How Does Holden Lose His Innocence

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Even though he has not truly lost his innocence, Holden tries to protect other children from losing their's. He tends to act naive toward the current situation. The fact that Holden refuses to partake in sex exemplifies how he still holds on to his innocence. J.D Salinger, the author of the book; Catcher In The Rye writes about the importance of innocence and how it affects Holden's life. Holden still clings onto his innocence. Holden tries to protect other children from losing their innocence because he places his innocence paramount to everything else. "Somebody'd written "fuck you" on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the hell it meant." (Salinger 201) This is important because it proves how much Holden's mind is affected by the thought of children losing their innocence. He almost goes mad over the idea of his sister seeing profanity. On that same page Holden remarks "I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" …show more content…
"Then, in the window almost right over his, I saw a man and a woman squirting water out of their mouths on each other." (Salinger 62) Holden sees a couple through a hotel room partaking in some sort of role playing sexual activity, unaware of what's going on Holden laughs it off. He continues to look around chuckling to himself. "Hey, listen," I said. "You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know, by any chance?" (Salinger 60) Holden shows his innocence through a conversation with the taxi driver when he asks about the ducks, not knowing that the ducks fly south for the winter. Holdens innocence is still lingering around and it shows when he is put into certain situations where he acts in a way a child would

The Catcher In The Rye Literary Analysis

was not one of them. Holden had a very close relationship with Allie and his death causes Holden to experience loss in a very sudden and tragic way. Holden begins to rebel and has trouble coping. This was a turning point for Holden where he lost his innocence. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a novel about a young man, Holden, that attempts to cope with his confrontation issues. He feels lost and lonely, despite that he experiences different stages of living. Holden first hand experiences…

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How Does Holden Lose The Innocence Of Children

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The Theme Of Innocence In Powaqqatsi

force them to come of age. Most people above the age of twenty have a coming of age story or two in which innocence is lost through an obstacle or journey that changes the child’s perspective into someone who is wiser, forcing maturity. A girl of from a split home, grew up split between two lives one by the rules of her father and one by the rules of her mother. The divorce ripped the innocence from the little girl, she no longer could believe that everything in the world was wonderful and her journey…

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Holden Essay

person can’t seem to find anything to make them happy; which is how Holden the main character of the Catcher in the Rye felt throughout a couple of rough days. Many things that scared him occurred throughout his childhood; one he was forced to grow up from. As a teenager not being able find anything to make up for his tragic childhood led him to become very depressed. There were many factors that came into his depression such as his brother Allie’s death; one he had not been able to yet recover from…

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Holden Caulfield's Loss

Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield experiences a loss not only involving the person he loved, but also himself. The author, J.D. Salinger, points out the destructive impacts of loss in his novel The Catcher in the Rye which focuses on the loss experienced by the main character, Holden Caulfield. Throughout the novel, Salinger expresses how loss can negatively impact a person to become depressed, have reckless behavior, and make them detached from others.…

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An Analysis of The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger Essay

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