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Catcher In The Rye: Childhood Innocence - What Holden Never Had - School Essays

Catcher In The Rye: Childhood Innocence - What Holden Never Had

Probably the greatest irony of the novel is the fact that, despite
his love of "childhood innocence," Holden is and acts far from innocent
himself. In fact, he is its antithesis. He acts that way for many reasons.
First of all, he has so many responsibilities. Second, he never fits in
with the crowd, and finally, he never gets any real help for the problems
that he deals with.

Holden does have a love for "childhood innocence" as seen across
the book. For example, on page two hundred and one "Somebody'd written ‘
Fuck you' on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe
and all the other little kids would see it, and how they'd wonder what the
hell it meant, and then ...

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quotation from the novel which is found on page two
hundred and thirteen. "I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old
Phoebe was going around and around [the carousel]." All these examples
clearly show that Holden appreciated "childhood innocence" to a great
extent. Yet Holden acts the opposite.

The irony in this novel is Holden's behavior, which is far from
being innocent. He smokes, drinks, always depressed, thinks about suicide,
thinks about going embarking to a far place, and has people tell and act in
many weird ways. There are three main reasons why he acts this way. Firstly,
Holden being only sixteen years of age already has so much responsibility.
He has to get money for food and travel. When he travels he has to make
sure he doesn't get lost, and actually gets there. He has to make sure that
he doesn't flunk school. For a sixteen year old boy this is a challenge all
by itself, but there are still more reasons that his life is so difficult.
Secondly, he never had ...

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Catcher In The Rye: Childhood Innocence - What Holden Never Had. (2007, December 5). Retrieved January 15, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Catcher-Rye-Childhood-Innocence-What-Holden/75366

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 12/5/2007 10:13:30 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 713
Pages: 3

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