Childhood Innocence In Great Expectations, By J. D. Salinger

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When individuals develop their sense of self, they must also develop a sense of compassion and morality in order to strive for the betterment of society. In a world with corruption and chaos, to maintain humanity and kindness, individuals might prevent the loss of their childhood innocence. Born with compassion, people tend to act more kind in the years of their youth; however, as individuals age, expectations, judgements, and corruption haunts and creates obstacles in their lives. In Charles Dicken’s 19th century novel, Great Expectations, and J. D. Salinger’s classic literature, The Catcher in the Rye, they both highlights the importance of preserving childhood innocence in order to create a healthy development of individuals. While Dickens …show more content…
Salinger advocates the need for preserving childhood innocence when he exhibits Holden Caulfield, an angsty young adult, and Holden’s sense of childlike purity and humanity. In a snow-cover street, Holden desires to throw a snowball, however hesitates because everything seems “so nice” and “white” (Salinger 36). Due to Holden’s sense of childlike virtue, which arises from his preservation of his childhood innocence, Holden sees goodness and purity in everything. Salinger encourages individuals to protect their childhood innocence in order to survive reality. Individuals whom depression may overwhelm, requires purity and virtue to survive. Without the protection of their childhood innocence, people will fall into the chaotic patterns of society: judgements, expectations, angsty, self-destruction. Individuals need to protect their childhood innocence, to remain pure and to continue to seek goodness in everyone and everything. Humanity requires compassion and virtue to develop within an individual for society to continue and advance, and in order to promote humanity, people should protect the very entity of their morality: childhood innocence. In doing so, it creates happiness in the people. Salinger explains the phenomenon as Holden watches his younger sister and holds tight to his prized possession: “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection… I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around” (Salinger 212-213). Holden’s hunting hat symbolizes the way Holden protects his childhood innocence, he hides his aging of gray hair under the hat which resembles youth; Thus, happiness swells Holden’s heart as he realizes how purity surrounds

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