Symbolism of Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is a book narrated by a 17 year old boy named Holden Caulfield who remains curious and naive throughout the story he tells. The story begins with Holden explaining how he was kicked out of a prep school and then takes us through his Christmas in New York while he waits until his parents have been notified of his expulsion. During the time he tries to keep himself busy in order to avoid his parents, he manages to experience many things for the first time and be able to act like he's been through it all before. Holden is an immature boy who in trying to seem older tends to lean more towards phoniness, a quality he despises in others. Little things, such as his interest with the ducks in central park and the glass cases in the museum were not just put in to the story to fill pages, it has meaning behind it. Therefore, the symbolism in Catcher in the Rye adds to the plot and makes for a more interesting story.

Allie Caulfield is Holden's younger brother, and he died of leukemia before he had the chance to grow up. Allie remains a very important figure in Holden's life and symbolizes innocence. When Allie died, Holden was so upset that he broke all the windows in his family's garage and ended up breaking his hand. He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but he did not care because Allie was so important to him.

"My hand still hurts me once in a while, when it rains and all,

and I can't make a real fist any more - not a tight one, I mean - but

outside of that I don't care much."

-pg. 39

The significance of the above quote is that Allie still affects him. His hand might hurt in the rain because of his reaction after Allie's death, but Holden himself hurts because Allie was such a good person. Allie was intelligent, but innocent as well, and this is what Holden strives to be. Allie adds to Holden's depression because he was entirely good in Holden's mind. He was smart, funny, patient and creative, and Allie was not the only one whose innocence was lost the day he died.

The ducks in Central Park and where they go in the winter could easily be a part of the novel passed by without much thought if Holden had not mentioned it more than once. The ducks could be seen as significant in two different ways. Holden might not have cared where the ducks went, but rather was looking for an answer to help himself along the way. The ducks were similar to Holden in the sense that they might not have anywhere to go in winter, and he didn't have anywhere to go after getting kicked out of school. Holden could have been asking where the ducks went to see what the reactions of others would be. A very unsatisfactory answer from a cab driver left Holden aware that many people could not be bothered with such trivial things like the ducks. This cab driver responded in a very rude way.

"How the hell should I know?" he said. "How the hell should

I know a stupid thing like that?"

-pg. 82

Perhaps Holden was not skirting around looking for an answer to help him when asking about the ducks. Instead, Holden might have actually been curious, literally, about where