Holden’s red hunting hat is a symbol of Holden’s uniqueness and difference from the others in the book. It is also the same color as his sister Phoebe’s hair and his friend Allie’s hair which could help connect the important people in his life. Holden never wears the hat when he is around people he knows giving the reader insight that when he wears the hat he feels the need for his isolation. 8. Imagery-
Salinger does a phenomenal job developing the red hunting hat into a symbol by emphasizing how important it was to Holden throughout the novel. When Holden is leaving the hotel, whilst walking out the door he grabs his coat from the hat check girl. He then proceeds to show her his hat. “I showed her my goddamn hunting hat and she liked it”(169).
Since one of Holden’s few sources of comfort comes from an object, we can tell how alone he truly feels. Additionally, the symbol of the hunting hat Holden wears represents anger and isolation. At one point, Holden fights with Stradlater. After the fight, Holden remains beaten up, depressed, and all alone. He puts on his hunting hat, almost for comfort or companionship.
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.
J.D. masterfully explains how Holden is in a low point of his life right at the moment, he also does not care for what others think about him. Not to point out but Holden only wears his hat in pirate because he is embarrassed to wear it out in public. Holden wants to be different from everyone because he gains a little bit of comfort and satisfaction from the red hunting hat. Not only that, but in the novel Holden asks the taxi driver an absurd question "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South?
At this moment, Holden finds himself in a very vulnerable position because he is walking alone at night in New York City and in the blistering cold. This can be interpreted as the cruelty and reality of the real world, in other words: cold. When Holden has his red hunting hat on, he believes that he will remain innocent, even in environments that expose him to the cold and harsh nature of the real world. This is Holden’s first relationship to the color red, but as the novel progresses, Holden finds that this mode of protection may not always
In this excerpt from the beginning of the novel called The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character, Holden Caulfield speaks to his psychologist about his deceased younger brother. Salinger includes this quote from Holden in order to offer the reader some understanding of his actions and attitude throughout the book, and it also enforces the thought that Holden is a character struggling with teen grief, misunderstood by his parents and the peers around him. In this quote, he seems to be lost in thought of the detail of his younger brother's baseball mitt, even remembering the "green ink" (Salinger) that was used on it. Because of this, readers can infer that Holden has spent much time with this mitt and that such an object has a great amount of sentimental value to him because it was a possession of a person that he cared greatly about. However, despite his pain, Holden does not allow himself to process his grief properly; he instead puts up a sort of facade of passiveness towards the death of younger brother.
He uses this hat as a symbol to feel connected to Allie and as a way to protect himself from the adult world. When Holden said “ she took
If the book is read solely on its surface level, it just seems like a book about an annoying teenager who just complains about everything, but the messages it carries are actually profound. For example, near the end of the story Holden is upset by some profane graffiti on the wall at a museum that says “F*** you” (Salinger 224). He is upset by it because he is worried some little kids will see it and wonder what it means, and then be curious enough to find out adn have their innocence stolen. He finds the graffiti multiple times in the museum. The profane graffiti, if looked at beyond the surface level, symbolises the fact that Holden can not do anything to stop little kids from losing their innocence.
The red hunting hat represents Holden’s allure/endearment to unique qualities in objects and people, that normally go unnoticed by others. The hat also symbolizes Holden’s individuality and unwillingness to conform to society’s
When he wears his hat to the back it likes builds his self confidence up. I believe Holden 's hat symbolizes his uniqueness and his originality . Holden hunting hat is weird it shows that Holden wants to be different from everybody around him. But I think Holden is quite self- conscious about his red hunting hat because he always says when he is wearing and he also doesn’t wear it when he is going to be around people he knows.
In Holden’s mind becoming “the catcher in the rye “means that he can still catch Allie from falling off the cliff. This is relevant to Holden’s depression because everything around him is telling him to grow up but instead he runs away from it in fear that is will pull him farther apart from his relationship with his brother Allie. Holden is on the edge of becoming an adult which creates more pressure and leads him to
Opponents may argue that body worn cameras should not be mandatory for police offi cers to wear while on duty. These individuals claimed that body cameras invade the privacy of citizens due to the fact that police offices are able to enter houses while the hammer is rolling. The public may see the body cameras as an invasion of privacy to them ignoring all the major benefits that come with the cameras that could be helpful to them in the long run. Citizens expect to have their actions recorded publicly by security cameras or by others but the do not expect to have the privacy of their home to be recorded and if a police officer that is wearing a body worn camera does a house search the civilians actions are going to be recorded.(Williams)
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden demonstrates the struggle of transitioning between childhood and adulthood by revealing his hassle to grow up. Maturity comes through being an adult and growing up is all about becoming more mature. Throughout the book, Holden goes through numerous conflicts and problems. In the beginning of the book, Holden is gives information about himself.
When the hat is pulled to the front, he cannot “see a goddam thing” and says he’s “going blind” (21). The pain from Allie’s death pushes Holden to seclude himself from a world he sees as cold and ominous. More importantly, it prevents him from looking at his own mind and realizing Allie is the reason he is lonely. As if losing own brother wasn’t enough, Holden also loses the presence of his older brother D.B.. The conflict begins when he leaves Holden by moving to Hollywood, and Holden says D.B. will only “maybe” drive him home after his therapy ends (1).
