Theme Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

Secondly, most teenagers have struggles grieving for the loss of of their loved ones. Holden struggles multiples of times to grief for the death of his younger brother, Allie, who died at the age of 11 due to leukemia. Holden writes about Allie for Stradlater’s english homework and tells the reader, “He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class...But it wasn’t just that he as the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anyone...I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because i broke all the windows in the garage. I don 't blame them. I really don 't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the

The Catcher in the Rye is one of J. D. Salinger's world-famous books about the disgruntled youth. Holden Caulfield is the main character and he is a seventeen- year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden separates the “phony” aspects of society, and the “phonies” themselves. Some of these “phony” people in his life are the headmaster whose friendliness depends on the wealth of the parents, and his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection. This book deals with the complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. Holden senses these feelings most of the time and is guilty about many things in

J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye features a complex narrative surrounding a troubled young student, Holden Caulfield. Difficulties he faces throughout the story force Holden to confront his fears of adulthood and maturation and the responsibilities therein through the difficulties he faces throughout the story. Academic controversy surrounds whether Holden learns from these confrontations and adjust accordingly, maturing throughout the story. While initially this seems rather subjective, a thorough analysis of Holden’s actions throughout the story as well as of the symbolism injected by Salinger makes it quite clear that Holden does undergo a significant maturity arc as the story progresses. Holden’s social development and maturation

The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulfield is shown in this book to display multiple different personas. Holden has a tendency to tell lies, acts in a careless, self-destructive manner. However, Holden has also shown a personality in which he acts in a caring, empathetic demeanor, shown in scenarios such as his outlook towards the prostitute, and his refusal to allow his sister to come along with him to the cabin in the woods. Furthermore, Holden Caulfield’s attitude and problems mainly stemmed from his refusal to accept his brother’s passing, as Holden had exhibited a deep connection and love for his brother. These incidents collectively show the storyline of our troubled protagonist as he progresses

To value innocence is to value ignorance because the loss of innocence reveals the realities of society.

Corrupted Purity: A Look into the Loss of Innocence in the Catcher in the Rye

Although Holden “hardly even know[s]” James, he sees him as someone who is real and not phony, admiring his resistance to lie (Salinger 171. The deaths of Allie and James cause Holden to contemplate suicide in order to escape the world of phoniness he lives in. Consequently, Holden’s constant thoughts about suicide lead to his own loss of innocence and advancement toward adulthood.

Fear of growing up. Change. Innocence. These are all relatable traits that most people can understand as a teenager. Nineteen year old Holden Caulfield, the main character from J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, possess all of these traits. I think there's a little bit of Holden Caufield in all of us. People who are resentful and afraid of the ever growing world around us, but still all the same try to grow up a little bit too fast. As well as, people who try to retain any innocence they have. All of this and more is why J.D Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye is still very relevant today.

It was a very stupid thing to do, I'll admit, but I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn't know Allie,” ( Salinger 39).This death was one of the leading causes of Holden losing his chastity, and make him want to help preserve others. He saw the effect it had on him and did not want others to experience the same thing. Allie’s death was the price Holden had to pay to be the catcher in the rye. In terms of his emotions, Holden did not hold back in expressing how he felt. That night, “I broke all the goddamn windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.”

Holden Caulfield, a 17 year old boy who is reminiscing a about his 16 year old self’s journey from childhood to adulthood. This in such journeys one tends to make big decisions and loses their innocence, but Holden refuses to. In J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye one may only see Holden Caulfield as a rich boy with first world problems that are way too trivial to feel lost about. Throughout the duration of the novel Holden spent it in New York City, where he moped around for a few days. While there he found himself in different situations asking the same questions about change. Holden has immense issues with change, specifically growing up. Like any person growing up requires one to understand the benefits of change and to embraces them,

In many novels the title of the story is more important than most people initially think. It often reveals important information about the story. In The Catcher In the Rye, Holden says that his dream job would to be the catcher in rye. This is significant to the story because of how Holden feels that adults are trying to ruin the innocence of children, and how he can be the one that saves them. Holden then realizes he cannot always be the one to save the children. This is show throughout the book but especially in the scene where Holden takes Phoebe to the carousel.This shows that Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye so that he can help keep the children their innocence from adults.

Throughout the first few chapters of the novel, Holden's pride for his brother is clear when Holden quoted, “He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times more intelligent.” (Salinger 21). Their relation was evident to the reader as a mutual brotherly love where they both impacted each other's lives in different ways. As a result, when Allie died Holden had trouble coping with his emotions and proceeded by breaking all the windows in his garage, and breaking his own hand in the process. Overall Allie’s sudden death instills so much anger in Holden, it creates a fear of change because change was so traumatic for him. Having his younger brother die before him makes him believe that the innocence of childhood is dead, so he forces himself to grow up faster than he wants to so he can help children like his sister stay safe in their childhood. His whole outlook of life changes and he begins to perceive growing up as that the older one becomes, the closer one is to death. This mindset not only pressured him into uncomfortable adult situations, but it created the fear of change at the same time which slowly drove him to have psychological problems by the end of the

(Page 171) Holden really didn't get to see his brother in the time of his death, and that Holden probably feels some sort of regret and guilt for Allie's death, or at least for the absence of the goodbye. “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have my psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage…I broke all the goddam windows with my fists” (Page 44) this can be interpreted that as

In J.D Salinger's book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden learns the importance of one's innocence which causes him to protect and value innocence of others. Holden does this by protecting , reflecting , and getting upset when one’s innocence is destroyed.

Holden is first reminded of Jane when his roommate, Stradlater, takes her on a date; and this initial moment starts the entire “saga” of Jane Gallagher. Stradlater comes up to the dorm room and told Holden that his date knew him and after Holden asks who, Stradlater utters out the name Jane Gallagher. “‘Jane Gallagher’ I said. I even got up from the wash bowl when he said that. I damn near dropped dead.” (35). From this initial reaction Holden has from just hearing Jane’s name, it shows the impact that Jane had on Holden and how important she was soon to become in the novel. The idea of innocence being represented through Jane is first displayed after Stradlater comes back from his date with her. Stradlater tells Holden that the two of them