Preview

Holden Caulfield's Symbols

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
212 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Holden Caulfield's Symbols
The Catcher in the Rye Holden has been through many difficult times in his life, especially after he lost his little brother Allie Caulfield who had pneumonia, but there are these main symbols that describes Holden as a person, his past and most importantly these symbols gives special meaning to his life. In the Catcher of the Rye, J.D Salinger highlights Holden’s journey of growing up by showing the three symbols and they are the lake, Carossel and the red hunting hat.
The Red hunting hat holds many meaning in Holden’s life. It shows his uniqueness and individuality. The color red shows his aggressive behavior and his hatred towards many things. For example, he hates the movies because he thinks that the actors are phony, then later on in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    There are many motifs throughout the Catcher in the Rye but one really interests me, and that is Holden’s red hunting cap. The red hunting cap is a motif that symbolizes Holden’s alter ego, the side of Holden that wants to confidently stand out. Its red colour is vibrant and eye-catching, its brim is pointier and different than a regular baseball cap that most kids wear, and by turning it backwards, it resembles a back catcher in baseball. All these characteristics make Holden stand out among the crowd when he wears the red hunting cap.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden Caulfield is J.D. Salinger’s main character in The Catcher in the Rye. We learn several interesting things about Holden, however, while learning the these we are not experiencing or seeing what Holden is. We learn about it through Holden’s perspective throughout the entire story like, for example, the death of his younger brother, Allie or the time James Castle committed suicide by jumping out of the school window. Most of these experiences have a significant meaning behind them and we find these out by reading the book. We get to know Holden in a personal way. While reading, comprehending, and understanding Holden’s emotions towards the encounters he has with the characters in this book, which makes it very interesting.…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In chapters 9 through 12, I feel that a lot of my strengths of my journal are identifying symbols and their meanings for Holden. There are quite a few examples in these four chapters; for example, the ducks in the pond, Phoebe, and not calling Jane. However, I struggled with finding out why Holden keeps mentioning ducks and the pond; I have not yet found out by my own yet, but I think I’m getting close. From class discussion, it seems that some people think that Holden can be the duck. He can be seen as the duck in which ducks migrate when it’s winter. In this case, the duck is Holden and the winter is growing up. He is purposefully isolating himself, so that the winter/ adulthood doesn’t get to him. I will try to build more on the theme of isolation and symbols in the next few chapters.…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the context of this quote, Holden is referring to his red hunting hat. I have realized, as Holden consistently wears it and mentions it, it is clear that the red hunting hat symbolizes two things. First, Holden’s hat has a very distinct and unique style, qualities that most people wouldn’t be attracted to. I think this represents how Holden is different and likes things most people wouldn’t usually find interesting, for example all the blood (from when he got in a fight with Salinger). Second, Holden wears his hat the same way a catcher would. Towards the end of the novel, Holden tells his younger sister how he would like to save children if they would ever be falling off a cliff, he would be “the catcher in the rye.” Holden’s red hunting…

    • 143 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After a catastrophe for the fencing team Holden goes on to talk about the hat he bought and not just only then but he tells everyone about it and is quite proud of it. Holden bought his hat while he's in New York after he left the fencing equipment on the subway. As Holden is undressing he brings up the hat, “I put on this hat that I'd bought in New York that morning. It was this red hunting hat”(Salinger 38). After rereading and looking closer to the meaning of each line it's almost as if he want to divert the embarrassment of his mistake. The next lines of text after he continues to talk about how he lost the equipment. “I saw it in the window of this sports store when we got out of the subway, just after I noticed I'd lost all the goddam foils”(Salinger 38). Holden’s hunting hat helps him to divert the mistake he made to the hat itself. Thinking about the position Holden it it's very easy to understand what he was trying to do when he decided to get this hat. He had just made a very bad mistake forgetting the foils but at the same time he just got kicked out of school and doesn’t have a lot to turn to at the…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden Caulfield Outline

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages

    B. Holden believes Mr. Antolini is trying to make a pass. Holden admits stuff like this happens to him twenty times when he was younger pg 193…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When someone is young, they tend to have innocence about them. As children grow up, they no longer possess this natural innocence. Exposure to all of the hatred in the world causes this loss. Holden Caulfield realizes this simple fact, as he himself grows up, and has a difficult time with the change. He experiences problems with communication as well as his school work. A common theme used throughout The Catcher in the Rye has to do with contradictions Holden makes. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, first person point of view is used to highlight contradictions Holden makes throughout the novel.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Symbol of Allie in the book Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger is very important. Allie links to the theme of being able to stay young and carefree forever. Due to the fact that Allie died as a child he no longer can grow up and he does not have to face the problems that come along with it. Holden’s view of Allie starts out as Holden not being able to accept his death. His view of Allie changes into him accepting the death and realizing that Allie can never come back. Allie represents not having to deal with the problems and decisions of the adult world.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden was very close to his brother Allie who died, the red hair symbol reminds Holden of his brother. For example when Holden is talking about phoebe his little sister “you never saw a little kid so pretty in your whole life. She’s really smart. I mean she had all A’s ever since she started school. As a matter of fact I’m the only dumb one…

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the story, Holden isolates himself from everyone else. One way he isolates himself is by wearing a red hunting hat, which he bought all by himself in New York. A red hunting hat alone is an odd and unique hat for a teenager to wear, but Holden even wears it in a weird fashion. Today’s teenagers strive to be different from each other, and one way they express themselves is through their clothes. Another reason for Holden’s isolation is his impulsiveness throughout the whole story. In the beginning of the novel, Holden thinks that his roommate Stradlater took advantage of Jane and gets into a fight with him. After getting a hard hit in the face, Holden tells Stradlater “to go wash his own moron face – which was a pretty childish thing to say, but [he] was mad as hell” (45). Today’s teenagers often get into fights and become impulsive because of the anger built up from their fights. After Sally refuses Holden’s request to run away with him, he becomes annoyed and calls her a “royal pain in the ass” (133). He quickly regrets it, but he is unable to take back what he said. Holden’s inconsiderate words show the trouble he has communicating with others, and give a reason to why he is isolated and friendless. Even today’s teenagers have situations when they say careless things and lose a possible friend. On the night that his little brother, Allie, died, he slept in the garage and “broke all the goddam windows with [his] fist, just for the hell of it” (39). The loss of a loved family member is something everyone can relate to at least once in their lifetimes, and surely it will be a painful experience that will drive one to do impulsive things. Everyone will, is, or has been a teenager in their lives so they are able to relate to…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A memorable symbol was the red hunting hat. The red hunting hat first came in when Holden bought the hat in New York, after he leaves the fencing foils on the train. The red…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield, the novel’s protagonist, is a pivotal character in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is characterized as an innocent, apathetic, naive teen who is seeking knowledge of life and the meaning of becoming an adult. Holden’s struggle with seeing the genuine nature of people is something that acts as a barrier for him throughout the novel. Holden is troubled and burdened throughout the story, which causes him to have a warped view on an array of subjects. Holden passes strict judgement on everyone, as he struggles to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Holden appears to be stunned when he sees how different the life of an adult is comparison to that of children. His views on topics such as, life, his future, and sex. Holden approaches each of these subjects with strict views, and feels dejected when he realizes there are more multiple perspectives to these topics.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield Symbolism

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There are a few things that define one as an adult: maturity, responsibility, and integrity. Does Holden Caulfield have any of these? J.D. Salinger’s novel, “The Catcher in the Rye,” follows the life of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old protagonist, who is on the road to becoming an adult and is trying to find all of the three terms above. Holden is living in a world with people that he classifies as morons or phonies. The self realization that he cannot save children from becoming morons or phonies is the key to becoming an adult in Holden’s case, yet there are still symbols that Holden encounters that slowly but surely matures him, makes him responsible and helps him obtain integrity.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the book, Holden travels from place to place, discovering how adults truly act. As he gets sick of seeing such corrupted society, he wishes to escape from reality by talking to his younger sister, Phoebe. In chapter 22, Holden discusses what he wants to be when he grows up with Phoebe. He says that he wants to be the “catcher in the rye” and he doesn’t know why but that is the only thing he would like to be. He explains in a big field rye, he will be standing on the edge of a cliff, catching kids as they got close to the cliff. The big field of rye represents childhood and the rye is made high to limit kids from looking beyond, just as children are unable to see beyond their borders of childhood. Holden wishes to stand where the rye field of childhood and the cliff of adulthood separates, and protect kids from falling off the cliff into the impure world of adults. He aims to be the savior of the innocence in the world around him, a world that let him fall alone into the abyss of adulthood.…

    • 836 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield Symbolism

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the author, J.D. Salinger, takes the reader through Holden Caulfield’s struggles with adolescence as he makes his way through New York City in the 1940’s. Salinger shows how Holden attempts to go on an unrealistic quest to save children from a sudden loss of innocence. Holden’s wake-up call comes in the form of his little sister, Phoebe, who unintentionally illustrates to her big brother that reaching for the gold ring isn’t always a scary thing, but a part of life that everyone must go through. The author uses symbolism to create Holden’s idea of becoming “The Catcher in the Rye,” a way of preventing others from the abrupt loss of innocence. Holden’s idea is challenged by his interactions,…

    • 1743 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays