Holden's idealism about Childhood

While reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, I noticed Holden's reaction to children compared to people he deemed adults. Holden is often scornful of adults, but just loves children. For instance, Holden deeply loves his kid sister Phoebe and admires her childish enthusiasm. He will often remark about how she just "kills" him with her happiness over things like being Benedict Arnold in the school play (Salinger 210). Holden also mentions his older brother named D.B. in the story. It's clear that Holden loves his brother, but will often refer to D.B. as a phony and a "prostitute" (Salinger 4). I think that Holden's preference of Phoebe shows how he idolizes youth and the free nature of childhood. I think Holden ostracizes the adults in his life by calling them phonies. By doing this he can separate them from himself, and let himself believe that he is more like a child still than an adult. Another time that he can be seen showing preference to being a child over an adult is when he tells Phoebe his dream. Holden would like being at the edge of a cliff by a field of rye (Salinger 224). In his dream children would be playing in the field, but then one by one the children would start to run towards the cliff (Salinger 224). When they got to the edge of the cliff, Holden would then be able to reach out and catch the children as the fell (Salinger 224). This dream shows Holden's desire to save the children from oblivion. The cliff could also represent the descent into adulthood and by catching the children he would be saving their childish innocence. Holden's desire to help these children is very important because Holden cannot even seem to save himself, and maybe everyone is supposed to fall into that oblivion. Perhaps that is just the nature of life, and Holden's problems come from his unwillingness to take the plunge and move on in his life.

Bibliography:Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and, 1991. Print.