Holden Caulfield Loss Of Innocence

How much of yourself are you willing to lose to protect the innocence of a child? To change the child’s life? In the novel the Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulifield is willing to completely strand himself to protect the innocence of children. His fierce desire to keep children’s innocence leads Holden to forget about himself and let himself fall into the abyss. Along the journey of his life he struggles with his desire to preserve the innocence of children, even though he is losing himself along the way. From a young age, Holden was forced into becoming an adult after the death of his brother, Allie. With no one willing to protect him from the harsh realities of the real world, his youth was taken away from him, making him feel the need to protect the innocence of children. One day while arguing with his sister , Phoebe, she suggests that Holden doesn’t want to be anything, that he is completely nothing. But he responds to her claims and states he wants to be “the catcher in the rye”, who catches kids before they fall over a cliff (224). Salinger uses this to show Holden’s want to save children from the harsh reality of the world. He convinces the reader that the world is a cruel place and adults are the reason …show more content…
When Holden speaks of Jane Gallagher, someone who shines pure innocence to him, he thinks of her as a little girl he used to play with not a maturing adult. Holden makes sure to explain they didn’t have a sexual relationship but that “she was a terrific girl to hold hands with”(103). Viewing Jane as a young girl, Holden desires to protect from the harsh reality and save her innocence. He is bothered by the idea of her being sexual with her roommate because he still sees her as a child. Holden looks back on his path, losing himself in the