Catcher In The Rye Innocence
When I was younger, I can remember one of my friends telling me during recess that every single person in this world besides ourselves were fake. She told me that everyone was a robot and we were the only two people with actual emotions and real feelings whereas everybody else was merely just a fake being and pre-programed. For a couple of days, I really did believe in what she was telling me. In youth, people are much more susceptible to believing in false realities and not truly understanding all that is around them as well as all the people around them. In the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caufield too, falls into the falsities that coincide with youth. Through his character, Salinger expresses the uncensored truth …show more content…
In "The Catcher in the Rye" one of Holden's main struggles which is seen throughout the novel is his fear of change and his struggle to maintain his innocence. This is primarily seen in his interactions at the museum and at his old elementary school. The museum becomes a very influential place for Holden, being that he is intrigued by things that stay the same. Throughout the novel one of his main concerns with life and with growing up is that people change, eventually every single person will turn out to be a phony in his eyes. When looking for Phoebe at the park, Holden begins to recollect on his memories from the museum during his youth. His depiction of the museum demonstrates to the reader an idealized world for Holden, one where nothing ever changes and one where he can understand everything. When describing the museum, he knows where everything is, as well their descriptions. In this depiction of the museum he says, "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move"(page 135). In this quotation it is evident that
Symbols In The Catcher In The Rye
484 Words | 2 PagesSince the displays at the museum never change, being surrounded by the exhibits made Holden feel like he fit in. It was like being in his own world. Not having to change would mean Holden wouldn’t need to worry about moving from childhood to adulthood, and neither would he need to deal with the phoniness of the adult world. Holden deals with a lot of phoniness throughout the novel. The way old Spencer embarrasses Holden and reads his essay out loud is an example of how Holden encounters phoniness (pg 11).
What Is Holden's Red Hunting Hat Symbolize
545 Words | 3 PagesHolden is terrified of the complexity of the outside world and dreams that it could be just like a museum that is frozen in time. Holden wants everything to be simple, understandable, and stay the same over the years, like a museum, even though that is an unrealistic
How Is Holden Caulfield Depressed
1030 Words | 5 PagesHe is unable to appreciate the higher pleasures; the museum for one, which he stopped enjoying after a minor incident: "Then, all of a sudden, you'd never guess what I saw on the wall. Another ‘Fuck you’. It was written with a red crayon or something, right under the glass part of the wall, under the stones. (Salinger 224). All it took was a stray swear word to completely ruin his enjoyment of the museum, going so far as to make him physically ill after he saw that.
Catcher In The Rye Protection Of Innocence
150 Words | 1 PagesIn the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, the recurring theme of protection of innocence arises. The book primarily focuses on the protection of innocence in children especially and how it affects the main characters struggle against growing up. This theme not only recurred in the book, but also reocurrs in modern society. Modern society protects the innocence in children by providing censorship on specific genres of music and tv shows and by supervising their daily activities. The main character in Catcher in the Rye protected children by trying to block out anything that could mar their minds, such as the F-words in Phoebe’s (teacher) school.
Catcher In The Rye Loss Of Innocence Analysis
510 Words | 3 PagesHolden finds solace in knowing that even if everything else around and inside him changes, he can always return to the museum and find it perfectly as he remembers. To Holden, “[c]ertain things they [sic] should stay as the way they are. [He] ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone” (136), as otherwise, Holden would have to continually reevaluate the world around him, and the world before his brother, Allie, died would slowly disappear. The glass cases in the museum preserve this place for Holden throughout his life, and he uses it as a security blanket both in times of sickness, like when “the kid that was [his] partner the last time got scarlet fever” (135), and in conflict, like when “[he’d] hear [his] mother and father having a terrific fight in the bathroom”(135). Therefore, Holden’s fascination with the preservation of the museum's exhibits began with his enjoyment of its stability during his childhood and now extends to create his need to maintain the world as he knows it while he struggles with Allie’s death and his own failures in school and towards his
Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
715 Words | 3 Pages“Innocence is always unsuspicious”- Joseph Joubert The loss of innocence isn’t some big celebration when you hit a certain age, or have a certain experience, it is something that comes when you aren’t looking. J.D. Salinger was a man who kept to himself, didn’t offer many interviews, and wanted to make a difference. In this novel, he has woven the story of Holden Caulfield a sixteen year old, who has an adventure in New York City before going home and taking responsibility for his actions that fall. Throughout his time in the city, he matures and learns to look at the big picture.
Catcher In The Rye Grief Analysis
656 Words | 3 PagesIn Holden’s mind becoming “the catcher in the rye “means that he can still catch Allie from falling off the cliff. This is relevant to Holden’s depression because everything around him is telling him to grow up but instead he runs away from it in fear that is will pull him farther apart from his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden is on the edge of becoming an adult which creates more pressure and leads him to
Catcher In The Rye Setting
890 Words | 4 PagesThis shows that the Museum is a symbol of Holden’s reluctance for change, in himself and in the world. Central Park is the location where Holden goes in order to answer his question of where the ducks go in the winter. This question could represent Holden’s
Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye
1230 Words | 5 PagesA. Allie’s death causes Holden to become obsessed with death and this obsession makes him believe that growing up and becoming a “phonie” is like dying; this belief that is planted inside Holden’s head when Allie died is what sends him on a quest to preserve children’s innocence and save them from the “death” of growing up. B. Salinger includes the traumatic story of Allies death that happened years in advance to provide an explanation for Holden’s obsession with death and how he sees loss of innocence as equivalent to dying. Allie died with his innocence still intact, so Holden does not want other children to grow up and have their innocence “die”. C. Holden even admits to being mentally unstable after his brother’s traumatic death when he says, “I was only 13, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all
Holden Caulfield's Maturity In The Catcher In The Rye
790 Words | 4 PagesThroughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield sways between maturity and immaturity. While Holden is extremely observant and often has thoughtful views on the world around him, he continues to act rashly and immaturely at times, letting his emotions get the best of him. As critic James Bryan puts it, Holden “is poised between two worlds, one he cannot return to and one he fears to enter.” Holden Caulfield embodies the limbo between the worlds of childhood and adulthood by play-acting at both adulthood and childhood, never fully embracing either.
What Are The Causes Of Holden's Mental Breakdown
2021 Words | 9 PagesThe Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger in 1951, is the story of an angst-ridden sixteen year old Holden Caulfield as he learns to deal with growing up. The story follows Holden through his three day experience through New York as he learns about the truth about innocence, sex, and mortality, making The Catcher in the Rye one of America’s most notable coming-of-age stories. One of the largest influences on Holden’s life was his younger brother Allie who died from leukemia at age eleven when Holden was thirteen. The death of Holden’s brother had a profound effect on Holden emotional state, which eventually caused his complete mental breakdown by the end of the novel.
Theme Of Maturity In Catcher In The Rye
837 Words | 4 PagesIn The Catcher in the Rye, the author J.D. Salinger, introduces the protagonist; Holden Caulfield. Holden feels the sense that he cannot choose between the two worlds. For example, he makes it seem as both of them are complete opposites from each other. In the book, Holden wants to keep his innocence, but he also wants to grow up and toss that innocence away. He still keeps his childhood personality by constantly obsessing over things that shouldn’t matter.
Catcher In The Rye Adolescence Analysis
859 Words | 4 PagesIn the Catcher in the Rye, Salinger depicts the immature mentality of typical teenagers through Holden’s childish curiosity. Teens experience
Catcher In The Rye Essay Thesis
600 Words | 3 PagesJessica Casimiro October 30, 2015 English 3/PayLea Short Story Essay Patrick Rothfuss once claimed, “The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” The novel Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield, an angst-ridden teen conflicted between remaining in a state of prolonged innocence or transitioning into the world of adulthood, thus facing the corruption and phoniness that it correlates with. Through Holden’s dynamic character, J.D Salinger depicts how innocence is slowly lost when exposed to adulthood. Reluctant to the idea of growing up, Holden strives to protect the innocence of himself and the ones’ around him. Holden reminisces about the Natural Museum of History, a place he enjoyed going
The Red Hunting Hat Analysis
526 Words | 3 PagesIn the Catcher of the Rye, another symbol is the museum of Natural History. The displays in the museum appeal to Holden because they never changed. The museum represents the world Holden wishes he could live in. A world as a “catcher of the rye” where everything stays the same. Holden wishes he could put parts of his life into the exhibits at the museum so they wouldn't change.
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