Carousel Symbolism In Catcher In The Rye
Holden and Phoebe are at a carrousel after having an argument with one another as Holden would not allow Phoebe to come along with him when Holden said he wanted to leave. Before this quote Holden was feeling miserable and quite irritated with life and wanted to withdraw from the society by going somewhere far away. However, because of Phoebe’s obstinate personality he agrees to stay and watch her go on the carousel. While watching Phoebe on the carousel he becomes happy just simply by watching her.
Towards the end of the story, while having a conversation with Phoebe about what Holden wants to do with his life, he tells her, “I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff…That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (Salinger 173). With this, Holden further reveals his childhood fantasy of being a hero and saving everyone. In his soul, Holden is an innocent boy who does not want to grow up.
To help his mental state, he sneaks into his parent’s house where he visits with his little sister, Phoebe. Holden tells Phoebe he is leaving town and when she begs to come with him. Holden becomes upset and leads her to a carousel, which is where Holden abruptly finishes his story. Holden explains how he is going to a new school in the fall, yet is optimistic about his
“New York's terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night. You can hear it for miles. It makes you feel so lonesome and depressed. I kept wishing I could go home and shoot the bull for a while with old Phoebe,” explains in The Catcher in the Rye, a novel written by J.D. Salinger, that Holden suffers with hopelessness when he hears other person’s happiness. (81) Holden starts off his story in a boarding school, the fourth one in insert amount of years, and is flunking out.
Throughout Holden’s journey, Phoebe seems to be one of his only supporters that loves him unconditionally. Phoebe provides Holden a safe space where he can be himself and she will love him no matter what. He knows that all she wants for him is to be happy which lets him almost idolize her. As a person, Holden’s main goal is to save children from adulthood where they could lose their innocence. In children and those nuns, he sees qualities that he has lost and he admires them most for being able to retain them.
Even though Phoebe is mature in her intellectual aspect, she is actually still young in an emotional way, in that “she’s very emotional, for a child” (Salinger 68). This shows how Phoebe is still immature and innocent, but that is what Holden truly admires and wishes he could regain. He too is very emotional, but finds it difficult to communicate his emotions to others except for Phoebe. Phoebe brings Holden happiness and peace because he praises her nature and wishes he could still
Throughout the passage, Holden reiterates memories of Phoebe's past and the “prettiness” that she exudes. Both of which, reveal Holden’s fear of growing up and becoming an adult. Additionally, Salinger’s symbolic use of Phoebe's red hair and her impulsive behavior reveal Holden’s longing for the innocence and carefree life that is enjoyed by his younger sister. Holden’s preoccupation with Phoebe as a child and his dismissiveness of qualities that are like an adult reveals his fear of letting go of youth and a life without responsibility that comes with being a
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.
Holden seems to be happy and he starts coming around “Although Holden identifies many of the novel's characters as ‘phonies,’ and although it appears at times that he hates being around people, there is evidence to suggest at the end of the book that he does come to terms with the fleeting nature of relationships and human existence, as Phoebe finally provides him with companionship and fosters some brief moments of happiness in his life. ”(Pettineo, Jeff. "Isolation in The Catcher in the Rye.") It seems that once he saw his sister pheobe and got to be with her, he finally felt some happiness. In the end, In J.D Salingers
Death is a major reason why he is dedicated to holding onto childhood innocence, as he cannot accept that children grow into adulthood only to end up dying. It is clear that Holden loves Allie very much, and he has a hard time accepting Allie’s death. As a result, he grows a desire to hold onto childhood because with growing up comes death. Finally, the pivotal moment in which Holden demonstrates maturity is when he watches his younger sister, Phoebe, ride on a carousel. He notices that “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything.
Holden is attracted to the carousel, because it represents a stagnation of his childhood as even the music being played was the “same song [that it played] about fifty years ago when I [he] was kid” (272). He does exaggerate his age, as he’s only seventeen years old, which is an extremely important distinction between him and childhood self. Why? Although Phoebe is first hesitant on riding the carousel, as she portrays it for little kids, she gives into Holden’s encouragement and goes on the carousel. Holden also rejects Phoebe’s offer that he should ride the carousel, to instead just watch her and the carousel move.
Utilitarianism: Singer’s Double Edged Sword Abortion poses no ethical risk to humanity. Hence why there are strong supporters of abortion, such as Peter Singer. In his work, “Taking Life: The Embryo and the Fetus,” he favors of the ethics of abortion through his utilitarian views. That is, if the argument is seen through the lens of Prior Existence Utilitarianism. Undoubtedly, this is due to its counterpart: Total Utilitarianism.
Good Morning, Hope Germany has been going well for you so far. When you eventually get back stateside we need to hangout sometime with Derrick and Gibby. Classes and life have been going pretty well. In my Ag Economics class we had to read a book by John Steinbeck called Winter of Our Discontent, it’s like high-school all over again, here read this book and after you’ve read it let’s analyze it and talk about how it’s relevant to us. I honestly didn’t find the book to interesting and knowing you, you probably wouldn’t even finish the first chapter since the beginning was pretty confusing to try to read and make sense of.
The ending chapter of the novel Holden finds the loss of innocence he’s been searching for. When Phoebe is riding the carousel and she reaches for the ring, it represents maturing. Phoebe is a symbol for youth and innocence, and she is reaching for maturity. Holden’s struggles during the novel, “The Catcher In The Rye,” he figures out the true loss of innocence lost in becoming an adult and the struggle to be one and Holden struggling to be the catcher in the rye to catch kids from losing adulthood. His relationship struggles are his key factors which makes Holden who he truly
“ you have to go back to school, you want to be in this play, no I want to stay here, no you don't you're going back to school”(269). This is sort of contradictory to holden earlier in the novel, because he left school and now he is telling phoebe to go back to school. This shows a reformation from earlier in the novel, because he wants what’s best for phoebe not that he wants to see her but wants her to have a better life. In the carousel scene holden wants to help phoebe not fall off but comes to the realization that she is going to grow up hence when he says if they fall let them fall. Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye and now he wants to let them fall....
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