ipl-logo

Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

776 Words4 Pages

Holden Caulfield dreams of being a “catcher in the rye”. This job would entail preventing small children from accidentally skipping, running, or hopping off a cliff. We are led to believe that the edge of this cliff is adolescence, with adulthood waiting below, claiming the innocence and joy of those who fall victim to it. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden frequently expresses his thoughts, including thoughts on politics, Lillian Simmon’s “knockers”, phonies, and the loss of innocence. He seems almost fascinated with innocence, whether he recognizes it or not. Occasionally, Holden acts upon these thoughts; however, it’s not always for the best. Holden’s thoughts often come back to his younger sister, Phoebe, as he can’t bear to think of her …show more content…

He expresses this hatred in violence or in silence. He chooses to resolve whatever occurs with internal or external methods. There was a snowball Holden formed, which he referred to as the “perfect” snowball. He didn’t dare to ruin or blemish it, so it was left unthrown. Silence. Silence isn’t always his solution. Early in the novel, he results to violence when Stradlater, a former classmate, ruined Holden’s mental picture of innocence relating to a former friend, Jane. Holden likes to remember Jane as the girl keeping her kings in the back row when playing checkers, not as the girl Stradlater screwed and left. Instead of listening to that particular story ramble on, he clenched his fist and punched Stradlater. Violence. Another instance occurs in which the violence exclusively appears in silence. At the school he had attended when he was young, offensive graffiti litters the halls. This upsets Holden to the highest degree. He tells himself that he “kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it” (Salinger 201), yet he takes no direct action in uncovering the culprit or causing him harm. Holden has developed a keen sense of when innocence is slipping away, so that he may have a chance to prevent it. What would happen if he saw signs of innocence slipping away in his

Show More
Related
1005 Words | 5 Pages

Holden is clearly trying to drop his innocence because he thinks it will make him look more appealing. However, we do see Holden walk the tightrope as later in the novel he realizes it was a mistake to let go of his innocence, he

Read More
707 Words | 3 Pages

Holden is so passionate about preserving innocence that he literally tries to erase potential corruption from kids’ lives. The swear words that Holden finds on the walls embody the fathomless amount of wickedness that he sees in the world. Despite Holden’s best attempts to protect the elementary school children, he finally comes to terms with how useless his endeavors are. As he strives to guard innocent children from the world’ s evil, Holden comprehends that this desire is in fact

Read More
227 Words | 1 Pages

When he has a conversation with his roommate Stradlater, he feels disconnected from his classmates. Holden's isolation has a bad effect on his mental state and he begins to have a negative and out of touch mentality with the world around him. He criticizes the "phoniness" of other people and their behavior in almost always a

Read More
536 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the novel Holden sees evil wherever he goes. At Pencey he fears his roommate would corrupt Jane Gallagher, a girl past who he believes is perfect and the definition of innocence. In New York he observes many acts, such as the curse words written of the school wall, which either make him depressed, or want to change things. Several occasions Holden thinks of cutting himself out of society. When he meets up with his old girlfriend Sally, he suggests they run away from everything.

Read More
891 Words | 4 Pages

Holden has been conditioned by society to acquire mannerisms such as drinking, smoking, rebellion and lewdness. His vulgarity is the only way he feels he can gain attention to both his opinions and beliefs. This is demonstrated when he admits to smoking in school. He does this in order to rebel against school rules, as well as, to challenge the jurisdiction of Stradlater. The purpose of challenging Stradlater is to have him admit to what really happened on his date with Jane.

Read More
1123 Words | 5 Pages

He wanted to go into a cabin in the woods and act like he could not hear and that way he did not have to talk to anyone. He enjoyed the company of Phoebe but he also wanted to just have to talk to no one. “I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn’t have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody” (Salinger 25).Holden did not want to talk to his parents or anyone from the beginning of the story and towards the end he did not change.

Read More
1032 Words | 5 Pages

This connects to the theme of the story, which is that people should not force themselves to grow up when they are not ready yet. Throughout the novel, this theme is emphasized by Holden's love for the innocence of children. Overall, The Catcher in the Rye is an amazing novel to read, and very much deserves its position as a classic of American

Read More
718 Words | 3 Pages

In more depth, this quotes shows his need to save children like his sister phoebe or his dead brother Allie from losing their childhood innocence and becoming adults which he believes are all phonies. In reality, Holden is one person so he can not be the catcher in the rye; despite that he keeps trying to be till he reaches a loin where he is truly lost in touch with reality and blinded. He does however realize that in the back of his mind, which is what leads him on such a destructive path of competing with himself constantly on meeting the idea he believes he is. He does this by drinking, smoking, becoming involved in fights and even attempting to have meaninglessness sexual encounters. However in the end he comes to the realization that he can not be the catcher in the rye despite what he’s done, and what triggers this realization for him is when he sees the word “Fuck you” on the walls of phoebe’s school.

Read More
2662 Words | 11 Pages

As Stradlater talks about spending time with Jane, Holden realizes his lewd implication and he “tried to sock him” (49). Stradlater blocks Holden’s hand from hitting him, but as a result, Holden insults him saying that this is “the trouble with all you morons,” to which Stradlater “really let one go at me” (50). Holden, as he tells the story, reflects on the choices he made, and how he wants Stradlater to have a reaction. It is easier to cause an argument than to resolve a conflict maturely. At Pencey, Holden does not want to resolve any conflicts properly or maintain any relationships with the people he knows because he greatly dislikes them all.

Read More
727 Words | 3 Pages

Because the loss of innocence reveals society’s realities, recognizing innocence is to value ignorance. Holden is afraid that if he loses his innocence, he wouldn’t be any different from all the “phony” adults in the world. In the book Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Salinger shows the thematic idea of how the desire to protect innocence can result from one’s own loss of innocence. Holden uses his red hunting hat as a protective shield around him, the idea of having sexual intercourse with a prostitute, and the graffiti written on the walls of the elementary school. Starting off, Holden has a very strong bond with his red hunting hat because he finds the hat as a sense of comfort and innocence.

Read More
1065 Words | 5 Pages

The loss of innocence occurs throughout the entire novel. For example, Allies death. Holden’s brother Allie is an innocent young boy that unfairly loses his life. Holden is deeply affected by this as he states, “I broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, just for the

Read More
850 Words | 4 Pages

At first glance, it may seem that Holden lacks growth throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger because his pessimistic attitude toward life does not change. However, when we look closer, this idea does not account for all of Holden’s problems with the world. Significant growth is demonstrated in Holden’s shift in perspective about protecting the youth. Holden’s change in the way he thinks about growing up displays Holden’s change throughout The Catcher in the Rye.

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

In "The Catcher in the Rye," the protagonist Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy who is struggling to come to terms with his own impending adulthood. Holden is disillusioned with the adult world, which he sees as phony and superficial, and he longs for the innocence

Read More
1076 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger uses the main character Holden Caulfield to portray the loss of innocence. Holden is a teenage boy who struggles with adulthood and the innocence of being a child. Through Holden's experiences, Salinger shows that the loss of innocence can be painful and difficult, but it is also necessary for personal growth and maturity. Holden's journey towards loss of innocence is shown by several events, such as his expulsion from Pencey Prep School and his roams in New York City. Holden's expulsion from Pencey is a turning point in the novel, as it marks the beginning of his realization that he can no longer hold on to the innocence of childhood.

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

After arriving, Holden “went into [a] phone booth” and spent “about twenty minutes” without calling anybody (77-78). After pondering the many people he could call, Holden finally thinks of calling “Carl Luce, but [he] didn’t like him much” (78). While Holden has many people whom he could call, he spends twenty minutes convincing himself of why he cannot call any of these people. This illustrates alienation as Holden chooses to avoid talking to others, isolating himself when he could have easily chosen to interact with others. Moreover, this alienation provides Holden with self-protection as he does not run into any chances of his parents finding out that he has been expelled from school and has run away to New York.

Read More

More about Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

Open Document