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.
Catcher in the Rye is the recounting of the weekend after the main character gets expelled for the umpteenth time from another uppity private school. The name of the main character, "Holden Caulfield," can be broken down in such a way that it reveals the character in question's tendency to hold onto and protect happier memories and childhood innocence from this big, unfair, scary game we call life, without realizing that he would be stunting the growth of those whom he is protecting. The character's first name, "Holden", can be interpreted as a pun for how he wants to "hold on" to better times. Throughout the story, Holden speaks fondly about his childhood summer memories, talking about when he used to play checkers with Jane Gallagher (p.17), or when he, his younger siblings, Phoebe and Allie, went to the park every Sunday (p. 37) to play, and often brushes the more serious moments he has experienced off, instead of going on a tangent like he usually does (p.21).
Throughout the story he shows an interest in his sister Phoebe, and other strangers alike. For the duration of reading, the Catcher in the Rye suggests that the texts focuses on Holden’s depression and his unwillingness to let go of the past and that Salinger is concerned with his inability to grow up; however, in many scenes Salinger portrays Holden as a boy who is always out acting older than his age, but still holds on to innocence. Holden’s depression is portrayed throughout the entire story. He becomes unhappy
“Then I lit another cigarette… I must’ve smoked about three cartons that day” (161). Catcher in the rye book by J.D Salinger is about a teenager named Holden Caulfield and is based on Holden failing college (Pencey) and having a rough time living around New York City until his parents find out that he failed at his fourth college. This book is written from the perspective of J.D Salinger and counters many issues regarding adolescence such as freedom and responsibility that Holden can’t handle leading to nervousness and depression. This is shown through topics such as drug usage, smoking, drinking, prostitution and J.D Salinger’s meaning to Catcher in the rye though it contradicts with the idea that he is nice towards Phoebe (Holden’s younger
When Holden talks about the Museum of Natural History, he says that his favorite feature about the museum is the big glass cases. Holden believes that the glass cases represent innocence since they protect the exhibits from the outside world and time. Therefore, he says that he wants “to stick [Phoebe] in one of those big glass cases and just leave” her alone (Salinger 158). His idea proves that Holden believes that the glass cases will protect Phoebe from change and losing innocence since she will be isolated. Holden returns to his fantasy of isolation when he is meets Sally, and he says that they should “drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont” and “stay in [the] cabin camps” (Salinger 171).
He decides he wants to protect children from the world in which he is forced to live. While talking with Phoebe she asks Holden what he would like to be Holden wants to protect the innocence of his sister and every other innocent child in the world. Before Holden meets Sally for their date he stops in front of the Museum of Natural History. He thinks about the way he visited the museum when he was younger. He also tells that every time one visits the museum he is changed in some way but the figures in the exhibits always stay the same.
He constantly thinks about his younger sister, Phoebe, and eventually at the end of the novel he visits her. In the novel Catcher in the Rye Holden’s inevitable development into adulthood and his fears towards it are emphasized by putting him in contrast to his sister innocences.
The Museum for Holden is a place from his childhood, where he was able to see things and see them again as he grew older. He was always fond of the Museum because it was able to keep items the same forever. Holden wishes he was able to do the same, “Certain things they should just stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big cases and just leave them there.” (Pg. 122)
He makes a connection between the museum staying the same and a person changing everytime he comes back to see them. Holden states “the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.
“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody's move… Nobody’d be different” (Salinger 121). Holden is excessively afraid of
For example, Holden reveals this through his adoration of the ten-year-old Phoebe and his attachment to the Natural History Museum, where “everything always stayed right where it was”(Salinger 121). As Phoebe exists as Holden’s epitome of innocence, Holden desperately longs to hold onto her, to convince himself that genuity and purity exists. Because of this, Holden violently lashes out when he perceives a threat to Phoebe’s innocence. After reading distasteful messages etched into the Phoebe’s elementary school wall, Holden angrily recites, “That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any.
Since Holden has gone through a lot of change over the years, Holden has a fear of change. The readers have a difficult time understanding him since his fear of change causes him to become very nonchalant and always wants to stay young, innocent, and never wants to die. One place Holden feels the most comfortable is the museum he visits. Salinger writes, “I knew that whole museum the kid with the skate key meant. I knew that whole museum routine like a book” (Salinger 16).
Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he
The Museum is a symbol of Holden's childhood again and how he doesn't want to grow up and hold onto his past. The museum reappears many times throughout the course of the book as a happy place for Holden cause he and his sister share happy memories together there. In the middle of the book Holden is revisiting his childhood and remembering his past times at the museum, he tells us “I get very happy when I think about it. Even now. I remember after we looked at all the Indian stuff, usually we went to see some movie in this big auditorium. . . .”
Out of all the places he visits in NYC, the two most notable ones are the Museum of Natural History and Central Park. The museum is an illusion of how Holden wishes the world was. In the novel, he says: “Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.” (Salinger 123).
