The Catcher in the Rye In “The Catcher in The Rye”, author J.D Salinger uses a plethora of meaningful symbols that help main character, Holden Caufield, find his true purpose in a world full of phonies. A symbol is something significant that represents something else. Symbols are used everyday in our world whether we know it or not. There are three really important symbols in the book that are connected to a greater aspect in Holden’s life. The second most important symbol in Holden’s world is his red hunting hat. The red hunting hat has two purposes, depending on which way Holden decides to wear it. Throughout the book, Holden wears the hat with the brim to the front and to the back. When the hat is facing forward, Holden is searching for truth in the phony world he lives in, but the main reason Holden wears it to the front is because it is a sense of protection in his daily world of chaos. For example, when it was raining, Holden said, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection in a way, but I got soaked anyway (Salinger 212-213).” Holden is obviously alright with the fact that he got soaked because the hat that he loves helped him a lot. However, if the hat is facing to the back, Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye. He wants to be able to catch kids from falling off the cliff of rye grass. Figuratively, he wants to catch them from becoming phonies when he himself may be becoming a phony. Even though Holden is being a little hypocritical, “He put his red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way he liked it (52).” This was the best way for him to wear it since he wants to be the catcher in the rye. Holden is a negative person; therefore, there are more things that Holden doesn’t like than things that he does like. However, another thing that Holden does like and finds enjoyment from is the museum. The museum is symbolic of never change. “Everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…. Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different is you (121).” Holden liked the fact that you could go to the museum thousands of times and everything would be exactly the same. It troubles Holden that he has changed each time he returns, while the museum’s displays remain completely the same. The museum presents Holden with a vision of life that he can understand. Holden can only wish to live a life and in a world that never changes. He wants life to remain frozen just like the display cases in the museum. The most important symbol in the book and in Holden’s world is the profanity on the school
The Catcher in the Rye “Is The Catcher in the Rye, as a work of literature still relevant for today’s youth?” Name: Sara Sigurdson Course: English A1 Supervisor: Mr. Peter Steadman Word count: 3851 Candidate number: 00136022 Table of Contents Content Page Number Abstract 3 Introduction 4 The Actual Catcher in the Rye 4 The Sexual Matter 5 The Caulfield Family 6 Narrator and Protagonist 8 Role Model 9 Mr. Antolini 10 Targeted Audience 10 Guidance 12…
Emma Lange 9/16/14 Peruggia C Essay: Catcher and the Rye Profane, sexual, and vulgar content are often cited as reasons for banning a book. J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most controversial books of all time. It is heralded as a classic yet, according to the American Library Association, the Catcher in the Rye was the third most banned book from libraries and schools as recently as 2005. It earned the ranking of nineteenth most challenged books between the years…
that adulthood is a world of superficiality and hypocrisy (“phoniness”), while childhood is a world of innocence, curiosity, and honesty. Nothing reveals his image of these two worlds better than his fantasy about the catcher in the rye: he imagines childhood as an idyllic field of rye in which children romp and play; adulthood, for the children of this world, is equivalent to death—a fatal fall over the edge of a cliff. His created understandings of childhood and adulthood allow Holden to cut himself…
a. How does the context created in the first 20 pages of the novel create how the ending occurs for the reader? In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger published in the year 1951, the context created at the beginning of the novel is that the character Holden Caulfield occurs to believe that the world is full of stupid people – who cause his relationships to be unsatisfying and unfulfilling. At the end of the novel, Holden is seen to find the satisfying and fulfilling relationship he had…
The Catcher in the Rye In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger represents childhood as a stressful turn table of mixed emotions. The intense moments of Holden’s life (like in chapter one at the football game, where Holden feels excluded from his entire school as he glares down at everyone in the stadium) are amazing representations of childhood at a glance. Most teenagers go through hell during high school, and Holden Caulfield is a prime example of that. This book was interesting because of Salinger’s…
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was and always will be one of the greatest novels of all time. It’s a fascinating story that allows us to explore a young boy’s thoughts (also Twain’s view) of society. At the beginning of the story, Huck doesn’t want to ever be civilized and at the end of the story, Huck still doesn’t want to be civilized. However, by the end of the story, Huck’s reasons behind not wanting to be civilized change from the beginning of the story. When the story begins, Huck talks…
Holden’s greatest worry is that Stradlater will make sexual advances toward Jane. Stradlater and Ackley sound like appallingly unsympathetic characters, but this is completely the result of the tone in which Holden describes them. For instance, Holden indicates his awareness that Ackley behaves in annoying ways because he is insecure and unpopular, but instead of trying to imagine what Ackley wants or why he does things, he focuses on Ackley’s surface—literally, his skin. By describing in minute…
Tom, Caitlin Freeland – Block 8 10/23/14 Understanding and Uncertainty Knowledge is best obtained through experience. This is shown in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye , a young adult novel about a boy named Holden Caulfield in New York, who is surrounded by social and academic pressures and wants to be different from everyone else. Through analyzing Holden’s encounters and mindset, it is revealed that the book supports the argument that Holden or any other teenager has conflicts with society and struggle to grow up…
Catcher In The Rye Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, reveals the hardships that teenagers endure as they mature and enter adulthood. Holden Caulfield, the narrator, tells the story of his hardships. Any teenager’s mind can lose focus, especially in Holden’s case. Holden has many issues that lead to the root of his problems. Holden has been kicked out of several schools and endures many more issues. He suffers from the loss of a loved one, financial issues, and parental neglect. These three root…
In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is clearly unhappy with his surroundings, which is evident not just by the fact that he is telling his story from some sort of mental hospital, but also by the fact that he seems to find something to dislike in everyone he is around. Whether it’s his roommate Stradlater’s self-obsession, or his neighbor Ackley’s lack of personal hygiene, Holden seems to find something wrong with everyone. From 3 unintelligent girls…