Standing on the precipice that separates the rye field of childhood from the cliff of adulthood, Holden wants to protect childhood innocence from the fall into disillusionment that necessarily accompanies adulthood. Trapped between states, with his innocence in jeopardy, Holden wants to be a “catcher in the rye,” a saviour of the innocence missing in the world around him, a world that has let him fall over the cliff into adulthood alone. Holden’s mistake about the line from the Robert Burns song—his substitution of “catch a body” for “meet a body”—is highly significant, as its placement in the novel’s title suggests. Burns’s song “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” exists in several versions, each with somewhat different lyrics. In some versions, the song is about a woman who has gotten her clothes wet while she was out in a rye field, while in other versions the speaker of the song is a woman discussing being out in a rye field.
And another thing he says is that he wants to be a “catcher in the Rye” to save the kids lives so that they won’t fall off the cliff. I don’t think Holden is as perfect as he wants to be I think he only judges people and calls them a phony, because he probably does things like they do that he hates doing himself. There’s parts in the book were Holden acts like a phony and sometimes is a hypocrite , he contradicts himself, for example when he tells he hates the movies but then again he also tells that he likes attending them with her sister and with his friends. I can’t say Holden is a phony because he judges people in his mind and he admits he’s a liar, his attitude is like many people. Yes Holden does criticize people a lot but he never tells them and he never hurt anyone.
Also, he does not want other children to ‘grow up’. This is presented through his misinterpretation of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ poem. He says that he wants to ‘catch’ children who ‘start to go off the cliff’, when the poem is actually about the sex. Holden can’t move on from childhood and can’t change his innocent mindset. Holden distains adulthood because of its superficiality and ‘phoniness’.
The process of growing up and coming of age comes with the loss of innocence. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the theme of innocence and protecting it, is seen through the actions of the protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Holden is stuck in the awkward stage between childhood and adulthood. He often sees himself as a protector of the innocent, however he still holds innocence and longs for it himself. That is why, through Salinger’s work, we see the theme of innocence develop through Holden’s desires, fantasies and actions.
Holden’s views on the innocence of kids and innocence in general, is greatly altered by the profanity he finds on the walls. There are two contrasting details to the profanity; who wrote it and its erasability. At first, Holden is able to erase the curse word and believes a “perverty bum” wrote it, but by the end he understands that it was indeed a child and that even “if you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the "Fuck
Below is a free essay on "Catcher In The Rye Symbolism" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield is fearful of change and growing into adulthood. This fact is quite obvious due to his attitudes towards the following symbols. Each of them represents a different perspective or feeling Holden has towards people or usually a customary or “phony” way of living.
Holden, the Mature Man Throughout J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, the main character, searches for an impractical ideal-- to cling onto his childhood and his innocence. Believing that children are pure and that all grown-ups are “phonies,” Holden’s quest is to preserve childhood within himself and children around him. Placing symbols to stress Holden’s immaturity and impossible ideal, Salinger illustrates his unrealistic goals. Although Holden remains immature for the majority of the novel, as the story progresses, Holden becomes a new person and discovers his true self.
At first, Holden sounds like a typical, misguided teenager, rebellious towards his parents, angry with his teachers, and flunking out of school. However, as his story progresses, it becomes clear that Holden is indeed motivated, just not academically. He has a purpose: to protect the young and innocent minds of young children from the "horrors" of adult society. He hopes to freeze the children in time, as wax figures are frozen in a museum. After interacting with Phoebe, his younger sister, Holden realizes that this goal is quite unachievable.
Body Paragraph 2 * Reason 2: Students feel unprepared for an examination. Body Paragraph 3 * Reason 3: To make their parents proud and not face disappointment. Conclusion * Why cheating is bad * Solution to reasons making students not cheat. Why Students Cheat Through School Snehal Kathuria Ms. Ramsey Wednesday, October 26, 11 Cheating in school is defined as an act of dishonesty in order to gain an advantage during an examination. Students that are caught cheating face a wide range of extreme consequences.
I think that this pessimism of his is a way to protect himself from his own weaknesses, and that he do this partly so that he can forget how boring and unfair the adult life can be, easily said he does not wont to grow up because he is afraid that he will realize his own flaws and be crushed emotionally because of this hard realization. And that is also one thing that marks out who Holden Caulfield really is, he is a boy who does not know how he should manage how he feels and therefore he is afraid of his own feelings in a strange kind of way. To sum up Holden Caulfield-s personality from this brief analysis I would say that he is a complete emotional wreck-ship that has hit the bottom and having a hard time getting up to the surface. Holden