The Catcher in the Rye: Analysis of Innocence Essay

In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, analyzes his family as a representative slice of society. Consequently he concludes that adult society is "phony" and corrupt. Throughout the book the sour taste Holden suffers by his perception of this social scene leads him to confess his need to protect and maintain the innocence of childhood (whether it be his or other's). In Chapter Twenty Five particularly, the reader can find specific examples to demonstrate this as well as the character's extreme fear and despair about losing his child-like innocence.

Walking up Fifth Avenue through New York City, Holden is overcome with feelings of dread and panic as he steps off the curb to cross a street. While doing so he confesses to the reader that he has the feeling he will "never get to the other side of the street." He feels he was going to "just go down, down, down, and nobody'd ever see [him] again." This feeling of falling off the edge is an example of Salinger's use of symbolism. The feeling is symbolic of Holden's loss of innocence--for him there was no catcher in the rye.

It is at this point that Holden decides that he is not going back home or back to any school, but rather run away and live a life away from the "phonies". Before he leaves, Holden wants to say his farewells to his younger sister Phoebe. He heads toward her school with a note asking her to meet him at the museum at lunchtime. Walking through the halls of Phoebe's school as well as through their meeting place, Holden encounters the words fuck you written, and once carved, into places common for children. These words are symbolic to Holden. They sicken him. The words written in such commonplace for the children says a lot about the world to him. They demonstrate that the innocent world of children has already been infected by the profanities of the adult world. The innocence has been tainted, and he has failed that which he is trying to protect.

Phoebe shows at the appointed meeting place and tells Holden she wants to come with him. Holden, in what seems like an attempt to assuage her, tells her that he's not going West, he's changed his mind and will go home if she goes back to school. He further suggests she skip school that afternoon and hang out with him. They go to the zoo and there was a carousel with a gold ring that kids make a grab for. Phoebe rides it while Holden sits watching and begins to feel "damn happy". He seems to have come to a new conclusion about innocence and childhood. "The thing with kids," he states, " is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them." Here Salinger once again uses symbolism to explain Holden's perception of innocence. Here the gold ring represents adulthood and Holden comes to realize how he can start accepting the fact that kids have to grow up at some point, even himself.