Holden Caulfield Red Hunting Hat Theme

Reaching the very end of the novel there are several events that lead up to the conclusion that Holden evolves as a dynamic character. The last few contributions include Holden sitting in the rain while Phoebe goes on the carousel, and finally when readers learn Holden must have entered some sort of a mental institution. While waiting for Phoebe he sits on a bench as it starts raining and thinks to himself, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway. I didn’t care, though.”(Salinger 213). One of the symbolic objects Holden keeps throughout the novel is the hat because it is comforting and gives him the feeling of protection. In this particular part of the novel it is clear that the hat can no longer protect him from entering the adult world. An English novelist Malcolm Bradbury expresses his opinion when writing, “Some seem to suggest a role for Holden in relation to childhood—he can be a catcher in the rye, the adult who is the protector of childish innocence. Over these episodes, Holden obviously develops and his attitudes change. He is hunting for his own

While Holden was in New York for a fencing competition, he purchased a red hunting hat and this hat has come up numerous times during important parts of the story. For example, when Holden was writing about Allie’s baseball mitt and after he left Pencey. Holden wears his hat as a way to show who he really is, even though he is not comfortable wearing it in public , “I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it,”(Salinger 68). Although Holden feels embarrassed when he wears his hat out in public it is a way for him to feel more confident in his own skin rather than being depressed all the time. The red hunting hat is a symbol shown again and again about who Holden really is as a person. It shows that he likes and enjoys doing unusual things, but at the same time is cautious about where he wears his favorite

In Phoebe’s room, after Phoebe found out that Holden had been kicked out of another school, Phoebe accuses Holden of disliking everything. She says, “You don’t like anything that’s happening… You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t” (page 169). Phoebe points out what Holden has been doing throughout the novel. He has been pushing everything away: his friends, his education, and his parents. He always finds a way to dislike someone or something and dismisses them or it. Holden wonders why he’s always lonely and depressed, but he has never reached this conclusion. Another part of Holden Phoebe unintentionally points out is his red hunting hat, Holden wears the hat for confidence, as we can see in the novel when he put it on after the fight with Stradlater and after he lost the fencing team’s equipment in New York. Holden states: “I took my old hunting hat out of my pocket while I walked, and put it on. I knew I wouldn’t meet anybody that knew me” (page 122). Holden puts the hat on in moments when he feels vulnerable, but he doesn’t want people he’s familiar with to see him with the hat on. When Phoebe puts the red hunting hat on Holden, she’s telling Holden to embrace the confidence he gets from it. Throughout the novel, Holden is aware that he has had issues with people and himself, but Phoebe brings to light that he is the reason he dislikes everything

Holden’s red hat represents his individuality and his interactions with it and Phoebe show how he no longer wants it. Salinger writes, “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her” (180). This quote not only shows how Holden no longer wants to be different but how he really want to give his sister the chance to be unique and express herself. He has given up on trying to be himself, even by when he is alone. Salinger writes, “The reason I saw her, she had my crazy hunting hat on-you could see that hat about ten miles away” (205). Holden is saying that being unique makes him stand out, but unlike how

When it is over, both Holden and Stradlater are left in physical pain. “I kept sitting there on the floor till I heard old Stradlater close the door and go down the corridor to the can, then I got up. I couldn’t find my goddam hunting hat anywhere. Finally I found it… I put it on, and turned the old peak around to the back, the way I liked it” (45). The fight that Holden has with Stradlater is about Stradlater going out on a date with Holden’s friend Jane Gallagher. Holden gets upset with Stradlater for doing that because he thinks that Stradlater will cause Jane to lose her innocence. After Holden puts his hat on he stops thinking about Jane’s innocence and about his face, a more rational, less emotional subject. At another time Holden’s hunting hat allows him to show his emotions. Holden decides to leave Pencey early, as he is leaving he is very emotional. “I was sort of crying…I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’ (52). In this passage Holden is crying because he is leaving a school that he has been kicked out of, and going back to New York to be by himself for awhile. When he puts on his hunting hat it allows him to speak freely and emotionally, saying “sleep tight ya morons,” to his classmates.

The hat makes Holden feel protected as if he does not need anyone. It is like the way a pacifier or a teddy bear works to comfort a child. Holden says, “After he left, I put on my pajamas and bathrobe and my old hunting hat, and started writing the composition” (49). Holden writes this intricate composition about his brother’s baseball mitt. He waits until his roommate leaves in order to wear the hat and it makes him feel protected. It is odd that he wears his hat inside, but it just reinforces the fact that the hat symbolizes the will to describe his emotions. He manages to write a heartfelt paper in which his brother’s memory becomes a vivid reality for him. Holden remains attached to the image of his brother. He cares about his siblings immensely and he finds a way to always carry them along with him. His red hunting hat is a representation of his brother Allie that died of leukemia in his innocence. Both of his siblings have red hair and the color of his hunting hat is red. Holden reflects that, “People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did and he had very red hair” (50). He buys this hat to remember the memories of innocence and love he shared with his brother. The hat is also a reminder that the only sibling he has left is Phoebe and she is dear to his heart because of her innocence and

Holden visits his parents apartment because he wanted to see his little sister. Holden has to sneak into the apartment because if his parents see that he ditched school his father will “kill him”. He talks to Phoebe but Holden can’t stay their for a long time because soon his parents will wake up. As Holden is leaving, he passes Phoebe the red hunting hat; “Then I took my hunting hat out of my coat pocket and gave it to her. She likes those kinds of crazy hats. She didn’t want to take it, but I made her.”(Salinger,198). Phoebe is a very mature girl for her age, she is very smart and initiative. She is also very aware of her surrounding and reality, slowly losing her innocence. Holden as a big brother wants to protect and try to save her innocence. Holden “makes her” take the red hunting hat because he doesn’t want what happened to him, happen to her. He wants her experience her childhood and not race to adulthood. Phoebe at first is hesitant because she wants to live her own life. However Holden is scared of her falling out the rye, meaning going to adulthood. The fact that he gave her his favorite hat that he uses for protection show how he also wants her to be protected from the corruption of the outside world. Holden doesn’t just the desire of innocence but to preserve his sister's

In terms of the hunting hat, Holden put it on his head and claimed “I didn’t give a damn how I looked” yet when he entered the train car, he took the hat off. Possibly, because he somehow felt foolish with it on. If he truly didn't care how he looked with the hat on then he wouldn’t have felt the need to exclaim it. The hat seems to have some significance to Holden. I assumed it represented Allie because Allie’s hair was red and the hunting hat was also red. The themes of lying and deception are evinced when he lies to the lady on the train about his identity claiming his name was Rudolf Schmidt and that he had a brain tumor. Holden seems to struggle between adulthood and childhood. In this instance, he portrays himself as someone older when he asks the lady if she would “care for a cocktail” and when he invites her to go clubbing. His interaction with the lady shows that maybe he isn’t as socially awkward as he’s

The red hunting hat is the same colour as Holden’s younger siblings Phoebe and Allie’s hair - red. This is not a coincidence as these characters are two of the people that Holden values and appreciates the most in his life. The hunting hat brings out the qualities that Holden admires most in Phoebe and Allie, one of them being their unique red hair. The hat specifically plays a key role in the changing relationship between Phoebe and Holden. Throughout the story, Holden has consistently mentioned Phoebe and has left readers wondering about her character. Closer to the end of the novel, Holden finally comes back to his apartment and has a conversation with Phoebe. During their talk, they discuss Holden’s views on society, as well as his likes. Holden decides to “[take his] red hunting hat out of [his] pocket and [give] it to Phoebe” (198). At first, she [does not] want to take it, but [Holden makes] her” (199). This exchange grants the idea that Holden is not afraid of phoniness anymore, so there is no need for him to alienate and protective himself with the red hunting hat. He feels that Phoebe can benefit more from the hat and the protection that is associated with it. Holden often talks about wanting to be a “catcher in the rye,” and save young children from losing their innocence, similarly to how the hat saves him from phoniness. One of

There is also a sense of self-consciousness that surrounds the hat as well. Holden never fails to mention when he is going to wear the hat and even removes the hat when he is going to be around people he knows, because "it was corny" but he "liked it that way." His self-consciousness of his hat therefore introduces a new component to the theme: Holden's want for isolation versus his desire for companionship.

First, because Holden’s hat is so unique looking, he uses it as a way to set himself apart from all the fake people in the world. Holden looks down upon people who conform to society’s expectations, so he wears his silly looking hat to make himself feel special. Second, Holden’s hat represents his desire to emulate his late brother Allie. Holden idolizes Allie because “he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest” (43). Because Allie is dead, he would not be able to disappoint Holden or show himself to be a phony. Holden’s hat is childish which connects to Allie, because Allie dies of leukemia when he was young. The hat also physically represents Allie because Allie was a red-head and the hunting hat is read. Holden’s red hunting hat is used by Salinger to represent Holden’s desire to be different and his desire to connect with his. late brother,

Holden's hunting hat also shows symbolism of different moods and feelings he may be experiencing. First, the fact that it was a "hunting hat" symbolizes that he is searching for himself. And second, there is a pattern as to the way he wears he hat. When he is in a lost and depressed mood he would "turn peak around to the back" (Salinger 45), when he was in a good mood he would "pull the peak…around to the front" (Salinger 34). There is no specific sequence in these changes, his hat turns with his mood. It is as if the hat is directing him and comforting him in his quest to find himself.

One of the literary devices in this novel is symbolism. Holden’s red hunting hat is the symbolic feature that alienates him from society. Ackley tells Holden “Up home we wear a hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake… That’s a deer shooting hat” (Salinger 30), meaning Holden’s hat is only worn while hunting. Holden does not seem to care much for Ackley’s opinion and he wears it anyways. This shows Holden’s individuality and his uncommon desire compared

Holden likes things that remain constant, things that don’t change. Holden’s interactions are sabotaged by his resentment of “phoniness” and his prominent and overly judgemental side. He only shows his caring side, when he is comfortable. This can also connect with his red hunting hat which could possibly symbolize protection. In the book, Holden finds a bad word written on the walls of his younger sister’s school.

The red hunting hat was the initial symbol presented in the novel. The hat served as a form of individuality and a blocker for Holden. Since the hat was bizarre, it separated Holden from the “phony” crowd and preserve his innocence. Which also expatiate upon the fact that Holden takes the hat off when around the people he knows. (E.g. "I took my old hunting hat out … and put it on. I knew I wouldn't meet anybody that knew me"). One thing that is certain is the fact that Holden likes Allie, Phoebe, and this hat, and the fact that Allie and Phoebe’s hair is red similar to the hat.