Catcher In The Rye Innocence

When I was younger, I can remember one of my friends telling me during recess that every single person in this world besides ourselves were fake. She told me that everyone was a robot and we were the only two people with actual emotions and real feelings whereas everybody else was merely just a fake being and pre-programed. For a couple of days, I really did believe in what she was telling me. In youth, people are much more susceptible to believing in false realities and not truly understanding all that is around them as well as all the people around them. In the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caufield too, falls into the falsities that coincide with youth. Through his character, Salinger expresses the uncensored truth

In "The Catcher in the Rye" one of Holden's main struggles which is seen throughout the novel is his fear of change and his struggle to maintain his innocence. This is primarily seen in his interactions at the museum and at his old elementary school. The museum becomes a very influential place for Holden, being that he is intrigued by things that stay the same. Throughout the novel one of his main concerns with life and with growing up is that people change, eventually every single person will turn out to be a phony in his eyes. When looking for Phoebe at the park, Holden begins to recollect on his memories from the museum during his youth. His depiction of the museum demonstrates to the reader an idealized world for Holden, one where nothing ever changes and one where he can understand everything. When describing the museum, he knows where everything is, as well their descriptions. In this depiction of the museum he says, "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move"(page 135). In this quotation it is evident that