Holden's obsession with innocence:
In J.D.Salinger's the catcher in the rye Thinking childish in its simplicity can lead anyone to the path of innocence. The protection of innocence is something that holden searches for in J.D. Salinger's novel the catcher in the rye which shows that he believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and should be protected from the adult world. Holden is wanting to protect the innocence of those people who he thinks are really innocent. In addition, holden himself is innocent. As, he does many things that show that he is still not mature enough and should protect himself. Finally, he is willing to save his younger sister phoebe’s innocence from the world of phonies.
Holden’s desire to save …show more content…
I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all”(salinger 173). In this quote holden reveals that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. According to the the passage holden wants to catch all those little kids playing in the rye. In addition, he thinks that children are still innocent and not mature enough to protect themselves from the phoniness of the adult world so he wants to be their catcher in the rye and wants to protect them. Holden searching for innocence and trying to preserve it is also evident in his relationship with jane gallagher. “jane was different. i was kissing her all over her face except her mouth and all. she sort of wouldn't let me get to her mouth”(salinger 79). This quote shows that to holden jane represents as innocent love. She is not like those other girls, for this reason she is one of those few …show more content…
The symbolism of the red hunting hat. “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kind of crazy hats. She didn't want to take it, but I made her. I'll bet she slept with it on. She really likes those kind of hats..." (180).This is symbolic of him trying to protect her from the phoniness of the adult world. Since this hat has been protecting him from the phoniness in the real world , he now wants to pass that on to his little sister who will soon be growing up. He thinks that this red hunting hat will keep her innocent. As being the catcher in the rye holden is concerned with protecting the innocence of her sister. “But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody'd written "F you" on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them – all cockeyed, naturally – what it meant, and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days” (salinger 173). holden knows that phoebe is innocent and to keep her that way he tries to be her catcher in the rye. When he erases the f word written on the walls of the school it shows that he tries to prevent her from learning about that. Moreover, Phoebe represents childhood innocence and honesty. She put the dough in my hand. "Hey, I don't