Innocence is another theme addressed in The Catcher in the Rye.
Holden is by no means innocent, but he wants to protect others from
making the same mistakes he did. His
dream job of the “catcher in the rye” does just that. He wants to save children, specifically Allie
and Phoebe from the pain of the real world.
Holden does not realize that this is impossible since Allie is already
dead, and Phoebe will have to grow up too.
In a way Phoebe is more mature than him because she understands this
concept. Holden insists upon the idea
that innocence and youth is not the same thing.
In this quote about the museum, he explains that views change because experiences
change the person involved. "The
best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right
where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and
that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds
would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of
that water hole […]. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be
different would be you. Not that you'd be so much older or anything. It
wouldn't be that exactly. You'd just be different, that's all. You'd have an
overcoat on this time. Or that kid that was your partner in line last time had
got scarlet fever and you'd have a new partner. Or you'd have a substitute
taking the class, instead of Miss Aigletinger. Or you'd heard your mother and
father having a terrific fight in the bathroom. Or you'd just passed by one of
those puddles in the street with gasoline rainbows in them. I mean you'd be
different in some way – I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm
not sure I'd feel like it.” (Salinger 121).
Holden had grown out of his innocence, but he believed that it was
possible to stay innocent and still grow up.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.
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