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Holden protecting Phoebe's and other children's innocence - Coggle…
Holden protecting Phoebe's and other children's innocence
Phoebe
pg. 199: "All I wanted to do first was say good-by to old Phoebe" - Holden shows he cares about phoebe by going out of his way to say bye to her before he leaves, not his Mom or his Dad, just Phoebe. This shows that wants to make sure Phoebe sees him one last time to protect her from him just leaving without explanation or salutations.
pg. 213: "I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth." - This moment in the story really highlights how Holden sees innocence in Phoebe and how he wants to keep that alive in her, and how he gets so happy seeing her living like a child. The experience that Holden most likely never got.
pg. 201: I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody'd written "Fuck you" on the wall... I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it... and then finally some dirty kid would tell them." - In this quote, we see Holden's desire to prevent the harsh things in the world to affect the innoence that the kids still hold. Holden mentioning how it would be stuck on kids minds for days really bothered him because that ruined their innocence for a long period of time.
pg. 200 - The letter that Holden wrote shows that Holden wants to protect Phoebe's innocence because any amount of money is a big deal to a little kid, since they cant work or make it naturally, its more valuable and Holden not spending a lot of it shows that he cares about Phoebe and wants her to use the money, not him.
pg. 116 - Holden buying the record for Phoebe shows how much he cares about her. He payed 5 dollars for this record (keep in mind that translates to around 60 dollars today), and that shows how much he cares about her because its hard to justify a 60 dollar gift for no reason, other than the fact he wants her to be happy and have something that will represent her innocence for a long time.
pg. 118 - When Holden sees the skating rink that Phoebe likes to go to, he sees himself in that because thats the place he used to like too, when he was innocent.
Pg. 157 - Holden wants to go out of his way just to say Hi to Phoebe quickly and then leave fast, he doesn't even want to see his parents, he just misses Phoebe. I think this shows how much Phoebe means to Holden.
Pg 159 - When Holden says that Phoebe isnt like a normal kid because she is so organized, I think he says this out of fear. I think he sees this and starts thinking how Phoebe is starting to lose her innocence and he needs to do something about it.
The Catcher in the Rye and other children
pg. 115 - When Holden sees the kid walking dangerously close to the road, singing a lullaby, not caring, it shows Holden how prominent innocence is in these kids, and I think Holden saw himself in this child and how he used to be that innocent once.
Pg 198. "Every time I'd get to the end of a block, I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie... "Allie dont let me disappear""- I think that Holden sees his younger self inside the idea of Allie. He saw his innoncence disppear when Allie did and he wants to protect kids from losing their innocence like that. Him telling Allie to not let him disappear means that Holden wants to keep some sort of his innocence.
Pg 170 - Holden mentions James castle, and how that was the most traumatizing experience that he has ever witnessed. James castle killed himself because kids were bullying him and pressuring him to take back something he said. He resorted to suicide instead of taking back what he said. I think Holden sees this and realizes that he never wants some kid to lose their innocence so fast, that they resort to suicide.
Pg 173 - Holden mentions how he wants to be the Catcher in the Rye. He mentions all things mentioned above, to show what he means. I think Holden means that he wants to protect kids innocence. The cliff represents the journey to adulthood and the cold hard ground represents the hardships of adulthood, and finally Holden represents the person that protects the kids from growing up too early.
General Questions
Is it a possibility that Holden never had innocence for a long period of time and became jaded very early on is his life due to his brothers death?
How do all these incidents tie to Holdens fear of seeing Phoebe grow up and lose her innocence?
What value does Phoebes innocence hold to Holden?
How does Holden try to preserve his own innocence throughout the book?