How Does Holden Show Loneliness

In the book Holden is constantly fighting with himself. The ducks in the pond signify a fight within him. The fight to be young again; go back to his innocent years, when everything was just a game and there was no consequences. When he asks the cab driver about the ducks he most likely knows where they go but is curious. In the books entirety Holden contradicts himself fully. He tells the reader the he does not like lying, but is always telling lies about big and little tings. Such as when he lies to Ernest’s mother on the train about having to have an operation done. He also lies to the girls in the Lavender

Allie’s baseball mitt is a very important symbol in the novel. It is connected to the story, because the heart of the story is Holden's grief over his brother's death. When Holden finds out his brother Allie died he is in denial because he is refusing to accept Allie’s death. Holden is in denial as he thinks of why his innocent little brother had to die and not him. Holden needs help dealing with this grief. He must always take out the mitt, and acknowledge his feelings in order to release himself from the terrible guilt he feels. When Holden’s roommate at Pencey, Stradlater,

The hat makes Holden feel protected as if he does not need anyone. It is like the way a pacifier or a teddy bear works to comfort a child. Holden says, “After he left, I put on my pajamas and bathrobe and my old hunting hat, and started writing the composition” (49). Holden writes this intricate composition about his brother’s baseball mitt. He waits until his roommate leaves in order to wear the hat and it makes him feel protected. It is odd that he wears his hat inside, but it just reinforces the fact that the hat symbolizes the will to describe his emotions. He manages to write a heartfelt paper in which his brother’s memory becomes a vivid reality for him. Holden remains attached to the image of his brother. He cares about his siblings immensely and he finds a way to always carry them along with him. His red hunting hat is a representation of his brother Allie that died of leukemia in his innocence. Both of his siblings have red hair and the color of his hunting hat is red. Holden reflects that, “People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did and he had very red hair” (50). He buys this hat to remember the memories of innocence and love he shared with his brother. The hat is also a reminder that the only sibling he has left is Phoebe and she is dear to his heart because of her innocence and

Holden remembers everything about the mitt from being left handed to the poems all over the fingers of the glove. Allie would write them on the fingers of the glove “so that he’d have something to read when he was on the field and nobody was up at bat” (38). Holden tears up the composition because he gets upset that his roommate, Stradlater, says that Holden’s writing about his brothers glove is not related to the assignment. The glove is valued by Holden because it is a constant reminder of his brother and how much Holden cared about him.

The baseball mit, Holden has from his dead brother Allie, keeps Holden tranquil. The baseball mit first appears in the story when Holden’s roommate Stradlater, asks Holden to write a composition about a room for his english class. Instead, of Holden writing about a room Holden writes about the baseball mit. He describes the poems on the glove that were wrote in

The Ducks In the Central Park Lagoon are impactful to the book because they represent the exact opposite characteristic than that of the main character Holden. The ducks represent beneficial decisions at times of adversity, while Holden struggles to guide himself in the right direction at these times. Holden is very hung up on where the ducks in the pond go in the winter when the pond is frozen and no longer suitable for them to live in. Holden will often bring it up during conversation, as he did with a cab driver, he asked “well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where in the

The ducks are first brought to the reader’s attention while Holden is visiting his teacher, Mr. Spencer, regarding his removal from Pencey. While conversing with Mr. Spencer, however, Holden’s mind drifts elsewhere. His mind drifts back to New York as he wonders to himself if the lagoon in Central Park is frozen over, and if so, where do the ducks go? A direct parallel can be drawn from the ducks in the lagoon to Holden’s present situation. He is mandated to leave Pencey, but has no idea where he belongs after leaving. Just like the ducks in the lagoon, “Holden is essentially homeless, frozen out” (Trowbridge par. 1). Holden’s life has not been filled with an abundance of stability and now what little he had is gone, albeit due to faults of his own, and he sees an unsure and hazy future. Holden inquires about the state of the ducks to the driver of the first cab he catches in New York, and the driver believes that he is kidding. Later on, he asks another cab driver if somebody came around “in a truck or something to take them away” or if they flew away “by themselves” (Salinger 81-82). Knowing what happens to these ducks, knowing that they are safe and secure even though the lagoon is frozen would provide Holden with a sense of comfort about his current state of affairs. What seems to be a ridiculous and meaningless question to the

Allie was a baseball player, and he owned a left-handed baseball mitt with various poems written all over the mitt, symbolizing his unique character. Holden describes Allie’s baseball mitt by saying, “The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he’d have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat” (Salinger 43). Holden makes Allie out to be a unique and innocent person who is much smarter than him.

This quotation is Holden’s conversation with the cab driver. I think Holden is being prejudged by the driver. Holden only want to know where the ducks go and he is just interested to

Allie’s baseball mitt represents hope and innocence of childhood. Holden loves his little brother even though he is dead. The baseball mitt has a great significance to Holden’s life:

Images of the book title acted out- Holden wants to catch the children before they fall. Allie’s glove is representative of his creativity and uniqueness, and it shows a good side to Holden’s family that he evidently misses.

Lastly, Holden shows avoidance in his measures. Holden is afraid to grow up, because he feels that when someone is rushed into maturity, bad things happen. Holden was forced to grow up when he lost Allie, and this makes his believe that “ignorance is bliss”, and that it is better to lie to yourself and to be a child forever than to grow up and experience pain. “It is only in Holden Caulfield’s unique world that ducks brave the winter or are hauled in trucks to zoos. It should strike the most casual observer that Holden Caulfield frequently exhibits naiveté” (Foran 977). Holden likes to believe that a perfect, idealistic life can be achieved. He is scarred psychiatrically by his traumatic childhood, and he just wants to be normal. “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?” I realized it was only one chance in a million” (Salinger 60). In this prominent passage, Holden is asking the strange taxi driver about the ducks in

On two occasions while in taxis Holden asks the drivers, “‘You know those ducks in that lagoon… do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?’” (67). Though such a question may seem to be simply an odd way to begin a conversation it is actually a cry for help. Unable to deal with the reality it lives in his minds forms a metaphor, Holden isn’t asking about the ducks, he’s asking for himself. Holden feels as though the world is pitted against him and that his position in life will leave him defenceless to the cold reality of society.

Again, feeling lost. Holden goes to learn about the ducks by himself this time. He went alone to find the answer himself he wasn’t relying on anyone else to supply him with the information. This shows that Holden is ready to face the answer to his question directly, which really shows that Holden is starting to show signs of being ready to face his own problems that he is facing at the moment; He is ready to grow up. Holden at this point recognizes the fact that nobody else can grow up for him and that he needs to do it himself. The ducks are part of the reason for Holden’s revelation at the end of the

The author from The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger utilizes motifs loneliness and depression to show how Holden a teenager from the book explains the struggles he had during the great depression. J.D. Salinger uses the motifs of loneliness and depression to illustrate the theme that when people feel lonely they try to connect with people to get rid of it.