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How Does Holden Mature In Catcher In The Rye

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The novel, “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger, is a Coming of Age story surrounding Holden Caulfield who is the protagonist that likes to stay innocence but wants to involve in sexual activities with adults as he is growing up and becoming a young adult. Holden tries to preserve his innocence while battling with his maturation when he wears his red hunting hat, visiting the carousel, and wondering about the ducks. Preserving innocence is what Holden desires but at the same time he is battling to overcome his maturation, he wears his red hunting hat nearly every day on a daily bases and this shows that the hat is a symbol, he is holding on to something he cannot let go. On days where Holden feels really gloomy he will, “put it on and …show more content…

He worries about the ducks and what happened to them at central park to the fact that he will ask the cab driver about it as well, “By any chance do you know where they go? The ducks when it gets all frozen?” (Salinger 78). He asked with details specifically about where they actually go in the winter, the ducks first remind him when he is saying goodbye to his old teacher, Mr. Spencer before he leaves to go home from Pencey. Holden then mentions, “I live in New York, and I was thinking about the lagoon in Central Park, down near Central Park South. I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home, and if it was, where did the ducks go. I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something. Or if they just flew away” (Salinger, 13). Vanderbilt had said, “He broods over the insecurity of the ducks in the winter and clings to the symbols of security and changelessness: the monastic life.” Because Holden is obsessed with ducks so much, he doesn’t realize that he has the same situation with the ducks himself. It shows that whenever Holden leaves anywhere such as Pencey, the ducks also randomly disappeared making a strong connection between them both but he does not understand where they go. The ducks in some way symbolized the changing happening to Holden but he is afraid to change and does not want to become an adult because he thinks that most adults are

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652 Words | 3 Pages

While most people would relish contently in their childhood memories, Holden becomes agitated when he enters Central Park, searching restlessly for the duck pond. After stumbling blindly through the increasingly “darker and darker and spookier and spookier” (170) park, Holden finds the pond “partly frozen and partly not frozen.” (171). The significance of the park’s aura of eeriness and the half frozen pond in relation to Holden’s mood is that the increasingly darkening park can be seen as Holden’s darkening thoughts of death and drawn out speculation about what would happen if he caught pneumonia and died; it also connects to a larger metaphor that the pond represents Holden’s view of the world, the half frozen, half not frozen, state of the pond resembles Holden’s transition from a teenager to an adult, and the ducks are symbolically associate with rebirth and

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295 Words | 2 Pages

In day 4 of the reading, Holden takes a cab drive and once again brings up the question of where the ducks go during the winter, symbolizing his childlike curiosity and how he wants to be free from society just like the ducks. Holden brings up the question about the ducks, asking "does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away?" (Page 82). This shows Holden's childlike curiosity is still prevalent, asking a question that is obviously untrue but an ideal solution to the question. It also symbolizes how he is like a duck, who does not know what he wants to do, whether it is to transition into an adult and fly away, or stay in the lake and freeze in childhood.

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874 Words | 4 Pages

In this novel, there are many instances of symbolism, one of which is the red hunting hat that we always see Holden wearing. To the normal reader, the hat is just seen as an article of clothing that has no deeper meaning to it, but if you look further into the text, you will see that there is much more to it. The hat is a representation of Holden's individuality and uniqueness. With the hat, for one, being bright red but also a hunting hat that has ear flaps, it is not your regular hat and stands out to the naked eye. It fits Holden because he wants to be perceived as memorable, whether it be in the city of New York or at all the different schools he has attended.

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606 Words | 3 Pages

Holden thinks about the ducks in Central Park because he wants to be free, he does not want to stay in Pencey and live with phonies. He wants to move out and live on his own, to be independent and free. This allows Holden to change dramatically throughout his adventure. He sees the world more closely than he ever did before, he sees the behaviors of phonies and people who are actually honest. These are the changes Holden makes while traveling into the adult world and it allows him to become a mature teenager.

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1025 Words | 5 Pages

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

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1695 Words | 7 Pages

When the school is captivated watching the football game at the field, Holden refuses to mix with the rest of the student body and instead chooses to watch it from “...way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill.” When in New York, Holden visits a lagoon in Central Park, which is mostly frozen over. He also ponders whether the ducks will be at the lagoon during winter. Holden “walked around the whole damn lake” (Salinger, 200) and to his detriment, “…didn’t see a single duck.” (Salinger, 200).

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1120 Words | 5 Pages

Aside from the newfound phoniness of the museum, Holden has always often based himself on one singular statement ‘I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over’. Throughout the span of the novel Holden asks not one but many adults, mainly the cab drivers he meets about the ducks existence; exposing his real question of what would he do when his life got all ‘frozen over’ and he got stuck all alone.   Holden often seeks assistance when it comes to moving along, something the ducks do not have, which is brought up when Holden states, “I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them to them away to the zoo or something. Or if they just flew away”

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1077 Words | 5 Pages

I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over"( ). This is symbolism for Holden, the ducks representing his desperate attempt to cling to childhood. He, just like Craig struggles with this depression that he can't let go. This idea of fear can be related to

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464 Words | 2 Pages

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is considered a coming of age novel. Throughout the novel, Holden, a confused teenage boy, matures and understands more about himself. Salinger conveys Holden’s increasing levels of maturity by using a variety of symbols. The ducks in central park, the red hunting hat, and the carousel ring symbolize the the development of Holden’s adulthood.

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1120 Words | 5 Pages

This scene is exceptionally important, as it sets the entire tone for how Holden perceives adults and their attitude towards death, as something insignificant that doesn’t deserve closer inspection. Holden feels that death is being cheapened by who he deems to be the “phonies”. Another allusion to death is Holden’s frequent thoughts about the ducks in central park. He wants to know what happens to them during winter, asking the cab drivers in chapters 9 and 12. When Holden locates the lagoon and realizes that the ducks aren’t there, he starts thinking about suicide.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

Social Justice as a Core Professional Value Social justice is foundational to counselling psychology. To me, social justice is more complex than ensuring every human is equal. It goes beyond equality to include, equal distribution of privilege, steadfast social inclusion and decreed anti-oppressive practices in counselling. As a core professional value, practicing social justice will eradicate oppression and ensure an egalitarian society.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

What are some solutions that he comes up with while thinking? Where the ducks go in winter, Whether the ducks have a permanent home Whether the ducks return to the park. Holden wonders if the ducks actually live like other beings and care for each other like some humans do. 3. When talking with Mr. Spencer, Holden reflects on a few reasons he hates growing old and old people.

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890 Words | 4 Pages

This shows that the Museum is a symbol of Holden’s reluctance for change, in himself and in the world. Central Park is the location where Holden goes in order to answer his question of where the ducks go in the winter. This question could represent Holden’s

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1230 Words | 5 Pages

Holden’s unusual fantasy metaphorically displays this desire to save children’s innocence on his quest, and literally displays his obsession with death and preventing it, as being the catcher in the rye would accomplish both goals. F. Literary Critics also note that Holden’s catcher in the rye job is a dream of his that he pretends to be a reality to hide the fact that he secretly knows that he is unable to save the innocence of all children. G. Authors James E. Miller jr, and Arthur Heiserman explicitly state that, “Holden delights in circles – a comforting bounded figure which yet connotes hopelessness” (Miller, Heiserman 496). H. The “comforting bounded figure” is Holden’s catcher fantasy that he literally uses to comfort himself against the reality he refuses to believe because it “connotes hopelessness” and he is still too innocent and naïve to accept that. I. Holden possesses this dream as a weak attempt to save the innocence of children and to avoid a hopeless reality of defeat he has yet to accept.

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1268 Words | 6 Pages

How Holden matured People go through rough stuff in their lives, such as losing a close sibling. It seems impossible to pull yourself out of the pain and guilt of your loss. It appeared Holden was in the same predicament, but through his experiences in the novel The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger he learns to grow up. Aside from being very immature, holden refuses to grow up and dislikes people who have grown up.

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