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The Role Of Holden Caulfield In Catcher In The Rye

618 Words3 Pages

Holden Caulfield, the main character in the bold novel, Catcher in the Rye, constantly encounters problems with maturity and developing. Even though maturity often comes with age, Holden is the exception to this rule. All through the novel, Holden states he has a fascination with the ducks in Central Park. This fascination with ducks is a clear symbol of maturity and Holden’s youthful side. The ducks in the novel can be a symbol for many challenges in Holden’s life. Ducks play a crucial role in the novel, Catcher in the Rye, because the ducks reveal a youthful side to Holden, the ducks represent curiosity for adventure, and the ducks symbolize that change is not always permanent. First, throughout the novel, Holden often mentions the youth of the community. The ducks in Central Park are a clear symbol of youth and innocence. Holden often mentions preserving the youthfulness in the children. Holden’s dream job one day is to “catch everybody if they start to go over” (191). Holden wants to keep every child innocent from the outside world, which is nearly impossible. The ducks on the lake represent the process of adapting and becoming less innocent to the world. In …show more content…

Ducks represent Holden’s youthful and innocent side. Holden’s dream job, being a Catcher in the Rye, represents Holden’s innocence. The ducks not only symbolize innocence; the ducks represent new adventures in Holden’s life. All though Holden travels on several adventures to find new challenges, Holden is uncomfortable with change. Change is such a crucial part in Holden’s life because he adjusts his life towards the end of the novel. Ducks play a crucial role in Catcher in the Rye because Holden’s innocence is revealed. New adventures often lead to new challenges in Holden’s life. When change strikes Holden’s life, he does not know how to react. Little does Holden know, the changes in his life will modify him for the

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Catcher In The Rye Rhetorical Analysis Essay

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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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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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Holden being sent out in an unfamiliar world, without help, is like having to play a board game without knowing how to play. His name relates to him being a player in this game called life because to field means to send a player out into the game. IN this case, Holden is the player, and life is the game. When Holden arrives home to talk with Phoebe, he brings up how he wants to be the “catcher in the rye,” and do nothing but that all day (p. 93).Through this entire story, Holden has been struggling to transitions from a child to an adult and wonders how ducks know to leave the lagoon in the winter and fly south.

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Holden’s dream of wanting to be the catcher in the rye proves that he wants to keep every child innocent and pure. He says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around―nobody big, I mean―except me” (Salinger 224). Holden wants no adults except for him in the field because he believes that the adults are the ones who change children and break their innocence. Similar to his dream of being the catcher in the rye, his fantasy about the glass cases and the cabin camps also proves that Holden wants to protect others and himself from losing innocence by isolation.

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The ducks in Central Park are first mentioned when Holden visits Mr. Spencer. As Mr. Spencer is discussing Holden’s failing grades, Holden thinks to himself, “The funny thing is, though, I was so sort of thinking of something else while I shot the bull… I was wondering if some guy came in a truck and took [the ducks] away to a zoo or something or if they just flew

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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

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The Catcher in the Rye tells the story of Holden Caulfield who is a teenager growing up in the 1950’s in New York, has been expelled from school once again for poor achievement. In order to deal with his failure, Holden decides to leave school a few days before the end of the term and escapes to New York before returning to his home for the punishment. Written entirely in first person, the book describes Holden’s experiences and thoughts over the few days he takes for himself. During these few days Holden describes a nervous breakdown he experiences with symptoms of unexplained depression, impulsive spending, and unpredictable behavior. The strongest theme in The Catcher in the Rye is the main character Holden Caulfield 's fascination

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