Innocence in The Catcher in the Rye Essay

Catching Innocence

People who are fearful of growing up often have a need to keep things and those around them linear and innocent. Holden Caufield, the main in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, has an obsession with retaining innocence. Holden is fearful of growing up, and feels that by keeping children unknown to the realities of life, he may be able to avoid them. Innocence is a theme that is portrayed through out the novel as an insecure and almost immature need of Holdens to protect not only those he cares about, but also himself.

The root of Holdens obsession with innocence can be traced back to the death of his younger brother Allie. He regarded his younger sibling as a kind, loving, and highly intelligent boy. It is this love and admiration that drove Holden to a rage in which he destroyed all the windows in his garage with his bare fists. Because Holden is still tormented about the death of his brother, he constantly tries to protect those around him. By trying to guard those he cares about from the harsh realities of the real world, he feels they will not succumb to the same fate as his younger brother, Allie.

Holdens need for innocence is proved when he goes to Phoebes school to drop off a note. Spotting a phrase containing foul language that happened to be inscribed on the wall, he begins to contemplate what the effects of it will be. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it and how theyd wonder what it meant, and finally some dirty kid would tell them [] what it meant, and how theyd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoeverd written it, (201) Holden thought. Fearing that the children might lose their innocence by learning this word, he has a need to protect them.

Following his same obsession with innocence, Holden fantasizes about what he would like to dedicate his life to: being a catcher in the rye. He enlightens the reader with his idea when he says, [] I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye [] and nobodys around nobody big [] except me. And Im standing on the edge of some crazy cliff [] I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff, (173). Although this may portray Caufields idea of how he wants to spend his life, it also symbolizes his need for innocence. The field of rye represents childhood and the innocence that comes with it, while falling off of the cliff symbolizes maturity and learning the hardships of life. This is why Holden wants to keep the children from falling or growing up to secure their innocence. This is significant because what Holden wants to do with his life is really to preserve the innocence of people he cares about.

The main characters goal though out the novel is to ensure the security of his loved ones. Holdens sense of security is really just retaining their innocence. It is because of the death of his brother that he is like this, that he is fixated on making sure that people like Phoebe dont have to face the truth about life: that everyone needs to grow up, that growing up is as inevitable as death. Holden does not seem to realize this until the very end and until then is trying to escape the tough choices of adulthood by keeping others from them.