alone at night in New York City and in the blistering cold. This can be interpreted as the cruelty and reality of the real world, in other words: cold. When Holden has his red hunting hat on, he believes that he will remain innocent, even in environments that expose him to the cold and harsh nature of the real world. This is Holden’s first relationship to the color red, but as the novel progresses, Holden finds that this mode of protection may not always
Holden tries to prevent the inevitable, but one must move on with their life, and that is, contributed to the loss of innocence. His hat keeps him safe from the societal horrors that steal one's innocence. So when he has finally comes to grips with the fact that he must become older, and make grown up decisions, he gives his hat to Phoebe when, she takes it out of his pocket and offers it to him, since it was raining, but he says “You can wear it awhile” (Salinger 233), he does this because he wants to protect her now and stop running away from his
Salinger does a phenomenal job developing the red hunting hat into a symbol by emphasizing how important it was to Holden throughout the novel. When Holden is leaving the hotel, whilst walking out the door he grabs his coat from the hat check girl. He then proceeds to show her his hat. “I showed her my goddamn hunting hat and she liked it”(169).
Arrested development works in more than one fashion for Holden Caulfield, as not only does he desperately cling to the past, but his five stages of grief are similarly slowly processed—namely denial. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows Holden as he adapts to life alone in the city, and is forced to deal with the consequences of living in the real world. After projecting his issues onto others throughout the novel, only by accepting his own shortcomings does Holden finally start taking steps towards changing his life for the better. Holden’s little brother, Allie, passed away some years before the story takes place, and is one of the biggest factors in his refusal to let go of the past.
Holden’s Struggle To Find Himself: Throughout the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden struggles to find himself and who he truly is in order to be happy. His struggles relate to many things that he does or say in particular. Holden lacks with a social status with women and his family, whether it’s a relationship or being antisocial. Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences the complexities and struggles involved with both physical and emotional relationships.
Holden Caulfield’s story begins on a December Saturday at Pencey Prep School in Pennsylvania, where he 's just been given the ax for failing all his classes except English. As it turns out, getting the ax is a frequent theme in Holden 's past. Before he leaves the school Holden runs to his favorite teacher’s house to say goodbye to him. Back in the dorm, Holden goofs around with Robert Ackley, a pimply and annoying kid. We 're introduced to Holden 's red hunting hat, and we meet his roommate, Stradlater, who is getting ready for a date with Jane Gallagher, an old friend and sort-of romantic interest of Holden 's. Holden is not happy about this impending date, but agrees anyway to write an English composition for Stradlater.
Since one of Holden’s few sources of comfort comes from an object, we can tell how alone he truly feels. Additionally, the symbol of the hunting hat Holden wears represents anger and isolation. At one point, Holden fights with Stradlater. After the fight, Holden remains beaten up, depressed, and all alone. He puts on his hunting hat, almost for comfort or companionship.
When the hat is pulled to the front, he cannot “see a goddam thing” and says he’s “going blind” (21). The pain from Allie’s death pushes Holden to seclude himself from a world he sees as cold and ominous. More importantly, it prevents him from looking at his own mind and realizing Allie is the reason he is lonely. As if losing own brother wasn’t enough, Holden also loses the presence of his older brother D.B.. The conflict begins when he leaves Holden by moving to Hollywood, and Holden says D.B. will only “maybe” drive him home after his therapy ends (1).
Holden says that all he want to do is be the catcher in the rye protecting children from falling. The whole novel Holden makes observation around him that are taking away from children's innocence. This is what upsets him the most the fact that everyone will eventually have to grow up. While he is trying to go get Phoebe he is reminded this in the following quote. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall.
She makes Holden reconsider his actions and his aspirations, causing him to come to terms with his desire of being a “catcher in the rye,” keeping children from falling off of a cliff. This represents him wanting to keep
One of the symbols J.D. Salinger uses quite frequently in the book is Allie’s baseball mitt. In the beginning of the novel, it’s a normal baseball glove with poems on it, which we found out was owned by Holden’s brother who had died. But when you reach the end of the book, you realize that Allie’s mitt, along with the memory of him, shaped Holden to be the person he was in the novel. The baseball mitt represented the past.
The red hunting hat represents Holden’s allure/endearment to unique qualities in objects and people, that normally go unnoticed by others. The hat also symbolizes Holden’s individuality and unwillingness to conform to society’s