Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, follows Holden’s actions over three days throughout
New York City as he attempts to protect innocence everywhere, especially his own. One example of an innocent figure whom Holden strives to protect is Jane Gallagher. Holden became acquainted with Jane two summers before the novel begins and is someone with whom Holden almost had …show more content…
The final, and perhaps most important, example of Holden thinking about Jane in an idealistic way is the scene he imagined after he is robbed by the pimp,
Maurice. “Then I’d crawl back to my room and call up Jane and have her come over and bandage up my guts. I pictured her holding a cigarette for me to smoke while I was bleeding and all”(104). This shows Holden reaching a peak of insanity and beginning to realize Jane’s fanatical importance to him. By having Holden think about Jane idealistically throughout the novel, Salinger demonstrates that Jane is more important to Holden as a fantasy figure and consequently explains why the reader never meets …show more content…
First, he
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highlights Holden’s dependence on his shared experience with Jane; then, he utilizes the differences between Jane and the character Sally and Holden’s attitude towards both of them; finally, he has Holden think about Jane in an unrealistic way. To Holden, Jane is the only connection between innocence and his troublesome past, a teenage girl representing the ideals of childhood (Appositive phrase). If Holden were to lose this connection to innocence, he would lose his sanity, and this is why it is so important to him to preserve his ideal image of Jane. This is important because when Holden finally gives up his pursuit of the protection of innocence, his life seems to improve. Today, society can learn from this by acknowledging that some level of inner peace can be gained by letting go, moving on, or confronting the facts. By understanding
Holden’s realization that everything can not be protected, anyone can let a past fantasy in their lives go, and accept the present, in order to achieve a higher level of calmness and ultimately