Holden's Red Hunting Hat Analysis

Holden’s Red Hunting Hat A hat can do many things. It can protect, it can cover your head, it can keep one warm, especially in the cold weather. It can hide your hair, if it's worn backwards then it's a sign of rebellion. In the novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D Salinger uses this red hunting hat to show how Holden covers up his past and his search for a better future. This object has a huge meaning in Holden’s world. Holden Caulfield feels that his hat is more that a hunting hat, it is more like a “people shooting hat” (22). The red hunting hat is symbolic to Holden and throughout the novel he uses it in different ways, than what a common person would. But to truly understand the significance of the hat, we must look at it as an everyday function and see how J.D Salinger creates the meaning. First of all, Holden uses his hunting hat to cover his hair because it is gray with

He believes someone will come in a truck and take him away or that he would fly away. The flying ducks represent Holden’s childhood going away and that it will not come back. The hat, protects Holden form the world and covers his maturity. Without his hat, his hunt is totally over. Holden wear his hat to feel as a child and have his innocence because when his hat comes off he becomes mature. Holden wants his sister, Phoebe, to see an everlasting childhood, but Phoebe is a strong character that does not think the same way as Holden, she has no desire to keep her childhood for long since she knows that one day she will grow into an adult. Phoebe helps Holden by comforting him with being “the catcher in the rye” who saves kids from falling. She has a good understanding that one must move on because for her Allie is dead and that people should need to interact and not try to save something that is completely