Holdens Innocence

When did you lose your innocence of the world? When did you realize you grew up? The book The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger is about a teenager named Holden that gets kicked out of his private school Pency Prep and now has to deal with the real world. Struggling with the preservation of childhood and the fear of growing up. The novel communicates the idea that as we live and grow into adults, we must accept change and loss of innocence. In the book Holden comes in contact with a hooker but instead of doing anything sexual, Holden just sits down and talks. Holden is protecting his innocence in this instance. Earlier in the chapter, Holden informs the reader that he is a virgin and makes it known that he is very nervous. In the text, Holden

He tells readers that he is feeling peculiar, probably because of how nervous he is and the amount of regret he might be feeling at the moment. This plays a big part in the book because this is one of the first times we see that Holden is protecting his innocents by not giving up his virginity. Even though he is acting grown, Holden doesn't want it to change. The novel states that Holden is the catcher in the rye. Describing Holden catching kids from falling off a cliff symbolizing the protection of innocence. In the book The Catcher In The Rye Holden states, "What I'd have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all"(Salinger 191). The cliff represents entering adulthood. Holden wants to prevent kids from growing up. He wants to preserve their innocence. We can see that Holden is trying to prevent kids from growing up, but is it really the kids, it could be Holden protecting him in a way, imagining the kids are him, making it a struggle for Holden to accept and let go of his