What Is Holden's Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

In the beginning of Catcher in the Rye, Holden was extremely selfish and didn’t ever consider other people’s opinions and how they might feel. As the story has gone he has continued to move along he has failed to realize that not all people are phony and mean. He goes on the date and as they are going in to a cab he thinks, “I sort of hated old Sally by the time we got into the cab, after listening to phony Andover bastard for about ten hours” (140). Holden is trying to be friends with Sally, but realizes that it’s not going over well. Holden is beginning to realize that the people he is trying to be friends with are not working out for him because he does not allow himself to blend with people. He is getting himself deeper into isolation and

This reveals Holden trying to keep Janes innocence. Which ties in with the theme loss of innocence, which worries Holden. He feels as if Stradlater may take the innocence of Jane which makes him feeling upset. This is due to the that, he likes Jane and feels being innocent makes him like her more and taking that away might affect the way he looks at her.

In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the main character, Holden, cannot accept that he must move out of childhood and into adulthood. One of Holden’s most important major problems is his lack of maturity. Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood.

“All of a sudden, this girl came up to me and said, “Holden Caulfield!” Her name was Lillian Simmons. My brother D.B. used to go around with her for a while. She had very big knockers”(salinger 96). In “The Catcher in the Rye” Holden is portrayed as a whiny teenager that slacks off on his homework and performs illegal acts such as drinking and purchasing prostitutes. On top of that, another inappropriate characteristic Holden has is being sexist. The book itself is also sexist because of the way the main character thinks about women, the way the main character treats women, and the roles women play in the novel.

Innocence is something that people lose as they grow older from childhood into adolescence and then into adulthood and get more exposed to new things as they grow up. Innocence is important in the novel because it was the one thing that Holden was trying to hold on to by trying to save another person’s innocence but is also trying to lose his own. There are situations where there would be a loss of innocence and would influence Holden because he is transitioning from different stages of his life. In a coming of age story, losing innocence is a sign of growing up and change. This is seen through characters that have effected Holden in a way, just like how Allie’s death showed him the harsh reality of life, and symbols like the record he

Sex is something he gains new understandings about and he learns that it is something natural, but complex and not all it appears to be. For example, Sunny is a prostitute who Holden calls up to his room out of desperation. He’s so lonely that he’s just looking for conversation, but he’s searching in the wrong place. Holden admits earlier on in the novel, “sex is something I really don’t understand too hot” (Salinger 82). Sunny is young and sees her as a person who needs protection, however he expected someone who is a prostitute to be older. From this situation Holden learns that he needs the moment to be right and an emotional connection to have sex, that for him it is not something that can be casual although for others it might be.

There is only one experience that unites every single person in the world. Many people in the world can agree that it isn’t always the greatest experience, and many people have an extremely hard time getting through it, but every single adult goes through the act of ‘growing up’. For many, the transition can be very depressing, and confusing. When a child is young becoming an adult seems to be enjoyable and exciting, but it isn’t until that child is forced into the cruel, harsh world where the innocence of childhood can be appreciated and missed. The novel Catcher in the Rye explores how teenagers who are nearing adulthood see the adult world to be incomprehensible. J.D Salinger illustrates the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of transitioning into adulthood using Holden Caulfield.

Salinger uses prostitution as a symbol for Holden’s yearning for intimacy and maturity. One night when he is arriving back at his hotel, a man approaches him offering a prostitute and Holden accepts. Holden then reveals to the reader that he is a virgin, but he tries to maintain his smooth attitude by saying he has “had quite a few opportunities to lose [his] virginity and all, but [he’s] never got around to it yet” (Salinger 92). He wants people to see him as sexually experienced because sex depicts his idea of manhood. When Sunny the prostitute arrives in his room, he gives her the fake name Jim Steele because he believes it makes him sound older and manly. Despite

The Catcher in the Rye was about Holden, who admires in children attributes that he struggles to find in adults to talk to him and he is undergoing treatment in a mental hospital. Holden Caulfield,who is 16 year old teenager went to three schools, but fails four of his five subjects only passed English he also struggles with the fact that everyone has to grow up. In the novel, Holden tells the reader through a few days of his life, in which he flaunts his hostile environments. Throughout the book,

In the famous, but often times previously banned novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, seventeen year old Holden Caulfield is trying to find his sense of direction in a world where he describes the majority of people in his life as phony. As the first chapter begins, it is clear Holden is currently living in a mental institution, although the reasoning behind so is never directly stated, the reader can infer it may have to do with Holden's depression troubles. For the most part, Holden's troubles are to blame on his own actions, he fails to realize his irresponsibly is the major cause of the negative aspects in his life. Holden's troubles of being an academic layabout and being reclusive seem to center from his biggest issue

The death of Holden’s brother also take a significant toll on him and his innocence. The death of his brother sparks off the road to the loss of Holden’s innocence, and Holden starts realizing the phoniness in people. Holden labels everyone who is “corrupted” and not pure to themselves as phonies. Holden depicts almost everyone as fake and not true to themselves, except Allie and Phoebe. When describing Allie Holden says “it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest …. God, he was a nice kid, though”. In Holden’s eyes Allie represents innocence and this confuses Holden because how can something so innocent die so young? Another death that changed Holden is James Castle a boy that committed

Holden’s view of life is that it can be very cruel and unfair. The origin of this thinking is from his younger brother Allie. He feels guilty that he is essentially wasting his life away, while Allie died so very young of Leukemia. This is a huge part of his entire journey. Holden always describes Allie as a very smart and kind person that he looked up to, which is why he feels life is so cruel.

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger, Salinger takes us into the mind of Holden, an immature, troubled young boy in 1950’s New York. Throughout Holden’s journey, Salinger expresses his urge to protect the young and innocent. Holden has this urge because when he was going through a traumatic event his parents never guided or helped him, instead they sent him away to a boarding school and he never wanted anyone else to feel as depressed and secluded as he did and is still experiencing. His actions makes us wonder if there is truly an extent to protecting the vulnerable. Should we keep our children sheltered and ignorant to the world, to the point where the do not know the simple meaning of f you or should we push them away, like Holden’s parents, and let them figure things out for themselves? No matter what we feel is right, we can not deny the fact that for a person in a healthy and balanced way, they must be guided by a guardian or a mentor. Whether the mentor or guardian is a good influence or a bad one, they would help mold a child’s personality with their teachings and guidance. Salinger shows us how important it is to remember that however one raises a child, that child will reflect how the guardians personality. Salinger shows us, in a detailed and realistic way, how crucial it is to guide the next generation.

Holden checks into the Edmont Hotel in Manhattan, where he hired a young prostitute named Sunny, but didn’t sleep with her. The scene depicts Holden’s struggle of coming to adulthood. Holden thought that by sleeping with a prostitute would make him a man. However, when he was confronted in the burgeoning sexual situation, he yielded. After all he is still just a kid. “The trouble was, I just didn’t want to do it. I felt more depressed than

him some type of emotional security. Holden is not comfortable showing a vulnerable side to others and sometimes goes to extreme measures, like alienating himself, to avoid becoming hurt. This idea becomes apparent when Holden decides to hire a prostitute. When Sunny first arrives, Holden lies to her about his name and age, building up Holden’s disguise that he creates with his , sex. In “the scene with sunny [it] reveals that Holden is not ready for sexual relationships-- he is a “sex maniac” only in his head…” (Miller).