Holden resents the adult world for its ruthlessness, obsession with status (e.g. how luxurious your car is), and casual acceptance of exploitative sex. He sees the adult world as corrupt and destructive. Thus, when Phoebe asks him what he wants to be, Holden describes his fantasy of standing in a rye field and catching children “if they start to go over the cliff” (Salinger 191). The cliff symbolizes plunging into adulthood. Holden’s imagined job reveals his fear of change through his desire to safeguard childhood innocence.
Museums initially appeal to Holden, since they freeze moments in time, offering a sense of permanence. Holden remembers visiting The Museum of Natural History as a kid and finding comfort in the fact that the exhibits never changed. He notes, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…The only thing that would be different would be you” (Salinger 135). But later, when Holden approaches the museum, he chooses not to go inside. His decision suggests that he has come to recognize a painful truth: even if a place remains fixed, people themselves always change over time from new experiences. Thus, the museum may no longer match his childhood notions.
The Museum of Art near Phoebe’s school further highlights Holden’s realization that youth and innocence cannot be truly protected. While there, he notices the words “Fuck you” crayoned under the glass part of the wall in the Pharaoh's tomb (Salinger 224). He also points out that there is a “Fuck you” written on a wall in Phoebe's school where young children can see it. Holden tries to erase the vandalism but soon realizes that he cannot remove it for good, as it gets etched on again (Salinger 221-222). The seemingly never-ending "Fuck you" messages upset him because it proves that impurities cannot be fully deleted; it forces Holden to confront the reality that he cannot realistically shield children from corruption.
Museums initially appeal to Holden, since they freeze moments in time, offering a sense of permanence. Holden remembers visiting The Museum of Natural History as a kid and finding comfort in the fact that the exhibits never changed. He notes, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move…The only thing that would be different would be you” (Salinger 135). But later, when Holden approaches the museum, he chooses not to go inside. His decision suggests that he has come to recognize a painful truth: even if a place remains fixed, people themselves always change over time from new experiences. Thus, the museum may no longer match his childhood notions.
The Museum of Art near Phoebe’s school further highlights Holden’s realization that youth and innocence cannot be truly protected. While there, he notices the words “Fuck you” crayoned under the glass part of the wall in the Pharaoh's tomb (Salinger 224). He also points out that there is a “Fuck you” written on a wall in Phoebe's school where young children can see it. Holden tries to erase the vandalism but soon realizes that he cannot remove it for good, as it gets etched on again (Salinger 221-222). The seemingly never-ending "Fuck you" messages upset him because it proves that impurities cannot be fully deleted; it forces Holden to confront the reality that he cannot realistically shield children from corruption.
Ultimately, the museums in The Catcher in the Rye reveal a gap between Holden’s naive vision of preserving youth and purity and the realities of life.
I liked the way you showed the symbol of the cliff! He wants to protect the children from falls they may take. Also, these museums are interesting in the way they show Holden's values such as that of innocence. They show that the world can corrupt people and this can reach places such as the museums. Great job!
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ReplyDeleteI really liked how you related the museum to Holden's "dream job" as a catcher in the rye. The truth is that Holden doesn't want to become an adult and he wants to freeze time in a perfect moment which is shown in both the museum and his job as a catcher in the rye. However, something like that just isn't possible and Holden eventually has to come to terms with that.
I find your interpretation of Holden's dream job to be interesting. Partly because I never thought much of his dream job but it does make sense. When it comes to falling over the cliff, I think either falling or cliffs were mentioned by Antolini, perhaps both. I think that this makes a lot of sense, he's lost his, so now he wants to protect others. But he's seeing that that is untenable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points regarding Holden's realization that he can't realistically be "the catcher in the rye", and I also think that your reasoning for why Holden chooses not to go into the museum is really interesting. It sort of presents this idea that even if a place is literally frozen in time, never withering or corruptible, Holden IS corrupted, and no matter what he does, he will never be able to see the museum in the same way that he did back then. In a way, Holden seems to be trying to create a museum in his mind, since if he can't make the world his museum, then he'll just have to settle for making his perception of the world his museum. I wonder if this sort of connects to Salinger's hermitic lifestyle, since if the outside world is the exhibit, then by not interacting with it, he is thereby preserving his museum.
ReplyDeleteI think you're spot on in your assessment of Holden and the nature of his resentment of the adult world. On your point of Holden seeing things at fixed, but them changing in the real world, I'm reminded of this concept of "rememory" I've seen in another book. In Holden's mind, a place, person, or thing is a pristine, idealized version of the current real thing which leads to his disappointment of the real world (that ultimately never meets his expectations).
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee! I hadn't connected Holden's love of the museum to his fear of change, but I think you did a really good job explaining it. You also do a great job of explaining the ways in which he both avoids confronting change and the times when he is forced to. I think him noticing the "Fuck you"s could also be a sign of his loss of innocence/ascent to adulthood. It's likely that those messages, or those in a similar vein, were always there, but he didn't notice them when he was in these places as a child. But now that he's on the threshold of adulthood, he is able to notice them and understand their significance, as he has been corrupted.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee, I really enjoyed reading your blog post!! I think that it completely makes sense that Holden would enjoy Museums because they basically show stuff that happened in the past, and memories are very important to Holden. I find it interesting how the "Fuck You" helped Holden realize that he can't protect kids from some of the harsh things that people do in the world. Good Job!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is an insightful reading of the perhaps curious moment when, after reminiscing so fondly about the museum as his favorite place, Holden suddenly refuses to go inside. I agree that the key has to do with the sobering realization that "you'd be different" every time you revisit the space, which in his initial memory just means incidental things like what shoes you have on or other little daily variants. But now it has been YEARS since he has visited the museum, and he's NOT part of a happy class of elementary students but a troubled teen who's been kicked out of school and is now flying solo. The whole vibe would be different, and it seems that Holden doesn't want this additional reminder of how far those happy elementary-school days are in the rearview mirror right now. He's a lot more "different" than he'd been the last time he revisited the museum. And, of course, the display cases don't stay *exactly* the same--we assume the exhibits at the Museum of Natural History today are different from what Phoebe is seeing in 1949. So what if Holden were to go inside and see that the diorama with the Native Americans in the canoe is no longer there? Similar to his ambivalence about Jane Gallagher, a big part of him doesn't want to stir things up and discover something he'd maybe rather not think about.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee, this is a great catch that I did not even think of! The symbolism of the museum's preservation is key to Holden's outlook on the world. His decision to not go inside is similar to him deciding not to talk to Jane Gallagher, and how he would rather have perfect, undisturbed images in his mind rather than seeing the disappointment of the world's corruption. The "fuck you" signs also may have a similar idea to the cliff, except he realizes that he can't protect children from the evils of the world.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kaylee! I think you did a great job! I hadn't thought of the museum this way, but now that you point it out, I completely agree. I made me sad when he saw the vandalism appearing time and time again. Finding out it was the children that wrote it mad me even sadder for Holden.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee! I really like your interpretation of the museum's symbolism in the novel. I think it really aligns with Holden's outlook on the world, especially with how he sees people, and quite importantly to his point, children in specific. Really good point, and wonderful blog post!
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee, I like your interpretation of the museums in the Catcher and the Rye. Holden's dream job of catching kids if they start to go over a cliff kids showing the protection of childhood innocence. His decision to not go in the museum showing his acknowledgment that he changed. The vandalism he try's to erase showing how he can't protect childhood innocence or aging itself. These scenes could show Holden's view on childhood innocence and his inability to prevent aging itself.
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