Holden's Loss Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

“The catcher in the rye” argues that children's innocence should be protected for as long as it can be. Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye, Holden sees the rye field as this gigantic field that overlooks a cliff. The rye field is a gigantic field filled with children. Holden wants to be the person who catches the children before they go over this cliff. This cliff represents the”descent into adulthood” or the loss of innocence”. Holden wants the children to retain innocence for as long as they possibly can. This explains why Holden covers up the words “f*ck you”, he’s afraid that the kids will see it and someone will explain to them what it means. This ties into why Holden can never go through with a sexual encounter, because at heart
he still wants to be innocent, but being that he’s spent most of his recent schooling (that we know at) at boarding school. As we know at least a few students at pencey have had sexual encounters, and the details have some way or another been shared with Holden. Thus tainting his innocence.
It’s actually ironic how Holden wants to save the innocence of the children yet, he uses foul language often, he appears to be a pathological liar, and he drinks alcohol. When Holden wakes up to Mr.Antolini stroking his head Holden reacts harshly. Although it was wrong holden went to Mr.Antolin for help and that's what he thought he was doing. many of the characters and the audience understand that Holden needs mental help, Holden himself is completely oblivious to it. So while his reaction understandable even justifiable, his reaction was childlike, because he could have found a better way to handle it, instead he decides to run away from his problems. This helps understand Holden the teenager as the narrator, who still hangs on to the fringes of his childhood. Holden seems to want to retain his innocence but he also believes he’s ready to be an adult as evidenced by the drinking and the many abandoned sexual encounters. His maturity level seems to fluctuate, for example on the train ride after leaving pencey and he’s talking to the mother you would think he was much older than a teenager, but on the other end of the spectrum, picking fights with your roommate out of jealousy is childlike and
immature.
Hollywood is actually a metaphor for phoniness in Holden's eyes.
Holden calls D.B. Phoney because he goes to Hollywood and sells his writings for money. D.B. Going to Hollywood hurts Holden because D.B. It's interesting that Holden has almost an indispensable amount of money. Holden is able to just go around New York and do what he wants because he has the funds. This ultimately helps lead to his loss of innocence. So a minor theme in the book could be that money can lead to the loss of. Innocence. It's apparent that Holden see’s D.B. As innocence until he goes to Hollywood where he gains more and more money. Holden then begins to realize that D.B. Has already lost his innocence and hat he’s already fallen over the cliff in the rye field. Holden then begins to view Holden as phoney. This connects to the post WWII America because just after world war to the American economy was booming right after the war. There is a surplus of cash that's floating around the united states right before the great depression. As I stated earlier holden appears to have an indispensable supply of
cash.
The most important themes are those that deal with loneliness, relationships and lying. The book shows Holden’s search for friendship as he goes from one encounter to the next, meanwhile his behavior is the reason he is so often alone. Holden often hurts his chances to end his loneliness. Physical and emotional relationships gives Holden chance to break out of his shell. Holden fears the complexity and the unpredictableness of the adult world. Holden expects the world to be this perfect place where people do exactly do what he wants. People are unpredictable which makes him question his confidence and his worth. Lying and deception are obvious elements of phoniness. Holden seems to apply his definition of phoniness for people who think that they are something they are not or who refuse to acknowledge their own weaknesses. lying to others is also a kind of phoniness, a type of deception that indicates insensitivity. Holden himself is guilty of lying and deception. His random and repeated lying highlights his own self deception, he refuses to acknowledge his own shortcomings and is unwilling to consider how his behavior affects those around him. Through his lying and deception, Holden proves that he is just as guilty of phoniness as the people he criticizes.