Quote
"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers and their pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving that same blanket. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you"(Salinger 121).
Context
As Holden is walking in the park, he misses Phoebe and decides to look for her. He sees a girl that knows Phoebe, and she tells him that she is on a fieldtrip to the Museum of Natural History. She remembers that the field trip was the day before, but he walks over there anyways.
Quote
"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around — nobody big, I mean — except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff — I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy"(Salinger 173).
Context
After Holden's stay with Mr. Antolini, he sneaks into his own house and wakes up Phoebe. He tells her that he had been kicked out of Pencey and she repeats over and over, "Daddy's going to kill you."
Analysis
The fact that Holden doesn't want anything in the museum to change mirrors how he doesn't want to change himself. He doesn't want to grow up and become a phony like all the other adults in his life. He wants to be like how the museum is and not have anything from the outside world change him. Not only does he not want to grow up himself, he also doesn't want children to grow up either. When Holden says that he wants to catch the children when they fall of "the cliff," it symbolizes how he wants to protect them from losing their innocence and growing up. Holden is aware of how cruel the world can be and he wants to shield the children from experiencing the harmfulness of the outside world. He wants the children to stay in the field of rye, and maintaining their innocence while in his protection.
Peer Response
I asked people about their opinions on growing up. Some said that they were excited to be free and have responsibilities while others said that they were nervous and scared that the responsibilities would be too stressful to handle. One person said "I'd prefer to stay young. I want to act like a five year old and play, but this appears to be socially unacceptable." I'm pretty sure many of feel that way and I agree that acting like a five year old when you're not is frowned upon in our society.
Innocence can be interpreted in many ways by different people. It can be seen as ignorance of the outside world, not being corrupted by society, or maybe not yet having experienced love. Depending on you definition of innocence, losing your innocence can be a good thing. You can't live life blindly pretending that the world is perfect and that death or famine doesn't exist. Losing one's innocence is inevitable and has to happen and is part of life.
Song
Avril Lavigne- Innocence
Sometimes we don't want anything to change...
