Holden Caulfield and the Fountain of Youth
Allie, Phoebe, Jane, James Castle. All legends in the world of Holden Caulfield. All connected by a common theme: their perpetual youth and purity. Throughout the novel, we get a detailed (and almost exhausting) account of the many things that contribute to Holden’s cynicism. However, a select few are safe from Holden’s overgeneralized criticisms of the world. These few, to Holden, are almost frozen in time, forever innocent and free.
To Holden, Allie and James Castle’s early deaths leave only an impression of their character before they died. Allie was young, joyful, and shared many of Holden’s passions. Perhaps he might have grown up and stayed the same, but he could very well have changed into a different person, just as D.B. did. Holden was forced to deal with D.B. growing up and working in Hollywood, destroying his idol: young D.B., who was an authentic, passionate storywriter. But in a somewhat ironic way, young Allie will be forever immortalized to Holden as a result of his untimely death. In fact, he even “talks out loud” (53) to Allie in a fit of depression and cites the Allie he remembers as one of the few things he likes in life. In the same way, James Castle’s martyr-like death preserves his heroic persona (at least in Holden’s eyes). Now, whenever Holden thinks back about James, he will remember only his steadfastness and honesty. It’s possible that both of these characters may have become the same adults that Holden has become disillusioned with, but they never had the chance. In both cases, these deaths, albeit heartbreaking, leave memories of those characters untainted in Holden’s mind.
Jane’s situation is notably different, but has the same result. Jane is alive, but because of the lack of contact between her and Holden, he clings to an outdated version of her instead. Holden refuses to actually reunite with her, despite talking incessantly about their relationship to Stradlater and us. He resolves to call her multiple times throughout the novel, yet is never able to follow through. He repeatedly states that he is "not in the mood" (18) to see her, which, based on his fixation on her, is likely not the whole story. He appears to be so worried about losing the young, innocent Jane of his memories that he avoids meeting the new Jane, who seems to have changed quite a bit. So, even though there is no physical event that preserves 13-year-old Jane, Holden is still adamant to keep her that way in his mind.
Overall, throughout the book, it’s clear that Holden relies on youth and innocence as the only things left in the world that are unsullied by phoniness. Allie, Phoebe, Jane, and James Castle, or at least how they appear in Holden’s mind, are embodiments of the virtue of youth and its meaningfulness to Holden, and they give Holden a sliver of hope about humanity. For this reason, they are crucial to analyzing Holden and what he values most.
Allie, James, Jane, and Pheobe are characters that represent youth and do not portray characteristics of phoniness. Holden does not view these characters in a negative light. (Just to note, it's interesting how sometimes he exhibits phony characteristics himself.) He has these high standards for other people and chooses what he wants to believe such as in Jane's circumstance. This shapes the way he views others. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteI also think that Holden never seeing any of those people grow up really is the connecting line between the people he puts on a pedestal. Since it means that they were never tarnished by the phoniness of adulthood like D.B. was. Although I never did consider that the reason he never called Jane was so that he never had to find out whether Jane had changed. I kinda thought that Holden wasn't feeling up to it, which is kinda what he said. But that does make much more sense as to why he is making up excuses to not call Jane. And Phoebe simply hasn't grown up and is still in fact a child.
ReplyDeleteHi Kruthi,
ReplyDeleteI also think that Holden's belief that people will always let him down is tied to his belief that growing up is naturally corrupting. I also like how you very neatly picked apart the 4 examples of "good people" and, by doing so, helped explain Holden's perception of phoniness and adulthood in a very concise and specific way. I guess what remains to be dissected is what exactly this "youthfulness" that Holden likes so much in others is. Is it honesty? kindness? open-heartedness? trust? fun? joy? whimsy? There are a couple of parts in the book, ex. the boy singing "If a body catch a body coming through the rye" and the girl with the roller skates, where we can see what appeals to Holden about their character/their youth.
Hi Kruthi! You did a really good job of explaining why these people are so important to Holden--because they remain uncorrupted by adulthood. I think Holden's love for kids is also very relevant. Some of the few times Holden finds joy when he is in a depressive state is when he sees or is with a kid, like the kid he saw singing to himself. I can't count the number of times he says, "Kids kill me" or something along those lines throughout the novel. He finds a great joy in children because they are innocent, much in the same way that the people most important to him are. Phoebe is particularly special because she is still a child, and as such is actually accessible to Holden in this uncorrupted form.
ReplyDeleteYou make clear how, at least for the time being, Holden is able to view this "trinity" as representing "perpetual youth and purity." As we discussed in class, an unwillingness to *disturb* this carefully maintained image of Jane Gallagher is likely behind Holden's uneasiness about the prospect of actually calling her and talking to her. Who knows if he'll EVER make contact with her again, or if she will remain in this "frozen," idealized state as a thirteen-year-old who has unusual checkers strategies? And of course, Allie has the dubious distinction of remaining "forever young" in Holden's mind, while still tormenting him with the injustice and unfairness of Allie's early death. He will never "disappoint" Holden, but Holden is clearly torn apart by the realization that he will never see or talk to Allie again. Allie manages to embody both what is good AND what is unbearable about the world, in Holden's view.
ReplyDeleteBut what about Phoebe? It's true that for the short-term, as the three-day timeframe of this novel plays itself out, she occupies a kind of "perpetual" youth. And yet, when we finally meet Phoebe, she is not all wide-eyed innocence: she's sarcastic, sometimes a little bossy, and most importantly, she GRILLS Holden with a series of tough questions. When she rides the carousel at the end of the novel, Holden notes that she's ALMOST "too old" to ride it--her legs dangle awkwardly long over the horse. So while the carousel might suggest an image for "perpetual youth" (Phoebe frozen forever on that ride, going around and around and not aging or progressing), but of course that is an illusion. Phoebe is already likely 11 by the time Holden narrates, and in a few short years she's going to be entering adolescence, and before he knows it she'll be a fully grown woman, with full capacity to "disappoint" him.
I think that Holden's clinging to youth and innocence is one of the reasons he struggles so much throughout the book. He is fighting a losing battle, trying to push back against a natural part of human life, and the fact that he is not willing to give up is why it is so difficult for him to get through this part of his life. While youth and innocence give Holden hope, clinging to them so hard is the reason he finds it impossible to grow up and live a fulfilling life.
ReplyDeleteHi Kruthi,
ReplyDeleteI agree that he perceives their deaths as a sort of "time freeze" where their childlike qualities are almost immortalized. This also may have to do with the surreal description of the rye - it feels like almost an infinite, timeless field rather than grounded in the ever-changing world of real life.