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In the race to reach adulthood some people pace themselves to the finish line and arrive on time. Others though, are given a head start but at some point realize they don t want it anymore. In J. D.
Salinger s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caufield wants to go backwards in the race to adulthood after the death of his brother Allie. Holden finds out though that once you move forward it is nearly impossible to move backwards leading to his mental breakdown. Using various symbols Salinger examines the mental state of Holden in his run from the finish line of adolescence. After the death of his brother Allie, Holden s main fear of adulthood is of having to enter it alone without guidance. This leads to Holden s preoccupation with the idea of the ducks in Central Park. He begins to question a cab driver, Horwitz, over it Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance...
The ducks. Do you know by any chance? (p. 81) He wants to know if they are aided and taken out of the water or do they fly away by themselves. The ducks are similar to Holden in his quest to adulthood, will he be guided or does he go alone? An adult who knows the expectations of adult life answers him, though.
Horwitz tosses aside the duck idea and responds with the idea of the fish in the lake. He says, They live right in the goddam ice. They get frozen right in one position for the whole winter. (p. 82) He proves the idea that as adults we need to accept both the positive and negative aspects of life. This is not what Holden wants to hear, he hopes for a mentor but from what he is told it is highly unlikely. Holden does not have a major adult or parental influence in his life and it scares him deeply.
Holden searches aimlessly for a reason to enjoy adulthood which he can t find leading to his fear of it. In the book others begin to notice Holden s fear of the future, mainly Mr. Antolini and his sister, Phoebe. Holden believes that a major default of being an adult is becoming a phony, a person who performs a task with double motives such as his brother D.
B. He is a writer who does it for the enjoyment partially but also does screenplays to be recognized and paid. Holden believes not to be phony he would have to be act very abstract- If I were a piano player, I d play it in the goddam closet (p. 84) He wages a personal war against everything which he believes is wrong with adults and encases himself in a shell from others. Due to this Mr.
Antolini tells him I have a feeling that you re riding for some kind of terrible, terrible fall. It may be the kind where, at the age of thirty, you sit in some bar hating everybody who comes in looking as if he might have played football in college. (p. 186) Holden s inward repressed feelings towards adulthood are coming out and others are seeing them in their many forms. Holden decides that he needs to protect young people from such experiences with adulthood as himself. He believes that he can keep children away from the harsh realities of life as if he were a catcher in the rye. In his dream he says, I m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. (p. 179) This cliff symbolizes the sharp and abrupt fall into adulthood that Holden foresees for others.
He tries to put his dream into fruition at the museum when he sees the graffiti. He thinks he should remove the graffiti because by doing so he will protect the children s innocence and therefore keep them from adulthood He removes one of the messages maintaining the children s innocence but a second one is impossible to remove. This is Holden s nightmare, he thinks he will be unable to catch the children who come upon this graffiti. Holden not only shows his fear of impending adulthood but also what brings it upon. In the race to adulthood Holden Caufield starts off with a handicap he may never surpass. With the death of his brother Holden feels as if he is tossed to the wolves.
He wonders whether he will be aided into adulthood, which causes an obsession with the ducks. Although through what he is told by Horwitz he thinks it is highly unlikely. This causes a fear and near bitterness to adulthood which others such as Mr. Antolini notice. Holden decides that others do not have to experience what he has and wants to become a catcher in the rye for others. His fear of impending adulthood is clearly shown by his use of various symbols.
Thus using various symbols Salinger has examined the state of Holden in his run from the finish line of adolescence.
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Research essay sample on Catcher In The Rye Holden Decides
