Holden's Carousel Scene

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The carousel scene is very significant in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. In this scene Holden realizes growing up is in fact necessary and he decides not to run away. All throughout reading the book Holden has been depressed this scene also holds the only moment he is truly happy. These ideas are significant because they represent ideas that were brought up all throughout the novel and they are now resolved within this scene. One main reason the scene is significant is because Holden finally realizes it's necessary that children grow up, including himself. Holden takes phoebe to the carousel, buys her a ticket, and pushes her to ride it because he knows that she enjoys riding it. This shows that children need to grow up and help kids …show more content…
Holden is quoted saying "I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy", this is very significant because during the novel Holden was a very depressed character and always said negative things, this was not like him to say such thing. As Holden was watching Phoebe ride the carousel played the song "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" which refers to how you naturally tear up. At the it was raining and Holden was also crying. This represents Holden breaking down and becoming happy once again. What made Holden so happy was seeing the innocence of a child, enjoying themselves. When Phoebe got onto the carousel she sat on a "big, brown, beat-up-looking old horse", Holden says she looked so nice the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat. This represents how the situation wasn't the best but Holden is starting to see the good in it, like her blue coat. The carousel is much the same as when Holden was a younger child, it played the same music, and continues to go around and around, which reminds Holden of how he was once a happy child too. Since the carousel continues to go in circles it represents how some things stay the same even after you've grown up. For Holden, this was realizing he can still be happy even though he's approaching
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