Holden Caulfield Phony

In the novel Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, perceives the world as corrupt and is full of “phonies” and believed that it’s not the proper surrounding to raise children in, especially when they’re still young and innocent. After the death of his brother Allie, who died when he was young and was free from the corruption of the world, Holden was influenced and felt it was his responsibility to protect his innocence and other children’s as well. He is conflicted as he is stuck between moving on from his childhood to the intimidating world of adulthood; but, realizes that he must mature whether he likes it or not. In response, he ventures out to New York where he reencounters moments of his childhood that …show more content…
As he visits, he remembers why it gave him a sense of gratification: everything in the museum remained the same. Unlike everything around him, the artifacts were frozen in time meaning that nothing has changed since the last time he visited. Accordingly, this relates to Holden’s desire to cling to his childhood and how he refuses to change and leave his adolescent years behind. His ability to remember each description of how the artifacts reveal his nostalgia and the innocence and simplicity present in those times. When Holden claims, “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases,” he’s making a connection between the children and the artifacts in the glass cases. The children are constantly changing while the museum doesn’t and this specifies the idea that childhood and simple times aren’t forever and he can’t relive those moments …show more content…
He died of Leukemia at a young age and wasn’t able to live the full experience of adulthood and he could only refer to memories of them when he was a child. It was a tragedy for his loss as Holden described Allie as “the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest…” In this case, Allie represented “eternalized youth” and the gift of innocence that Holden strived to remain for himself and others. To distinguish between them both, Allie was unaffected by the process of growing up while Holden is pressured to transition and mature, while dealing with the phoniness of the world. Allie was never influenced by sex, adults, and immoral activities, as a result, he never lost his innocence. He couldn’t jump off the “cliff” in which Holden