The Age of Innocence

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…

In Catcher in the Rye, written by J. D. Salinger, Holden, the main character, wants to save children’s innocence. In the book, there are two motifs, the mummies and Holden’s inability to call Jane, which both reveals Holden’s thoughts about retaining innocence. As Holden arrives in New York, Holden attempts to call Jane Gallagher trying to: “take her dancing. I never danced … the whole time I knew her” (175). Holden has no one to spend time with and decides to use his time with Jane Gallagher,…

In The Turn of the Screw adolescence is depicted, mostly through the thoughts of the governess, as maintenance of innocence. However, it is shown that throughout adolescence, and through the loss of adolescence, there is constant corruption and negative influences which ultimately lead to a loss of innocence. This loss of innocence and struggle to cling to adolescence seen throughout the novel is Henry James’s way of depicting the consequences of hidden desires. These desires, specifically those…

Innocence is not just an idea. “Those who improve with age embrace the power of personal growth and personal achievement and begin to replace youth with wisdom, innocence with understanding, and lack of purpose with self-actualization.”- Bo Bennett. In the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Holden learns to view his little sister as independent and self-actualized where she can lose her innocence and still be stainless. The book is about a character named Holden, he is constantly trying to…

to be superior and to maintain innocence resulted in him having…

“The knowledge that makes us cherish innocence makes innocence unattainable,” Irving Howe. With knowledge of the world innocence is lost, this can be seen in several literary works including these coming of age stories; The Grave by Katherine Anne Porter, The Intruder by Andre Dubus and Where Have You Gone Charming Billy by Tim O’Brien. All of which have a similar lesson that the authors reveal through selective details that enhances the naïveté of characters which consequently is left behind in…

than she does. A common theme in the book is innocence and Salinger consistently depicts throughout the text how Holden is obsessed with the idea of innocence and preserving it. Holden, having lost his innocence at a young age by experiencing his younger brother’s death, is set on the idea of preserving people’s innocence, Phoebe’s in particular. Phoebe, however, by acting so mature for her age, represents growing up, maturing, and the loss of innocence. Representing almost the polar opposite of…

In William Blake’s poetical verses explaining the two contrary states of human existence, he observes the world with an extensive view from a state of “innocence and of an imagination unspoiled by stains of worldliness” (Keynes 12), and from a state of “indignation and pity for the sufferings of mankind as he saw them in the streets of London (Keynes 12). Holding firm to such ideologies as proposed by John Milton and Emmanuel Swedenborg, Blake believed in the philosophy that because all men were…

The loss of innocence is a blatant theme in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The group of eighteen year-old boys that introduced at the beginning have no idea of the hardships and brutalities of war that are to come for these young men. Following their exposing to battle and the front, the boys have become men. They are no longer naive and innocent before their deployment. The theme is also shown with the protagonist, Krebs, in the short story “Soldier’s Home.” Krebs is home on leave,…

Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is one of literature's most relatable characters in history. Everyone his age and older from even the most diverse backgrounds can identify with his views and attitude toward the world. He is a troubled adolescent trying to get through life. Although Holden is an extremely intelligent sensitive young individual, he is very cynical and judgmental and always finds the negativity in the world around him. This causes many…