The Use of Symbolism in Holden’s Growth Crisis

吕莎

Abstract：The protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye，Holden Caulfield is a rebellious and confused child，whose growth is full of puzzlement and crises，and the application of symbolism highlights this theme in the novel.Therefore，the thesis is to test his disagreeable experiences by using the method of symbolism.The study interprets this theme through three main phases，that is，it analyzes Holdens difficulty in communicating with the outside world，and the inner depression and no soul mates aggravate his confusion.The second phase is his refusal of growth，with the wish to preserve purity and innocence.At last，the paper discusses Holdens endeavor to seek reliance，and finally he involuntarily protects somebody and chooses to escape.The widespread symbolism throughout the novel makes Holdens growth crisis more vivid and attractive.

Key words：The Catcher in the Rye；Holden； symbolism；growth crisis

1 Introduction

After the Second World War，with the increasing accumulation of wealth，peoples living standards go higher and higher in the United States.However，as a result of materialism，their spiritual lives turn more poor and empty.Jerome David Salinger is one of the most prestigious and impressive American writers in Western literature，who was born into an upper-class family in New York City in 1919.The Catcher in the Rye is the only novel in Salingers whole life，however，it is just for this work that Salinger becomes distinguished in the world literature.Holden Caulfield，the main character，has experienced a lot but the only result is nothing.Finally he is forced to compromise with reality and he is destined for the somber fate of living in a mental hospital.

Symbolism is based on a certain relationship between various things.It exerts visible symbols to display other invisible things，such as ideas，a country，a society and so forth. The use of symbolic art not only helps us to form a profound understanding of the content，but also can provide a reference for the application of the exemplary symbolism in the novel.Throughout the novel，although the story is straightforward，no ups and downs，the author skillfully exerts symbolism everywhere，thus increasing the spell of the whole works and highlighting its connotation and theme，which is the quintessential charm of writing.Hence，it is utterly necessary to use symbolism to explore the theme of Holdens growth crisis so that readers are able to own a better understanding of the theme.

2 The Difficulty of Communication

2.1 The unconnected telephones

In the novel，it seems that the protagonist，Holden，has trouble communicating with the adult world，and the symbolism of telephones is a good example to show it.At school，Holden feels disgusted with his history teacher Mr.Spencers counterfeit sentiment，and sees through the hypocrisy of the president of Hills.He feels his classmates are either too presumptuous or stupid.A spiritual communication completely does not exist between them.Furthermore，at home，there is also a deep estrangement between Holden and his parents，who have their own adult life circles，never really understanding their sons puzzles and annoyance.Hence，he really wants to find a soul mate to share his feelings and experiences.And then，telephone is a useful way for him to release.For several times，he tries to make a phone call with his earlier neighbor，Jane.“I gave old Jane a buzz again，but her phone didnt answer，so I had to hang up”.（P.136） The disconnection with Jane represents the inner world has broken，and he is unable to reach the other side of the ideal parade.

The phone originally symbolizes a convenient tool used to contact with others and exchange feelings.But in the novel，the phone refers to Holdens loneliness and helplessness，and his wish to talk with others always fails to come true.The phone and the real life constitute a strong contrast，so that readers are able to feel his painful，lonely heart.Hence，unconnected telephones indirectly indicate that there are an enormous gulf between individuality and society as well as a difficulty to contact with the outside world.

2.2 The two girlfriends

Sally Hayes and Jane Gallagher can also be regarded as the manifestation of Holdens difficult contact with others.The former represents a sexual relationship in this secular world while the latter symbolizes a fantastic pure love in the protagonists eyes.Sally is Holdens girlfriend in New York and there exist many descriptions about this sexy girl.At the sight of Sally，he is immediately fascinated by her and thinks she may be the right person to communicate，considering her beautiful，attractive figure and even expects to marry her in his life.They seem to fall in love with each other and gradually have a romantic relationship，thus they go to the theater and go skating together.At that moment，Holden expresses his seclusive ideas of taking her to the forest cabin，but the end result is ignorance and quarrel.His pure dream turns to be only a past experience.Finally，it is completely obvious that Sally is not in the same world with him because she cannot understand the state of purity and innocence，hence she is not worth spending a whole life in some certain sense.

When it comes to Jane，she often appears in the tone of the third person.As the symbol of sincere love，kindness and purity，Jane is the objective that Holden is forever in pursuit of.In the beginning of this novel，when Holden finds that Jane is the vulgar Stradlaters another new girlfriend，he turns anguished and crazy.Holden splutters with desperation，“where is she？” “Howd she happen to mention me？” “I used to play checkers with her” “I oughta go down and say hello to her or something”.（P.31） After Jane dates with Stradlater，he even turns more depressed and constantly makes phone calls with Jane，but never succeeds.Jane is the embodiment of soul mate and he tries to communicate with her and share his inner feelings with her.In his mind，Jane is a substitute for his moral satisfaction.Holden is still in the state of loneliness and misfortune.The contradiction between reality and desire confuses Holden and he fails to achieve a balance on the issue of communication.So，his mental breakdown follows and he remains trapped in the communicative trouble in this big and kaleidoscopic world.

To conclude，whether sexy Sally or pure Jane，they are once Holdens psycho reliance.He makes every effort to contact with them，only to find that is impossible.Hence，from the symbolism of these two girls，it is obvious that Holden has a considerable difficulty in contacting with and melting into the outside adult world.

3 The Refusal of Growth

3.1 Phoebe

By employing symbolism，Salinger presents that Phoebe is the embodiment of innocence，beauty and wisdom.“Shes very affectionate”，（P.161） staying with Phoebe，Holden can feel love and warm，which are rather precious and significant.Only in front of his little sister，Holden is able to get his peace of mind and heart，which is the most valuable preservation in his world.Moreover，although Holden refuses to tell the reason why he returns home，smart Phoebe guesses that he has been kicked out of school again.“Daddyll kill you！”，（P.165） she smacks Holden with her fist，acting like a true madman.From this，she cares about her brother and remains sensitive to his situations，thus Holden always loves his sister.Therefore，Holden refuses to grow up to be a man.How he wishes to remain a pure kid like Phoebe.Before Holden starts hitchhiking his way out West，he decides to write a note to Phoebe and has a last meeting with her.After hearing his brothers plan，Phoebe packs a suitcase and wants to go with Holden，which indirectly shows she loves and cares for his brother.The last person Holden wants to meet is Phoebe，rather than his classmates or somebody else，which can amply indicate Holdens reluctance to part with naivety and simplicity.In a word，Phoebes presence enables Holden to see the warmth of the childrens world，full of innocence and happiness，which makes him feel more disgusted with the phony adult world and more nostalgic for the good old days.It is because of the symbolism of Phoebe that we can see Holden chooses to refuse his growth in this phony environment.

3.2 Allie

Compared with the real-live Phoebe，Allie is non-existent，just appearing in the brain of Holden.When Stradlater asks for a favor from Holden—writing an English composition，Holden writes about old Allies baseball mitt.That is the first presence of his little brother Allie，dying of leukemia.Due to his nostalgia for his brother，the first idea of writing something is also related to this guy.Because of his brothers death，Holden says he has a bad childhood.Later，although Holden has grown up，the image of his brother has never been missing.Although the younger brother dies in a beautiful childhood，in Holdens mind，he is very nice and pure，because his whole short life has not been tarnished by the dreggy community.When Phoebe asks Holden if theres something he likes，“I know hes dead！ Dont you think I know that？ I can still like him，though，cant I？ Just because somebodys dead，you dont just stop liking them，for Gods sake-especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know thatre alive and all”.（P.171）

So，Allie is the favorite person in the eyes of Holden.The missing towards his brother，on the one hand，shows Holdens attachment to the past childhood，on the other hand，symbolizes his refusal of growth.In the memory of Holdens childhood，there are many nice experiences that he cannot forget.It is because of these events that Holden can immerse himself in happiness and liberation of his past childhood，temporarily erasing all the doubts and injustice. It is clear that Allies death is one of the most traumatic experiences in Holdens life and plays a significant role in his current psychological breakdown.If Allie is still alive，he can understand Holden so that they can share everything.So，Allie represents his nostalgia for the childrens world and he intends to refuse to grow up and always hopes to remain the state of being a pure child.

From the symbolism of these two kids，Phoebe and Allie，Holdens strong resistance to growth is easily showed to readers.Because of their innocence and purity，if possible，Holden really wants to stop his growth and refuse the societys ill effects，just accompanying Phoebe and Allie.

4 The Protection and Escape

4.1 The red hunting hat

As a symbol of protection and escape，the red hunting hat appears frequently throughout the whole novel.The maiden description about Holdens red hunting hat is that “one of those very，very long peaks”.（P.17） At the moment，Holden remembers that his new dorm is named after a guy，Ossenburger.When Ossenburger returns to his alma mater to make a phony speech and talk about fifty corny jokes.He just cannot bear that kind of phony view of life reflected in the mendacious adults.So he gets back to his room，puts on his red hunting hat and reads a book sitting on a chair.Here，the hat is a way of protecting himself.What he only tries to preserve is his inner pursuit of the holy paradise.The author associates it with innocence and purity that is Holdens actual psyche，which seems totally foreign to the outside world，giving him a sense of incompatibility with the surroundings.In the dormitory，Holden “swung the old peak way around to the back—very corny”，（P.18） this kind of unusual and strange way highlights his racial and rebellious characters.After a fight with Stradlater，with the result of Holdens sitting on the floor and blood all over his mouth and chin，even on the pajamas and bathrobe，“I put it on，and turned the old peak around to the back，the way I liked it”，（P.45） we notice that Holden puts on his hat to protect his inward hurt，escaping the touch with the real world for a moment.Later，at the moment of leaving Pency，“I put my red hunting hat on，and turned the peak around to the back，the way I liked it”.（P.52）When Holden finds it difficult to fit into the realistic world，he chooses to wear the hat “the way I liked it”，which symbolizes that he intends to go another different way，and his disdain for the secular world slightly reveals a unique sense of depression，so he firmly protects himself.

Additionally，other than the symbolism of protection，the red hunting hat is also a spiritual sanctuary，that is to say，it provides Holden with a warm and comfortable shelter.Actually，nobody knows his real thoughts and desires.So，he wears his red hat to leave school and leaves for the next sheltering place.When Holden wants to solve a problem in a civilized way，he finds it turns out to be ineffective，at the same time，he is unable to use violence against it.For example，he pays the prostitute five bucks without her service，but later on，unbelievably，he is asked to pay the rest and suffers from a heavy hit.He still wears his red hunting hat because he regards it as the asylum，making him temporarily isolated from the adult world which is full of ignorance，hypocrisy，and spiritual emptiness，to get a brief spiritual liberation.The red hat is bound to build a self-protective barrier and a reliable source of energy and spiritual sanctuary for Holden.

4.2 The ducks

Salinger integrates three descriptions of “ducks” into the novel by using the method of symbolism.Firstly，the “ducks” occur in an episode with his history teacher，Mr.Spencer，before Holden leaves school.Holden knows that Spencer will flunk him for his poor performance，so he writes a message after the examination paper in advance in order to reduce the psychological burden of Mr.Spencer.It is surprising that Mr.Spencer，who is dull and insensitive，reads his papers and letters to him aloud at the time of Holdens visit.The indifference of the adult emotion and the sensitivity of children constitute a strong contrast.While shooting the bull，he is thinking of something else：“I was wondering if it would be frozen over when I got home，and if it was，where did the ducks go.I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over.I wondered if some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something.Or just flew away”.（P.13）

At first glance，these words may be thought to be the result of a child who is free to talk about his own interests.However，from the authors point of view，Holden sees himself as a wild duck，and the whole social environment he lives in is a frozen lake.His history teacher cannot go deep into his inner heart.He feels that he is out of step with the environment and couldnt find his way out.He hopes that he can become a duck and fly to some warm and comfortable places for security.Although Holden is only a sixteen-year-old boy，he is keenly aware of the changes in the environment.So he chooses to find another place to protect himself and stay away from the cold world.

The second mention of ducks occurs on the way to the Edmont Hotel with a driver in a cab.“You know those ducks in that lagoon right near the Central Park South？”，（P.60） Holden is still worried about the ducks in the frozen lake，trying to find their ways out.This is also his own persistent pursuit of self-realization in such an indifferent environment.Nonetheless，the driver turns around and looks at him as if he was a mad man and thinks Holden is joking.He is out of tune with the society and cannot be understood by the world.His depressed mood longing for freedom，fraternity，help and understanding can not find the landing point，and his desires and actions of seeking a close and mutual understanding between people are also seen as malicious behaviors.His way out can only be isolated from the current living environment，seeking a shelter in some other places.

During the communication with Horwitz，the third presentation of ducks pops up.All of a sudden，Horwitzs reply is that “how the hell should I know a stupid thing like that”.（P.82） The end result is that Holden stops the conversation and Horwitz turns around.Holdens care for the ducks is actually his concern for the fate of the individual consciousness of hardship，and Horwitzs indifference is also on behalf of the capitalist society among the adult world.They are satisfied with a living status of vanity and corruption，lacking a pursuit of the spiritual life.Traumatized by the reality，Holden tries not to surrender or compromise.But Holdens final mental breakdown is the result of the conflict between his perseverance for a way out and the alienation from the outside world.So，the settlement is to escape and find some peaceful and warm places.

In a sense，the ducks tenacity when facing the unfriendly environment resonates with Holdens.In these three depictions of ducks in different situations，readers can fully notice that Holden wants to protect something or somebody by himself，but the destiny is out of his control so that he is forced to escape.His curiosity about the ducks reveals his genuine and youthful characters while his obsessing about ducks symbolizes Holdens kindness and the pursuit of goodliness，and strong resistance to the ugly，filthy，impure adult world.

5 Conclusion

In a nutshell，this paper analyzes the importance of symbolism in interpreting Holdens growth through three different periods，giving a better understanding about the thematic meaning of the novel.The author shows Holdens growth crisis by studying the social environment and his emotional activities with the method of symbolism.It is hoped that these analyses will help readers to understand the novel more comprehensively.Based on the aforementioned analysis，symbolism in The Catcher in the Rye is extremely quintessential from the aspects of concrete objects，characters and so forth.With the employment of this kind of skill，a historic milestone has been set up in the history of American literature.

Bibliography

[1]Salinger.J.D.The Catcher in the Rye [M].New York：Little Brown and Company，1991.