The Catcher in the Rye: Metaphors
In The Catcher in the Rye, there are several metaphors that display Holden’s need to protect innocence. The first, most obvious example is when Holden explains his vision of standing in a rye field, catching children before they fall off a cliff. Holden wants to save the children from what is beyond the cliff: an artificial and corrupt adult world. This metaphor shows Holden’s desire to stop time and preserve the playful, innocent nature of children. Further, Holden says, “nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me.” This quote suggests that Holden sees himself as the only responsible/genuine person around. He constantly isolates himself from kids his age and from adults because they are too phony to care about preserving innocence. That’s why he’s the only one standing in the field to catch the children.
Another example where Holden shows a connection to innocence is when he sees a child standing on a curbside, singing the catcher in the rye tune. The child here represents innocence moving against the harsh reality of the world. The cars flying by the curbside which could hit the child at any minute represent the surrounding dangers of a corrupt world which the child isn’t aware of yet. The child’s parents ignore the danger of the cars flying by, just as the adults (in Holden’s perspective) do not usually “pay attention” to the phoniness and corruption of the world.
The ducks at the pond serve as another metaphor of innocence in the novel. When Holden asks the cab driver where the ducks go and if the fish can survive, the cab driver thinks he’s insane. The driver then explains that the fish simply freeze and go on living once the winter has passed. He also explains, “it’s in their nature.” Here, the fish and ducks represent children, and the winter represents the passage from childhood to adulthood. Holden cannot conceptualize the fact that the fish and ducks are able to survive the winter because it’s too rough of a transition to survive. Similarly, Holden can't see himself going through the terrible process of becoming a “phony” adult. At first, Holden believes that the ducks somehow get “rescued” before the winter. However, the ducks and fish must endure the winter without being rescued just as Holden must grow up without being rescued. Every child grows up whether they want to or not… “It’s in their nature”. The duck metaphor shows that a period of transition isn’t everlasting. Change comes and goes in a cycle (the winter comes once a year), and it is possible to survive change. However, Holden still cannot grasp the inevitability of adulthood.
Holden is a very complex character, and I think he really struggles with his identity in the contexts of childhood and adulthood. Holden hates the things associated with adulthood, such as phoniness, but goes to great lengths to distinguish himself from other children. Holden also adores children, especially Phoebe) and sees himself as a protective figure over their innocence. But hen Phoebe tells him to "shut up," Holden is horrified, and internally freaks out at her usage of 'adult' language. In reality, Holden's self appointed role as a protector of children is a reflection of him holding onto the last moments of his own adolescence.
ReplyDeleteHolden does seem really torn between his obsession with childhood and his desire to be seen as an adult without the baggage of being one. He talks about looking like an adult and being mistaken for one but also how he looks and acts very immature. He often wants to be served alcohol in bars but isn't because he looks like a child. He also doesn't want to graduate or move onto adulthood in any meaningful way. Yet he doesn't really seem happy in this in-between teenage space either. I really like the way you have connected a bunch of events together as metaphors for his struggling with this process.
ReplyDeleteWow, I really like the metaphors and examples you gave here tying in innocence and Holden's need to preserve it. The way the taxi drivers react to his question, often getting annoyed or upset and asking why it's important, also seems to show how no one else really understands why Holden is so focused on this transition, because it seems like such a natural and just inevitable thing to them. The taxi drivers don't actually seem to 100% know how the fish and ducks pass through the winter, it's just something that happens and is never thought much about. Which kind of shows Holden's tendency to overthink or overanalyze things sometimes. Although I will say that with that metaphor, it does paint the transition to adulthood as a hardship or something to be weathered through, because even though these animals can survive through the winter, it's still often hard or requires quite a bit of work.
ReplyDeleteI think the duck metaphor is a multilayered one. Despite how much he talks about them there is a noticeable absence of them. Ducks in literature, I think, represent losing control of your emotions or needing a reality check. Holden only talks about them in the worst times of the book (kicked out of school, bar hopping late at night, and drunk after getting chewed out). He won't survive the transition to adulthood because nobody is there to give him a reality check.
ReplyDeleteI feel like his way of thinking that he is the only one looking out for the children and their innocence shows how he feels like he is the only one in the world who understands the gravity of this situation and has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Also, with the duck metaphor, I think it shows how Holden looks for the easy way out which goes along with his avoidance of adulthood. He doesn't really understand that sometimes in life you must go through possibly rough events and times in your life, which is shown when he is so surprised that the ducks and fish don't get rescued during winter and instead have to endure through it.
ReplyDeleteThe metaphor about catching children from falling off a cliff shows really well how he sees adults and other phonies, ones that were once innocent but have fallen off of a cliff like everyone else. It's interesting how the author makes us fond of Holden, but at the same time makes us recognize that his philosophies have problems, by giving him the "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" mentality and by tying in scenes like with the cab driver that show what everyone else thinks of him.
ReplyDeleteI really like your analysis here, it helped bring a lot of parts of the book together in a meaningful way. I think someone could say it's almost selfless that Holden would sacrifice his innocence for the innocence of other, younger children, but that person wouldn't be me. I do, however, think it's very meaningful that he contemplates innocence in most aspects of his life, as he know inevitably there will be an absence of it.
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