Catcher In The Rye Adolescence Quotes

“Adolescence is society’s permission slip for combining physical maturity with psychological irresponsibility.” (Terri Apter) In the fictional novel The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is making a journey through adolescence. Throughout this book, Holden is making a trip from immaturity to maturity and finding his way through adolescence. In the story, Salinger uses symbolism to show how Holden changes in the story. In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger uses the ducks in the park to symbolize change. First, Holden says “I mean I could shoot the old Spencer and think about those ducks at the same time.” (7) This shows that Holden’s mind is almost always on the subject of change. This proves that Holden will always have an underlining anxiety about

One quote that demonstrates this is “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere”(21) This quote shoes that Allie was a much more in-depth person than Holden. Holden recognizes this and because it seems as though he idolizes this property in his brother, he aspires to be more like his brother. “She was the first one, outside my family, that I ever showed Allie’s baseball mitt to with all the poems written on it.”(42) is another quote that Salinger uses to demonstrate Allie’s glove as being Holden’s feelings. Salinger makes it so that Holden only shows the mitt to people he is opening up to. His brother’s baseball mitt is a representation of his relationship(s) with other people. Salinger also demonstrates Holden’s feelings as his brother’s glove when Holden says “He made Allie go get his baseball mitt and then he asked him who was the best war poet, Rupert Brooke or Emily Dickinson. Allie said Emily Dickinson.”(75) Holden thinks of the glove as one of his only ties to his brother. Holden’s memories of his brother can only be brought up when he can successfully integrate his brother’s glove into the conversation. Salinger uses Allie’s glove to represent Holden’s trust and personal feelings in the

Salinger does this by having Holden say “Sometimes I horse around quite a lot, just to keep from getting bored. What I did was, I pulled it way down over my eyes, that way I couldn’t see a goddamn thing.”(12) This Shows that he waits to act immature until he’s physically wearing his hunting hat. Holden uses the hat to further his second (and more immature) personality. Salinger shows Holden’s immaturity when Holden says “I pulled my red hunting hat on, and turned the beak around to the back, the way I like it, and then yelled at the top of my goddamn voice, ‘sleep tight ya morons’”(29) When Holden is feeling upset and he puts on the hunting hat, it gives him the ability to be confident enough to act immaturely. Holden automatically puts up a “wall” of immaturity rather than deal with being uncomfortable or unhappy in a situation. When Holden says “I pulled the peak of my hunting hat around to the front all of a sudden, for a change. I was getting sort of nervous, all of a sudden. I’m quite a nervous guy.”(19), its another example of how Salinger uses his hat as a symbol. Holden’s different way of wearing his hat is related to how mature and more open with his emotions he is being. When Holden changes the way of which the peak of his hat is facing to the “more mature” way of wearing it, he becomes more open with his emotions. Holden’s