What Does The Glove Symbolize Holden's Memory Of Jane Eyre

Holden allows the reader to hypothesize that he is attracted to a girl named Jane Gallagher, by constantly telling of his fond memories of her, but when push comes to shove his tendency to alienation himself from society, to "protect himself from losing his innocence", takes him over. On page 116 of the novel, Holden tells the reader that after he got his sister a record he went to a phone booth and called Jane's house. But when her mother picked up the phone he hung up. Holden tells the reader that he "didn't feel like getting into a long conversation with her mother" so he hung up but in reality Holden's personal preference of alienating himself frightened him and prevented him of making any contact with Jane.

Reaching the very end of the novel there are several events that lead up to the conclusion that Holden evolves as a dynamic character. The last few contributions include Holden sitting in the rain while Phoebe goes on the carousel, and finally when readers learn Holden must have entered some sort of a mental institution. While waiting for Phoebe he sits on a bench as it starts raining and thinks to himself, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway. I didn’t care, though.”(Salinger 213). One of the symbolic objects Holden keeps throughout the novel is the hat because it is comforting and gives him the feeling of protection. In this particular part of the novel it is clear that the hat can no longer protect him from entering the adult world. An English novelist Malcolm Bradbury expresses his opinion when writing, “Some seem to suggest a role for Holden in relation to childhood—he can be a catcher in the rye, the adult who is the protector of childish innocence. Over these episodes, Holden obviously develops and his attitudes change. He is hunting for his own

This reveals Holden trying to keep Janes innocence. Which ties in with the theme loss of innocence, which worries Holden. He feels as if Stradlater may take the innocence of Jane which makes him feeling upset. This is due to the that, he likes Jane and feels being innocent makes him like her more and taking that away might affect the way he looks at her.

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,

Allie is first introduced when Holden writes an english composition for his roommate, Stradlater. Allie's old baseball mitt had poetry written all inside of it, therefore Holden decided to write the composition on it due to it's details. Holden's brother had passed away from luekimia while they were in Maine on July 18, 1946 when Holden was just

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.

He even went as far as trying to call up a sexually open girl and arranging a meeting with her for a drink. The action of calling this girl and attempting to meet up with her shows that he realizes his need to grow up, acting older than he probably should, and making rash decisions in his attempts to act like an ‘adult’. His flashbacks serve as a reminder that no matter how hard he tries to forget Jane, he will always have feelings for her. It also serves as a pointer that Holden still desires to be with Jane, as the more he tries to forget her, the more he remembers all of the moments they shared, from the time he first decided to talk to her, to the time he tried to comfort her when she began to cry, to the many times they played checkers or held hand together. He begins to talk to himself about the smaller details of Jane, her interest in reading and sports, the way her mouth is alway just a tiny bit open, the way she lights up when she is interested in something and how her mouth begins to seem to move in all directions as she's talking about it. The memories of his past and the actions he took in what would be considered the present all show that Holden is changing as a person, becoming more accepting of his repressed sexuality, and

Phoebe is the only one left that truly cares about Holden. Aside from her, he is completely alone. Holden isolates himself as a way to cope with reality despite his need for human connection. His red hunting hat serves as a symbol of how he deals with uncomfortable situations. When talking to other people he will have his hat on, pretending to be someone he’s not. When he is by himself, his hat is off and his true thoughts are exposed. A good example is when he awakes to Mr. Antolini stroking his hair, causing Holden to remember bad experiences

The glove symbolises how lonely Holden is in New York. Also, Holden uses the glove to try to make a connection with

At first, he struggles to learn this method of coping, because he hasn’t had closure from Allie’s death. Later, he learns to embrace this idea of letting go by focusing on the present moment. In the beginning of the story, Holden tells the reader about the night of Allie’s death and how he had wounded his hand punching windows in the garage. He added that his “hand still hurts [him] once in a while, when it rains and all”(44). The hand represents his aching feelings about Allie’s death, since he had wounded it from frustration after Allie died.

Later on Holden recalls when he was attending Pencey College how his gloves were stolen by some crook. He continues describing the situation of confrontation hypothetically, at first with assertion and authority. Eventually he admits to himself, “Only, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I’d just stand there, trying to look tough” (Salinger P. 99). Holden goes on to describe to the reader his unaware fear of confrontation and violence, hinting at a dread of vulnerability and a closed off persona, another clear sign of Major Depressive Disorder. When Holden was a younger boy he knew a girl named Jane Gallagher whom he was childhood friends with, they often even held hands and had an emotional bond. Ever since he heard about Stradlator (his old roommate) taking her out on a date he’d been thinking of calling her up. Finally on page 130 he calls her up and her mother picks up. Startled, she hangs up and admits he should’ve asked for Jane, “But I didn’t feel like it. You really have to be in the mood for that stuff” (Salinger P. 130). His inability to feel motivated to make an effort for somebody he once loved shows his social-isolation.

Nakiyiah McClain May 28, 2015 In a three-paragraph essay, compare and contrast Holden's relationship with Jane Gallagher and Sally Hayes. Use evidence from the novel to support your claims. Throughout the book you have seen Holden having relationships with two girls; Jane Gallagher and Sally Hayes.

I don’t mean it was anything physical or anything- it wasn’t- but we saw each other all the time’”. (Salinger 85). From this excerpt, it is pretty obvious that Holden holds strong feelings for Jane.

Though we never meet Jane Gallagher, she still plays a prominent role in The Catcher in the Rye. While Holden's relationship with her exists mainly in his head as he reminisces about their childhood, his memory of her is significant and his thoughts keep coming back to her. When Stradlater first mentions Jane, Holden “near[ly] [drops] dead,” admitting he “was pretty excited” (Salinger 31). Then when he finds out about Stradlater’s date plan, Holden suddenly grows protective. It’s likely Holden still sees her as the young girl from his memories as he recalls how “She used to practice [ballet]” and “play checkers with [him] all the time” (31). He doesn't stop to think about how she might've changed, and grown. Maybe he doesn't want to. Holden's

The glove not only represents Holden’s love for his younger brother it also exemplifies Allie’s individuality. It is understood that after analyzing Holden’s character he hates conflict with anything around him. He is confused by his brother’s death and therefore fears interactions with people and is hesitant to let people into the barrier her has created for himself. This is seen when he struggles to explain to Stradlater his descriptive composition assignment. Holden failed to describe a room or house, and instead described the baseball glove. Holden gives Stradlater the composition and the conversation flows as follows, “ This is about a goddamn baseball glove.” “So what?” I said. Cold as hell. “Wuddya mean so what?” I told ya it had to be about a goddamn room or a house or something.” “You said is had to be descriptive. What the hell’s the difference if it’s about a baseball glove?” (41). This is definitely contributes to part of his culture and how he chooses to conduct his life. The glove is a part of him, and to others, a worn out, left handed baseball mitt with scribbles of poems may not mean anything, but to Holden, it means the world because that is all he has left of his brother. Holden keeps Allie alive through the baseball glove. And although it’s just an old worn