Innocence in The Catcher in The Rye Essay Sample

Growing up and transitioning into adulthood can be a daunting experience. It is often quite hard to give up the wonders of childhood and fully embrace adulthood. For some, this adjustment may be more difficult than it is for others. J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye illustrates the innocence and wonder of childhood and how it greatly contrasts against the stark reality that children will also need to grow up and transition into adulthood, even if this includes experiencing times of trial and terror. 

J.D.continues despite even your best efforts, you cannot protect the innocence of childhood wonder as children begin to fall into adulthood. Up until this point, Holden’s life has been anything but stable. He is constantly having to get up and move to different schools and homes, never being able to fully settle into a place before he needs to leave again. Holden has just come home and is talking to Phoebe as recounts something that he had seen that day, a small child singing the song a Catcher In the Rye. When explaining what he had seen, Phoebe chimes in saying, “It's ‘if a body meets a body comin’ through the rye’...I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all'' (173). Holden desires to be the catcher in the rye, a protector of children. Visualizing himself as someone who catches children from falling off this cliff while they are playing in the rye, where the children, in his mind, represent childhood, the rye represents innocence, and falling from the cliff is a metaphor for falling into adulthood. Holden wishes to be this protector to prevent the children from having to endure the same experiences that he did when he was younger and wishes for them to avoid the harshness and terror of adulthood. This fear of growing up is illustrated, as Holden stands on the edge of the cliff catching these children, but is still reluctant to fall off the cliff and enter adulthood himself. His inability to jump off the cliff proves how he is still hanging onto his own innocence and is still resisting the transition to adulthood. The irony of his misunderstanding of the song Comin’ Thro the Rye is that the way that he remembered it alludes to the protection that Holden wants to supply. However, the real lyrics represent the exact opposite and instead signify the loss of innocence rather than its preservation. 

Salinger includes this message throughout the novel, revealing the true nature of adulthood, confessing that it creates a scary, and uncertain setting. Holden spends a lot of his time throughout the book, thinking about the ducks that he would see in Central Park. Seemingly very concerned about it, he goes on to ask multiple of his cab drivers where they thought the ducks went when the pond froze over. “I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over” (13) Metaphorically, the ducks represent the children that Holden wishes to protect. The pond is life, and the freezing pond represents the difficulties of life. A direct parallel can also be tied from the ducks and pond to Holden’s own difficult situation. Holden’s life has never been filled with an overabundance of stability and now what little he had is no more. For the first time in a while, he finally sees an uncertain and cloudy future. However, the knowledge of what happens to these ducks, and understanding that they are safe and secure even though the lagoon is frozen, would provide Holden with a sense of comfort about his current state. He feels relief in knowing that they will find stability in their unknown lives would give hope that he would be able to do the same. He needs to know what happens to these ducks, or even the children that they represent, to protect them from the difficulties in life. 

The novel leaves us with a final message, even the most innocent children cannot be stopped from growing up. It is Holden’s fear of adulthood that causes him to obsess over the conservation, or rather, preservation, of innocence, an idea that is quite unachievable in today's corrupt society. It appears the only exception to this idea is Phoebe. She is the only one that is seemingly untouched by society's phoniness. At this point, Holden had just come home and was seeing Phoebe for the first time. He is comparing the differences between adults and children, pointing out how gross adults are. “You take adults, they look lousy when they’re asleep ... but kids don’t. They can even have spit all over the pillow and they still look all right” (159). Phoebe serves as Holden’s symbol for innocence. Remaining untainted by all the things that Holden has been resisting throughout his entire life that has threatened to taint his sense of identity and innocence. She represents this virtue in the sense that she is pure and seemingly untouched by society's “phoniness”.  Avoiding all the things that are wrong with the world. 

Holden Caulfield, similarly to many other teenagers, finds himself teetering on the edge of childhood and adulthood. Without that firm place in society, it is hard to know our spot and accept that change is inevitably coming. The Catcher in the Rye efficiently shows the need to hold onto and protect the innocence of those around us to make up for the loss of our own. But, at some point, we have to come to terms with the fact that though we may try to preserve the innocence and wonder of childhood, there is nothing that can be done to prevent the inevitable transition to adulthood.