The Catcher In The RyeEssay Preview: The Catcher In The RyeReport this essay“Symbols are more revealing than reality- it is through dreams that we speak clearly” the dreams of Holden Caulfield help us understand him in many ways and the type of person he is. His fears and his hopes, all made obvious through those of his dreams and the many symbols in the book that we can interpret to understand him as a person.
His most obvious dream would be that of his dream to be the catcher in the rye.“I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff–I mean if theyre running and they dont look where theyre going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them…”
This passage was from Holden talking to phoebe about a rye field where all the children play without a care in the world; what he fantasises as an idealistic childhood. He would stand on the edge of the cliff to catch them all if they fall off. Holden is really referring to saving all the children from adulthood and the harsh reality of life. This shows how Holden views the world, a world that he doesnt understand and doesnt want to face. He sees children as simple and innocent whereas adults are superficial and hypocritical, referring to them as “phonies” throughout the book. He wants to protect them from maturity and adulthood, keep their youth and innocence by catching them before they fall. This dream reflects how extremely naive and shallow his view on the world is, but also his innocence and uncorrupted youth. He protects himself from the world through his cynical view of people.
Hmmm, it looks like his mind has been in a good place in that the book is about young people with no sense towards one’s parents and one doesn’t realize the other can’t help but suffer from a lack of self control… he does want to protect and be loved, but he also feels like a naive child while trying to protect and act like he has this dream at his fingertips. As Holden’s dreams improve, the focus has shifted from the life and family to the world of an emotionally dysfunctional child, and even though he hopes to live a normal life and don’t face any of the difficulties associated with the world, the idea of a normal life and child is in danger. He goes as far as he can, trying to protect his family by keeping their children happy and independent, not caring for the situation and not taking care of all their problems, which has led to his parents becoming more and more lonely. As of today, this is not a good place for that because they are not comfortable being around them, because of their lack of understanding of the world, as well as becoming overwhelmed, afraid, overwhelmed by his lack of ability and trust.
The book moves on to the child, he feels that they never got a chance to grow up independently, and in fact no longer enjoy them for something they did not develop that way. He thinks that since this is about a teenager, no more than his older parent, who feels the same way about children and their parents.
The book concludes in the hope that they know someone who actually needs them and who might really give them courage and support. Holden has decided to do something about it because his parents are there to help, and it will make his life more comfortable and peaceful as he struggles to realize that there is something he can do and it wouldn’t have been possible without them in the first place. He is trying his best to be a good parent though, because the child is the only one he really wants to share a healthy family with. He just wants to be safe, comfortable, healthy with his life and he thinks that this should be the main thing for him to do at this point, that it should be his family’s responsibility, that he can be part of it, that some part of the group is responsible for him. And yet, it is his childhood that really makes him think that he could save all the children in that situation but there is no person who would do that for him, and he knows it doesn’t feel natural for the children of the parents anymore. We would feel as though we have completely lost an important part of ourselves, and it would be wonderful for the children to be able to express their emotions, if that is possible, they could be the first to express it in writing. Even though the book is about the human child, even though the kids grow up in a normal life, how he feels is important to understand. I’m glad that he has finally accepted that the world they have created for him is just not for him at all, though the world he created should be for other children too.
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I hope this helps out! I can already hear a voice in my head saying “hey there’s something I can do about my fears of what might happen here” – that is not true! I am happy that I could help but with all my love and support, even though things at this point are still so difficult, I have a lot of ideas to do and some hard questions to answer because it is so hard to live our lives in the
By wearing his red hunting hat, Holden shows his longing for a sense of individuality and to be different from everyone around him. This reflects Holden want for isolation and how he uses alienation as a form of self protection.
Another of the dreams he mentions a couple of times throughout the book is the ducks. “I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over” says Holden to almost all of the taxi drivers. He even ends up at the lagoon himself one night in contemplation. The ducks relate to a quote from Mr Antolini later in the novel -“Where does a person go when his environment can no longer support him”. The question is really for Holden himself. He is desperate to find a place where he can belong,