Understanding Insecurity
Many of the insults that one uses are often used to compensate for one's personal insecurities. This is demonstrated clearly in J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye. The main character, Holden Caulfield, frequently blames others for their faults, while not understanding that these faults exist in himself as well. An example of this is Holden's lack of identity and quest for finding one; A recurring symbol of this search for identity is Holden's red hat, because its outlandishness shows Holden's desire to be different from the superficial people that surround him. Through this symbol and one other, Salinger shows the reader how Holden's judgments of other people are often based on his own insecurities and faults, and how this presents contradiction in Holden's character.Holden often criticizes how many of the people he sees daily live shallow and insignificant lives, perhaps without direction or purpose; yet he does not realize that he has a lack of ambition and direction in his own life. This is symbolized often times throughout the novel by the ducks at Central Park, a symbol that is relevant in two ways. He often talks about the ducks that swim in the ponds in Central Park, and where they go when the ponds freeze
This is because he sees everyone as being the same, and can not notice the intricate and complex personalities that are different in every person and therefore set every person apart, not just himself. The hat protects him from cold weather, but also the coldness and harshness of society. over, and what direction they take when they vanish into the sky. He uses it for two reasons, one practical and one symbolic. With these two symbols, Salinger uses Holden to demonstrate how insults are part of human nature, in that they define a person's own insecurities and are used to try to redeem him. It also shows contradiction in that Holden blames everyone else for having identical personalities while his is unique, even though he needs to use a material object to make himself appear unique - not a personality trait. Towards the end of the novel, as his character grows, Holden wears the hat less often because he begins to become more accepting of how the world treats him; and he eventually gives it to Phoebe in a gesture that shows the reader that he no longer needs protection from the outside world. Despite how Holden considers himself to be unique with or without the hat, he subconsciously feels that it affects what people think about him, and this is shown by his attitude toward the uniqueness that his hat brings: ". Holden's large red hunting hat is symbolically relevant in two ways. it was freezing cold, and I took my red hunting hat out of my pocket and put it on-I didn't give a damn how I looked. Holden's judgments of his surrounding society most often reflect his own insecurities and personality flaws. He does not notice or complain about the previously overwhelming typical, superficial and "phony" characteristics of the people around him as much, and therefore is not as emotionally affected by society.
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