In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger portrays a lost and confused teenager named Holden Caulfield; who is trying to find his place in life after getting kicked out of school. After going to New York to escape his annoying peers; he meets a series of people in the city that helps him find his goal in life. His dream was to be the Catcher in the Rye and preserve childhood innocence, but this dream was later destroyed with the realization that children must lose their innocence in order to grow up. Throughout the book Salinger uses an array of items that symbolize Holden’s position and thoughts on the world. One of the significant objects mentioned by Salinger is money. In J.D Salinger’s the Catcher in the Rye money is significant because it symbolizes the unfairness in society. In the novel money is constantly spent and earned with both a greedy and sympathetic mindset.
To begin with, money is often earned and given to people with the worst morality. One of Pencey’s alumni Ossenburger is an extremely rich and powerful man, yet according to Holden Ossenburger is wealthy because of bad morale and trickery. “…you could get members of your family members for about five bucks apiece…” “He probably just shoves them in sacks and dumps them in the river anyway.” (22) This is an example of the negative examples of society. The family of the deceased are trusting Ossemburger with a beloved member of their family. Yet, Ossenburger betrays their trust by dumping the dead into the river. Holden is disgusted by this as Ossenburger fails to obey even the most basic of morals to make money and to get rich. This opens the eyes of Holden and connects to the theme of losing childhood innocence. This makes Holden realize that society is full of greedy and toxic people, and initiates his mental breakdown in the book. Additionally, the mother of one of Holden’s peers is a