Catcher In The Rye: Symbolism

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Symbolism Explained                                                                                                              Kelly Wong 10.1

The Glove

        His younger, deceased brother Allie’s baseball glove is very important to Holden. It reminds him of his brother, as well as showing Holden’s love for him. It is a very unique baseball mitt with poems written all over it, reflecting Allie’s personality. Jane is the only person outside of the family that Holden has shown the mitt to.

        With the death of his brother, Holden loses faith in the world, and starts seeing things in purely black and white. His hope dies, and many things that did mattered before no longer do. The baseball mitt is a source of comfort for Holden. The baseball mitt allows him to imagine about the field of rye where the innocent and purity of childhood remains, where Allie is alive and where life is much easier. The baseball mitt allows people to see the sensitive side of Holden.

        The death of Allie holds a major impact on Holden, and is the central idea of the story. Holden is having trouble acknowledging the death of his brother and dealing with his grief.

Cemetery

I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it'll say "Holden Caulfield" on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it'll say "Fuck you." I'm positive, in fact.

        Holden sees many signs displaying the message “fuck you” around Phoebe’s school, and is frustrated to think that there are so many, and that people would write that. Holden then thinks of how even if he died, someone would right “fuck you” on his tombstone as well.

        He wonders if he will ever find peace from those who corrupt children. He believes there will always be people to corrupt even the sanctity and peace of death by defacing a tombstone. It symbolizes his belief that he will never be able to find true peace with the world, because the world is too phony and pretentious for him.

        Holden is afraid to find that even in a place where children (whom are a symbol of innocence and purity) are, there are still objects from the adult world around. He wants to protect the children, their innocence and youth, from the world and the cruelty it displayed him.

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Red Hunting Hat

        The red hunting hat is a very prominent symbol in the book “The Catcher in the Rye”. It appears often throughout the book. The red hunting hat is a symbol of Holden’s individuality and uniqueness. It is Holden’s individuality that restrains Holden from joining the real world. It is his individuality that is constraining in his isolation and alienation of the world. He doesn’t want to be like everyone else so that he can preserve himself from the world and its superficiality.

        "Up home we wear a hat like that ...

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