Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger, who tells a story of a teenage boy undergoing a period of confusion, just like every teenager. Trying to handle the aspect of growing up and gaining the feeling of comfort and confidence with who he is and his personality. In The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger implies symbols to express Holden’s struggles with immaturity throughout his whole life. In his opinion everyone is phony and fake. Holden acquires symbols that help him with confidence, comfort and growing up. The red hunting hat, the ducks in the pond, and the carousel are symbols that represent Holden’s struggle with coming of age that many teenagers also go through.
A very significant symbol to Holden’s individuality is the red hunting hat. …show more content…
While watching Phoebe, he let’s her take the risk and reach the gold ring, which means that he becomes more open to the process of maturing. When he thinks, “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids 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” (Salinger 211). Holden realizes that growing up is not that scary as he thought it was and that it is normal to mature and take risks in order to grow into adulthood. Hopefully with seeing Phoebe, Holden realizes that growing up is inevitable and there is nothing too scary about it. He compares it to the fall out of the carousel and he knows that it is not a big deal. Even though there are many symbols throughout the book, the red hunting hat, ducks in the pond and the carousel are significant to Holden. These are the important ones simply because they demonstrate the coming of age and Holden’s individuality. This helps the reader understand Holdens mentality and how growing up and taking responsibility confuses him. Also it is important to not only experience Holden’s journey to New York, and also understand his thought process and realizes how far he develops as a man by watching Phoebe
A very significant symbol to Holden’s individuality is the red hunting hat. …show more content…
While watching Phoebe, he let’s her take the risk and reach the gold ring, which means that he becomes more open to the process of maturing. When he thinks, “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids 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” (Salinger 211). Holden realizes that growing up is not that scary as he thought it was and that it is normal to mature and take risks in order to grow into adulthood. Hopefully with seeing Phoebe, Holden realizes that growing up is inevitable and there is nothing too scary about it. He compares it to the fall out of the carousel and he knows that it is not a big deal. Even though there are many symbols throughout the book, the red hunting hat, ducks in the pond and the carousel are significant to Holden. These are the important ones simply because they demonstrate the coming of age and Holden’s individuality. This helps the reader understand Holdens mentality and how growing up and taking responsibility confuses him. Also it is important to not only experience Holden’s journey to New York, and also understand his thought process and realizes how far he develops as a man by watching Phoebe