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The Theme Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

1261 Words6 Pages

Due to the coming of age, many of us lose our child-like perception on life by learning about the dangers and the evils of the world, with only a few people being able to maintain this innocence. This essay will explore the theme of loss of innocence in the novels “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro, and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding.
The theme of loss of innocence can be seen in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger. Through the character of Holden and the use of dialogue, metaphors, and colloquial language, we are able to see how the theme of loss of innocence has changed and impacted Holden. His child-like perception on life on life near …show more content…

Through one of the main characters, Kathy, dialogue, and allusions to a significant event. Kathy, grows up with friends Tommy, and Ruth, in a prison like school called Hailsham. All of them will at some point be forced to give their organs to the sick, to live a short life. Kathy recalls doing things without “any clear reason, you just do. When Miss Emily (teacher) eliminates the possibility and hope of leaving the school, the moment symbolizes the rest of their short time together. As we come to the ending of the novel, Kathy imagines a place where “where everything lost since childhood had washed up,”, showing us all that she has lost in order to reach the maturity and understanding that she had in that moment. The novel persistently pushes the question as to whether the “students,” that Miss Emily calls the clones of Hailsham, are fully human or not. Kazuo Ishiguro has made allusions to World War 2 by raising an important moral question that existed in both World War 2 and this novel: Whether or not one specific induvial is more or less human than others . It is able to help us to see the loss of innocence as at first the children do not see their time at Hailsham as time in prison, by the end of the novel, Hailsham is no different to a prison, the Kathy’s innocence allowed her to live there being oblivious to her surroundings. Through Kathy’s journey from innocence to awareness to are able to see that the clones are indeed human, Kazuo Ishiguro teaches us that no one is more or less human than

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