Through this story, he tells about his mental problems and gets some flashbacks to remember his experiences. The symbol of rain has appeared many times throughout the book. The most significant death was the death of his younger brother, Allie. Allie's Baseball Mitt: Holden chooses to describe his younger brother's baseball mitt, covered in poems, for the composition he writes for his roommate, Stradlater. Holden understands on some level one of the most profound truths of mortal life: the superficial matters little because it will not last, yet it is made to seem so much more important. I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over.
The first stage Holden goes through is anger. Holden explains to Phoebe that all he wants to be is the catcher in the rye. What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. The taunting nature of the phrase represents his own inability to protect himself from the trials of adulthood. As a result, he has isolated himself and fears intimacy. The fall from the cliff represents the fall from innocence. The judgment he places on them prevents him from forming meaningful relationships.
Holden truly admires the personality Allie had a. The intensity of his raging adolescent hormones makes him think that somehow sex would be joined with that same depth of love for a another person, though in reality sex comes all too easily with money rather than authentic feeling. He rubs it out with his hand so the kids at the school won't be exposed to it and wonder what it means. Even so, Holden desperately continues searching for new relationships, always undoing himself only at the last moment. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap.
He probably felt that the hat was a means of maintaining a connection to them. You're by no means alone on that score. Holden's Red Hunting Hat: Holden's hat symbolizes his independence. What makes The Catcher in the Rye unique, however, is not the fact that Holden is an alienated teenager, but its extremely accurate and nuanced portrayal of the causes, benefits, and costs of his isolation. I felt like jumping out the window. The museum scenario has the same meaning as the fish in the frozen pond, he would be the only one in a frozen world around him.
It represents Holden's inability to prevent the loss of innocence in others. He just keeps falling and falling. In this Chapter Holden first poses the question of why did Allie have to die at such a. The problem, however, is that Holden assumes everybody is suffering. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right—I'll admit that. It follows the story of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old adolescent boy. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles.
But it's in my goddam blood, tap-dancing. He faces these problems with a kind of naivety that prevents him from fully understanding why it is that he is so depressed. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Analysis: Holden says this in reference to Allie. Holden knew James well enough for the death to leave a mark on him. To Holden, The Museum of Natural History represents consistency. He wants the world to be like the museum, static and unchanging.
Spencer, or Carl Luce, or Sally, but then his fear of human interaction reasserts itself and he does his best to insult or make the very people he wants to connect with angry at him. The first stage Holden goes through is anger. In a cab on the way to the Edmont Hotel Holden asks the cab driver if he knows what happens to the ducks in the lake in Central Park during the winter. One of the most ironic things about this scene with the rain is that it is almost identical to when. Feel free to share your favorite quotes from The Catcher in the Rye by clicking on the comment button at the top of the page.
Allie had a very big part in Holdens life and Holden considered Allie to be his best friend and the one who knew him best, therefore was Allies death very hard for Holden to deal with and the night of Allies death Holden went out to the garage and smashed all the windows and later he had to be hospitalized. He feels too deeply about the world, about people, to truly shut down. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. When he finally does fall in love with , he soon discovers that Stradlater has a date with her, which confirms his suspicion that everything he loves eventually deteriorates. The events that have transpired in his short life have turned him into almost an outcast in society.
The Museum of Natural History The symbolism in The Catcher In The Rye can be seen with the mention of the Museum of Natural History. Then what happens to them? Positive relationships in A Streetcar Named Desire. Conclusion Symbolism in a catcher in the rye is commonly reflected upon. Even his body is telling him that he has to become an adult. She was a very nice, polite little kid. It represents Holden's desire to keep everything the same.
The Catcher in the Rye. The only thing that would be different would be you. Holden mistakes the words in the song, much in the same way he mistakes the cause of his torment--it comes from himself, not from others. The fact that he often takes it off when around people he knows highlights his conflict between wanting isolation and wanting companionship. That means life is simple and straightforward, no complications such as death. At the Museum, the exhibits can be considered frozen in time and unchanging. Holden experiences two deaths prior to the events in the novel that impact him profoundly.