“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” (Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind) Patrick Rothfuss analyses how childhood innocence and the lack of responsibility can be irresistible. For some, transitioning from the simplicity of youth to the daunting reality of adulthood can be a demanding task. Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye and Seymour Glass in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” are two such people. As he lives out his secluded lifestyle in New Hampshire, JD Salinger studies the challenges that people take on as their innocence starts to fade. Salinger proves that every individual
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Holden notices words of profanity written on the walls of Phoebe’s school and is horrified: “Somebody’d written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it…If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘Fuck you’ signs in the world” (Catcher 201). Holden is deeply disturbed at the thought of children being corrupted by the phrase “Fuck you.” He immediately jumps to scratch out the crude phrase because he hates the idea of it corrupting the innocence of Phoebe and her classmates. Holden truly believes that it is his responsibility to save the children from depravity, even though he gradually starts to understands that saving every child is not possible. He wants to protect all of the innocent from the pain of adult corruption. The Museum of Natural History is one of Holden’s favorite childhood memories. As he contemplates his youth, Holden grasps the reason why he loved it so much: “The best thing though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…the only thing that would be different is you” (Catcher 121). Holden relishes the idea of everything remaining perpetually unchanged. Although, Holden does admit that he is different. The museum never changes but the people do, and Holden is less pure than the last time he visited. Stopping by …show more content…
For some, the realization of the end of childhood is more challenging than for others. After Phoebe and Holden have their big fight, they both go to the zoo to ride the carousels. Phoebe gladly climbs onto a plastic horse, but Holden says, “‘Maybe I will next time. I’ll watch ya.’ I went over and sat down on the bench, and she went and got on the carousel” (Catcher 211). Holden’s encouragement for Phoebe to ride the carousel without him symbolizes his acceptance of becoming an adult. Holden now recognizes that his transition to maturity means he can no longer participate in childlike pastimes such as carousel riding. Instead, Holden sees that Phoebe is supposed to be the innocent one, and not him. As Phoebe extends her arm to touch the gold ring on the carousel, Holden comes to the conclusion that he cannot protect all children from the burdens of adulthood. Watching Phoebe, Holden finally accepts that growing up is a part of life, and the loss of innocence cannot be avoided. He sees that he cannot catch every kid before they fall over the Rye, and he would not have been able to catch Allie, even with his fielder’s mitt. By way of contrast, the process does not go quite as smoothly for Seymour Glass: “He released the magazine, looked at it, then reinserted it. He cocked the piece. Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through
Holden notices words of profanity written on the walls of Phoebe’s school and is horrified: “Somebody’d written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it…If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn’t rub out even half the ‘Fuck you’ signs in the world” (Catcher 201). Holden is deeply disturbed at the thought of children being corrupted by the phrase “Fuck you.” He immediately jumps to scratch out the crude phrase because he hates the idea of it corrupting the innocence of Phoebe and her classmates. Holden truly believes that it is his responsibility to save the children from depravity, even though he gradually starts to understands that saving every child is not possible. He wants to protect all of the innocent from the pain of adult corruption. The Museum of Natural History is one of Holden’s favorite childhood memories. As he contemplates his youth, Holden grasps the reason why he loved it so much: “The best thing though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…the only thing that would be different is you” (Catcher 121). Holden relishes the idea of everything remaining perpetually unchanged. Although, Holden does admit that he is different. The museum never changes but the people do, and Holden is less pure than the last time he visited. Stopping by …show more content…
For some, the realization of the end of childhood is more challenging than for others. After Phoebe and Holden have their big fight, they both go to the zoo to ride the carousels. Phoebe gladly climbs onto a plastic horse, but Holden says, “‘Maybe I will next time. I’ll watch ya.’ I went over and sat down on the bench, and she went and got on the carousel” (Catcher 211). Holden’s encouragement for Phoebe to ride the carousel without him symbolizes his acceptance of becoming an adult. Holden now recognizes that his transition to maturity means he can no longer participate in childlike pastimes such as carousel riding. Instead, Holden sees that Phoebe is supposed to be the innocent one, and not him. As Phoebe extends her arm to touch the gold ring on the carousel, Holden comes to the conclusion that he cannot protect all children from the burdens of adulthood. Watching Phoebe, Holden finally accepts that growing up is a part of life, and the loss of innocence cannot be avoided. He sees that he cannot catch every kid before they fall over the Rye, and he would not have been able to catch Allie, even with his fielder’s mitt. By way of contrast, the process does not go quite as smoothly for Seymour Glass: “He released the magazine, looked at it, then reinserted it. He cocked the piece. Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through