The Catcher in the Rye has been linked to many murder cases throughout it’s time. Mark David Chapman, who had an obsession with the book, murdered John Lennon. Also, John Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate our former president, Ronald Reagan, was thought to be obsessed with the book as well. There are many other people whose murders or attempted murders are thought to be connected to The Catcher in the Rye, such as Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassination on John F. Kennedy, and Robert John Bardo , the man who killed Rebecca Schaeffer. Holden Caulfield might have some criminal potential as well, having similar traits of killers.…
J. D. Salinger's critically acclaimed novel, The Catcher in the Rye follows the journey of Holden Caulfield, a young boy who returns home to New York after being ousted from yet another preparatory school. Throughout the novel, Holden shares his animosity towards what he sees as a phony society, filled with phony people and phony things. Within the novel, Salinger has created numerous symbols, such as the natural history museum or the red hunting hat, as well as creating a vocabulary which fits in with Holden's maturity. In addition, both Salinger utilized motifs, such as deceit and loneliness, fueling the theme of living in a phony world.…
During a talk at his house with his little sister Phoebe, Holden creates powerful imagery to explain what he would like to be. “It is “If a body meet a body coming through the rye.” I didn’t know it then, though. “I always thought it was ‘If a body catch a body,’.... “I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.””(Salinger 173). Holden's talk of being a catcher in the rye evokes a vision of him wearing his hunting hat in a field of overgrown rye. Holden talks about catching children from falling off of a cliff. The cliff stands for adulthood, and as the catcher, Holden saves the innocence of children. The symbol of the catcher, and depicts his loneliness, because he is caught in the middle of two distinctly opposite sides of the spectrum of life and maturity, and he can not decide if he wants to stay in the rye fields of childhood or the pit of wisdom. Furthermore, Holden gets the lyrics wrong, and Phoebe tells him that the lyrics were not “catch a body”, but rather “meet a body”. This implies that the song was actually about casual sex, or the loss of innocence. The true meaning of the song is a reminder that Holden's goals are were not even meant to be. The hunting hat has relevance to Holden being stuck between two opposite sides of maturity in and of itself. Near the end of Holden's story, he watches Phoebe…
This strange period can be very confusing, not knowing how to steer your life without the help of your parents. In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield has to face the fact that he will eventually enter adulthood. Throughout the book Holden experiences moments where his all alone, without a clue of what to do next with his life. During his time of confusion, he always wonders about what happens to the ducks in central park during the winter. The question arises several times when Holden no longer knows what to do next. The four times he considers the ducks are with Mr. Spencer, the two taxi drives, and when he goes to Central Park – all signify periods of his maturity during the…
Throughout the book The Catcher in the Rye, and the movie Dead Poets Society, there are many themes portrayed that the characters deal with and learn from. Of the many themes displayed in the movie and novel, three that stood out were loneliness, dealing with change, and the pain of growing up. These three themes are vital and important, and play a significant role in the characters throughout the novel and movie. The struggles of loneliness, dealing with change, and growing up are difficulties faced by the characters that are both similar and different in the movie and novel.…
Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in Rye speaks to core of being an outsider, but beyond the anti-hero, anti-establishment persona that Holden reflects, Salinger wrote a portrait of a boy deeply troubled by the end of simplicity. Past the cynical nature and the reclusion from people, Holden is a little boy saddened by the death of his brother. Holden was never able to get closure over Allie’s death and because of this he has never been able to move on. To remember his brother and a simpler time Holden treasures innocence and has remained a child himself in many ways. Through the uses of metaphorical landscapes, a relatable anti-hero, and the setting of a repressed post-war American society Salinger depicts the journey of a young boy fighting, resisting the transition from childhood to adulthood. Holden Caulfield’s cynicism and reclusion are his defense mechanism, they warn of phony and slobs alike, but leave him lonely. He is both a figure for the youth and old alike, because Holden’s disdain of hypocrisy, longing for innocence, and his need for acceptance transcend age groups, these are human emotions that bother any age group. At the end of the novel, Holden says “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do you start missing everybody” (Salinger 214). There are times when Holden comes off as neurotic, but in this case he meant that you will the way life used to be if you remember it. At the end Holden realizes that Allie’s death and his longing to go back to his childhood were holding him back, keeping him from applying himself. Many readers come away from that last line and feel that there is no happy ending for Holden, but the negative tone of the comment is less of a warning and more of a new being for Holden, meaning that Holden’s dream of being the catcher in the rye can can…
Salinger also shows symbolism through the ducks. Holden is usually always asking about where the ducks go. Holden asks these questions by saying, “Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance? -“Where who goes? -”The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take the away, or do they fly away by themselves-go south or something”(91)? Holden connects the ducks to his life because Holden wants to know where life will take him. Just like when Holden wants to know where the ducks go. This is because Holden wants to know if life will just take Holden where he needs to be or will life take Holden onto a journey that Holden is not ready for. Which is why Holden is afraid of growing…
Transcendentalism is known as the philosophical movement as a protest to the general state of culture and society. Many Transcendentalists include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The way Chris McCandless acted during the end of his life were a lot like these Transcendentalists. Many people, including myself, would consider Chris McCandless to be a Transcendentalist. The ways that he hated on society, burned his money after he ruined his car, and went out into the Alaskan nature all by himself show that he is a true Transcendentalist.…
Ducks? How can ducks be a symbol? As odd as it may sound, ducks are a major theme in The Catcher and the Rye. They have extreme importance to Holden. We first learn of Holden’s worry for the ducks in chapter nine. In this chapter Holden is in a cab on his way to Edmont Hotel.…
"Bishop Long takes his spot back at the podium. He speaks haltingly, starting out slow. "I know all about it... I know all about what you're up against..."…
J.D. Salinger, in his coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye, repeatedly uses Holden Caufield's red hunting hat as a symbol to show Holden's growth from a young man terrified of becoming an adult to one who begins to accept that he must be able to live in an imperfect world.…
Central Park is a reoccurring location throughout the book where Holden reminisces about his childhood memories and his consistent curiosity about the ducks and their winter migration and survival patterns. Holden asks almost everyone he meets about the buring question in his brain of where the ducks go during the winter. Drunken Holden wanders to the park and remembers when he…
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…
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden reacts strongly to the song "Comin Thro' the Rye”. Upon hearing it on a sidewalk in New York, his interpretation of this song provides a deeper understanding of his mental state that ties in his values. Holden first hears this song through a young boy. Holden recalls, “he was walking in the street, instead of the sidewalk, but right next to the curb” (115). The little boy’s positioning near the sidewalk subconsciously stands out to Holden. In New York, the streets are busy with cars, making it dangerous for one not to walk on the sidewalk. The close proximity the boy is to with the sidewalk and to the street is symbolic for a child who is on the verge of losing their innocence. In a…
The novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger effectively communicates Holden's obsession with the future and his anxiousness about moving on from a negative past. The symbolism of the ducks and the ice covering the pond inspires the question of how any living thing can return to a place or person after tragic events or harsh circumstances take place. Holden’s personal losses that he attributes to his hometown adds to his mental debate about why returning to something is important in the process of moving on. The constant back and forth between Holden’s boarding schools and New York City arises the conflict of whether continuity or change creates a better future that one can later learn from and reflect on.…