Holden Caulfield Innocence

The innocence of childhood is eventually lost and cannot be protected forever. In life, everyone has a fall from innocence, after which no one remains the same. In J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel wants to desperately hold on to the innocence in children. Because Holden is often faced with the harsh realities of adulthood and the world, he is compelled to preserve innocence. These feelings come from the loss of his younger brother Allie who died of leukemia at the age of eleven when Holden was thirteen. The moment Allie died, Holden lost his innocence and has not been able to come to terms with his brother's death. He cannot bear the death of pure innocence that had no reason to die. In Holden's …show more content…
This angers Holden and he thinks how, “Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they would wonder what the hell it meant...and how they`d all think about it and maybe worry about it for a couple of days” (Salinger 201). The curse words written on the wall symbolize the loss of innocence that Holden fears. The curse words show that the children in school are being exposed to something that is mature, forcing them up to grow quickly and causing them to lose their innocence. The swear words expose the children to the corrupt adulthood. What Holden loves and admires about his sister is her innocence and he fears a part of her innocence will be taken away if she sees the swear words written on the wall and finds out their meaning. Therefore, Holden rubs the swear words out with his hands so the kids would not see it and wonder what it means. By doing so, Holden attempts to fulfil his role of being the catcher in the rye. However, he later finds a “fuck you” written on another part of the school and this time it is scratched on to the wall of the school and when Holden tries to erase it, it would not come off. Thus, Holden begins to realize that, “If you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the “Fuck you” signs in the world. It`s impossible” (Salinger 202). Holden cannot erase the profane graffiti on the wall which symbolically represents how he cannot protect children's innocence forever and prevent them from entering adulthood. Holden begins to understand the futility of his dream of being the catcher in the rye. Next, Holden goes to the Egyptian tomb in the Natural History Museum. The tomb has not changed since his childhood and it represents his ideal, innocent childhood where he finds peace. However, he sees another “fuck you” written with a red crayon under the glass part