Growth Of Holden Caulfield

7 Pages 1843 Words

ter), his idealization of his
dead brother contribute to his obsession. Holden fears change; he wants everything to be
understandable and fixed, like the statues of Eskimos and Indians in the Museum. He likes the
world to be silent and frozen, predictable and unchanged. But he is frightened because he
cannot understand the world around him and he refuses to acknowledge this fear. Holden does
not use only symbol in the Museum of Natural History, his red hunting hat is another one.
This hat symbolises Holden’s isolation as well as his protection from adulthood. His isolation
is an important point to preserve himself from the adult world. He frequently examines his
role in the society, finding that he is isolated from adolescents too. Holden belongs in neither
adulthood nor childhood and he will find himself in a position in which he will have to
choose. His alienation is probably a way to protect himself. But the truth is that interactions
with other people confuse him. Thus his cynical sense of superiority serves as a type of self-
protection. In contradiction, he always needs human contact and love as seen with all his
meeting through the book. For example, his loneliness made him to da...