Innocence in The Catcher in the Rye Essay Example

“What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff” (173). The main character, Holden, deals with trauma at an early age which leads to him creating an idolized version of the world where he protects the innocence of other children. The ending of any novel is an immensely momentous part of the story, because it’s the final moment to stay in the reader 's mind. The lesson Holden needed to learn in the end was that children must be allowed to extend and take chances in life by themselves or they won’t mature and develop their own identity. J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, effectively ends the novel with Holden’s breakthrough of pushing aside his idolized deception of innocence, the usage of symbolism, and him contradicting his character's morals which creates an ironic, unexpected, and dynamic ending to the novel.

Holden realizes that he must let go of his idolized deception and fantasy of being ‘the catcher in 

the rye’, because he can’t protect children’s innocence. He has created a fantasy world where he can preserve other kids' childhood innocence because he couldn’t, due to the trauma of Allie's death. Therefore he is vitally disconnected from the real world, he just won’t admit it. Nearing the end of the novel—when he visits Phoebe’s school and there are derogatory terms written on the wall— Holden decides to let go of his protector mindset/persona and the role that he’s given himself. “I wanted to kill whoever’d written it… I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on…it was impossible.” (202). This was a turning point for Holden because it showed him that no matter what he does he can’t prevent kids from finding out the hard truths of life. His idea of catching children before they fall off the cliff represents kids transitioning between childhood and adulthood (where he is at in life). This is influential for the ending of the story because this part marks the beginning of development for Holden. He is beginning to acknowledge that he can’t rely on youthful innocence his whole life; he must cross his mental barrier and trauma regarding adulthood in order to grow up. Therefore if it weren’t for this symbolic part of the story, Holden may have never made the tremendous breakthrough which created a cause and effect, in return triggered the ending of the novel's outcome.

Towards the end of the book, the carousel and rain symbolize his maturation and helps create a 

full circle effect of development for Holden. With the use of symbols at the time of Holden’s life, the author can portray his deeper meanings and emotions through signs; Holden holds in all his true emotions in the beginning and because he is proficient at English, he uses symbols to portray his deeper emotions. Chapter 25 is a pivotal point in the novel because it is the final part of his story; the symbols provide context for the reader to understand Holden’s progress but they connect it to innocent children.  “Then the carousel started… I was sort of afraid she’d fall off but I didn’t say anything or do anything… I got soaked… I felt so goddam happy” (213). The Carousel symbolizes childhood innocence and creating memories; the things Holden wants to control and protect. A carousel also moves in a continuous pattern with no changes. The consistency and constant pattern of the carousel shows how Holden doesn't like to change, he doesn't want to grow up or move on to adulthood. While he’s at the carousel he allows the kids to take risks by going for the gold rings. He’s finally realized that he can’t control them and it causes a shift in his mentality that he must allow them to fall. The progression caused by the carousel then connects to the rain. The rain symbolizes his fantasy washing away because directly after that he said he gained a sudden happiness that he didn’t know the reason for. This was the first time in the novel when Holden was happy and content with life; his fixed mindset slowly vanished. These symbols provide meaning to the end of the book because it shows his betterment. Rain usually occurs with a storm and at the end of the rain he gains a sense of serenity, which symbolizes the conception of the calm after the storm. The calm after the storm symbolizes the ending because Holden’s character's actions transfigured after the carousel. He loses his desire to alienate himself which leads to the beneficial ending. The symbols were the gateway into releasing the pressure of being the heroism of innocence and becoming content with himself, which is a key factor in the ending of the novel. Two key symbols, the carousel and the rain, helped the narrative of the story and created a full circle effect in the book and in Holden's life. Therefore causing his character to alter, which was then proven by the last sentence.

Holden’s final words in the novel contradict the character we grew to know in the novel. He is a naive teenager with a fixed mindset and bad attitude, but at the end you begin to see a glimmer of trust and love that he has for his friends and family. The ending line of the book surprised me and contradicted his original thoughts. “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody” (214). Holden’s trust issues have been apparent throughout the whole book but in this ending line the word choice contrasts his personality. He feels like if he gets close with other people (in his words ‘phonies’) and builds friendships or relationships with them, it will eventually lead to loneliness or the need to alienate himself from the real world. He holds in his emotions and would rather just lie to people instead of expressing his truths. Holden’s traumatic past has created him to stay distant from others as a psychologically protective barricade. The word choice of ‘you start missing everybody’ shows that Holden has compassion for other people. He likes their presence instead of isolating and alienating himself; he has a fear of getting close to others because when he did get close to someone, it was Allie and he died. By not allowing the novel to conclude with a prominent moral, the author allows the reader to interpret Holden as a character. Therefore it shows Holden as a real person with real problems that can’t simply be solved with simple resolutions, this is what’s shown at the end.

The ending of The Catcher in the Rye depends solely on how it’s interpreted. Whether believing Holden and that he truly developed, became less bitter, less isolated, and he lost his heroic persona or believing in no improvement, just lies. The ending provides a sense of optimism and happiness for Holden which hadn’t been seen yet in the novel. Holden washes away his idealized vision of being the hero of innocence to children and leaves us with his last thought which completely contradicts his previous actions and his mental persona.  A repeating pattern has prominently gotten more obvious throughout the entire novel, as he vacillates between wanting to interact with others and isolating himself from the same people he seeks; it is finely proven by his final words. The Catcher in the Rye ends the novel with Holden pushing aside his deception of innocence and gaining a sense of happiness, the usage of symbols such as rain and the carousel to portray his emotions,  and him contradicting his character's morals which creates an ironic and dynamic ending to the novel.