Catcher In The Rye Allie's Baseball Mitt

Nayelii Duran
Bey
American Literature
August 30, 2011
Catcher in the Rye – Right Side (Allie’s Baseball Mitt) The Catcher in the Rye is a rather unusual book for various reasons. The focus here will be to examine the symbols of the book and their meanings – both which are quite difficult to pinpoint because the protagonist, Holden, refuses to observe them. In particular, Allie’s baseball mitt holds a great deal of significance despite its infrequent mention. Holden is a very odd character because while he is no doubt the protagonist, he actually opposes maturity and change, something which defines most other leading characters. This quality can be seen in many instances, such as his walk through the Museum of Natural History where he notes the way the exhibits have remained unchanged through the years, something which seems to keep him at peace. As an alternative to accepting his fear of transitioning into adulthood, Holden instead convinces himself that adulthood is full of deceit and shallowness, or what he would call it, “phoniness.” Holden also creates a universe about being the catcher in the rye. The field of rye would represent childhood, the children themselves would represent innocence, the act of children falling over the cliff would be the transition into adulthood and Holden is to be the one who saves the children from losing their innocence by keeping them in the field of rye forever. Holden idolizes Allie, as one usually does with the death of a loved one. He now views Allie as essentially the poster child for the innocence of childhood because he died so young and naïve and possessed many positive qualities. Allie was obviously a very deep child who was in touch with his emotions, as demonstrated by the poems he wrote on his baseball mitt. In Holden’s mind, Allie will stay this way forever, something that Holden is envious of and