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Throughout the book The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger uses many symbols to explain in a deeper way what Holden Caulfield is feeling. Three symbols that Salinger uses represent anti change and things staying the same. The Museum of Natural History is an example of things staying the same. The carousel at the zoo, that Phoebe rides in the end of the story, also never changes.
The job that Holden would like to have, being the catcher in the rye symbolizes him wanting to stop change from happening. In the book, Holden comes across as the type of person who is anti change and wants his surroundings to stay the same. The Museum of Natural History is a big example that Holden dislikes change. Every floor and every showcase stage in the museum never changes. Everything put on display in the museum stays like that the whole time; nothing is ever moved or replaced by something else. Holden likes it this way.
The best thing though, in the museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody d move. You could go there a hundred times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish. Pg. 121 Holden says this as he is looking around at the displays at the museum. The way Holden likes the museum never changing, shows not only does Holden s dislike for change in himself, but his dislike for change in his surroundings.
Holden, when talking to his sister, reveals the job he would like to have. Holden says that the perfect job for him would be to watch little kids play in a field of rye and if they ever got to close to the edge, he would be the one who caught them and took them back to safety. Holden would like to be the catcher in the rye. I m standing on the edge of this cliff, what I have to do, I have to catch everybody, if they start to go over the cliff.
Pg. 173 Holden is seeing the cliff as the cliff of change and if anybody goes to close to the edge, then they will take a step in their life and change. Holden doesn t like change, even in his surroundings, so he would love to have a job that would prevent people around him from changing. Almost towards the end of the story, Holden walks over to the zoo with his sister Phoebe. When they get there, Phoebe sees the carousel and wants to go ride it.
When Holden sees the carousel, he notices one thing about it that has always stayed the same. It played the same song about 50 years ago when I was a little kid Pg. 210 Holden likes the music staying the same. That s the one nice thing about carousels, they always play the same songs. Pg. 210 The carousel is also another example of how Holden likes when his surroundings stay the same. In the book, The Catcher in the Rye, J.
D. Salinger gives Holden Caulfield the personality of being against change. Holden dislikes change around him. Holden loves the idea of everything staying put, music staying the same, and kids never changing. Holden is the type of person, who copes with change with difficulty.
If Holden can t deal with change within himself, then it is very difficult for him to also deal with change around him at the same time. Salinger made the character, Holden Caulfield, very anti change in the book, The Catcher in the Rye.
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Research essay sample on J D Salinger Catcher In The Rye
