The Catcher in the Rye on Idealism and Innocence
While many would not classify him as such, least of all himself, Holden Caulfield is an extremely idealistic and uniquely naive character, and this is shown in his pursuit of an impossible dream. He tries to be the "catcher in the rye," and figuratively stop the corruption of youth growing into adulthood, which is equally as impossible as it is delusional. While Gatsby also had problems with delusions, there is a more substantial link between the two: both become fixated on the past.
Holden's entire ideal of saving childhood innocence from the corruption and impurity of adulthood is truly glorifying the past, and this is something the Holden does throughout the book. He practically worships Allie's memory and regards him as a symbol of youth in its incorruptible, purest state, idealizing him to almost saintly status. Holden also fixates on Jane Gallagher, who seemed to play a rather unremarkable part in his childhood, but he does this because she is familiar and innocent, she is a part of his past, and his memory of her definitely cannot change; this is why he never builds up the courage to call her, because he is afraid that once he reunites with her something or anything about her will be different than what he remembers of her. He wants to remember her the way she was in his childhood, with the innocence of youth still in tact. Holden does this again with his spiel about the museum. He does not want to go in because he is afraid that amidst all of the unchanging, frozen glass cases and displays, he will see how much he himself has changed and grown, and there will be nothing he can do to prevent that. Holden's ideal is essentially a fixation on the past, and it is obvious how that worked out for Gatsby.
Holden similarly fails, although in his case, it is more that he gives up. While in the museum, he notices that, "Fuck you" has been scratched into the surface of a display, and he is upset enough to scrub it out. However, he soon notices that this has obviously been written in numerous other places, as obscene graffiti is not exactly an uncommon attribute of the city. To Holden, the. "Fuck you's" represent the corruption of the adult world, and he attempts to wipe them away in order to prevent that corruption from reaching the innocent youth that may come across it. However, he eventually notes that there are too many for him; that "Even if you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the 'Fuck you' signs in the world" (202), calling it "impossible" (202). Here is where Holden admits that he cannot reach the ideal that he is chasing, and where he gives up.
His problem was his fixation on the past; it is impossible to prevent time from moving forward. The only way to truly achieve a goal is to focus on the now, or the present. Holden seems to realize at the end that the past is not what he should dwell on when he says, "Don't ever tell anybody anything, or you'll just wind up missing everybody" (212). By focusing on the end result, by looking to far ahead, Holden got too entangled in the past. It does not matter how impossible your goal is as long as you are not heading backwards from where you started.
Holden's entire ideal of saving childhood innocence from the corruption and impurity of adulthood is truly glorifying the past, and this is something the Holden does throughout the book. He practically worships Allie's memory and regards him as a symbol of youth in its incorruptible, purest state, idealizing him to almost saintly status. Holden also fixates on Jane Gallagher, who seemed to play a rather unremarkable part in his childhood, but he does this because she is familiar and innocent, she is a part of his past, and his memory of her definitely cannot change; this is why he never builds up the courage to call her, because he is afraid that once he reunites with her something or anything about her will be different than what he remembers of her. He wants to remember her the way she was in his childhood, with the innocence of youth still in tact. Holden does this again with his spiel about the museum. He does not want to go in because he is afraid that amidst all of the unchanging, frozen glass cases and displays, he will see how much he himself has changed and grown, and there will be nothing he can do to prevent that. Holden's ideal is essentially a fixation on the past, and it is obvious how that worked out for Gatsby.
Holden similarly fails, although in his case, it is more that he gives up. While in the museum, he notices that, "Fuck you" has been scratched into the surface of a display, and he is upset enough to scrub it out. However, he soon notices that this has obviously been written in numerous other places, as obscene graffiti is not exactly an uncommon attribute of the city. To Holden, the. "Fuck you's" represent the corruption of the adult world, and he attempts to wipe them away in order to prevent that corruption from reaching the innocent youth that may come across it. However, he eventually notes that there are too many for him; that "Even if you had a million years to do it in, you couldn't rub out even half the 'Fuck you' signs in the world" (202), calling it "impossible" (202). Here is where Holden admits that he cannot reach the ideal that he is chasing, and where he gives up.
His problem was his fixation on the past; it is impossible to prevent time from moving forward. The only way to truly achieve a goal is to focus on the now, or the present. Holden seems to realize at the end that the past is not what he should dwell on when he says, "Don't ever tell anybody anything, or you'll just wind up missing everybody" (212). By focusing on the end result, by looking to far ahead, Holden got too entangled in the past. It does not matter how impossible your goal is as long as you are not heading backwards from where you started.