The Catcher in the Rye Flashcards
Definition of “phony” and examples
hypocrite; fake, unreal
1) Stradlater - only cared about himself
2) Pencey Prep - fals advertises about horses and molding teenagers into good ones
3) Woman at the movie theater with her child - wouldn’t let the child go to the restroom and was crying at the movie at the same time
4) Ernie - Holden is convinced that Ernie may play very well and flashy, but he doesn’t play with his heart and is insincere.
Symbolism Meaning: ducks
The ducks represent himself. They are forced to move from their environment in the winter just as Holden has to runaway from Pencey Prep and ultimately New York.
Symbolism Meaning: red hunting hat
Holden uses the hat as an emotional barrier. It is unique which represents Holden’s individuality. The hat isolates himself from people who Holden doesn’t know well.
Symbolism Meaning: Allie’s baseball glove
Allie wrote poems in the glove when he got bored of playing baseball. It symbolizes Holden’s connection to Allie. Also used to try to reach out to others about his relationship with his brother (Stradlater and Jane).
Symbolism Meaning: museum
Represents stability and a stagnant environment. Holden feels very comfortable in the museum and is devastated when of all places he finds an imperfection, loss of innocence in the museum. It showed Holden that nothing was able to be kept from losing its innocence.
“the Catcher in the Rye” analogy
Holden constantly wants to preserve children’s innocence. He doesn’t like growth or change and wants to keep children innocent by not allowing them to grow up and experience things that will change them to be adults. Holden and Phoebe swap roles as “the Catcher” and the person who falls at the end. Phoebe is given the hat which symbolizes the Catcher and saves Holden as he progressed into turmoil.
Holden’s appreciation for the innocence of youth
1) He helps the boys at the museum to find the mummy tombs
2) wanting to rub off the “Fuck You” profanity
3) admiring Allie and Phoebe (academics and teachers)
Holden’s view on sex and how these views differ from those of his male peers
Holden seeks not a singular pleasurable experience in sex, but rather he wants an intimate relationship with a girl. He couldn’t have sex with the Sunny because he wasn’t into the mere act of having intercourse, but rather the intimacy and romanticism. He also stopped when a girl told him to because he really looked out for their comfort and not just his own, unlike his male peers. This differs from his peers because Stradlater was said to force his way upon girls until they gave in.
What is Holden looking for?
Holden wants to keep kids innocent by not allowing them to experience the many bad things in the world. He wants to catch them before they grew to be adults. He also wanted to keep everything the pure and whole. He liked things that were innocent and pure.
