Throughout the book "The Catcher in the Rye," author J.D. Salinger uses many symbols to explain what Holden Caulfield is feeling. Three symbols that Salinger uses represent anti-change and things staying the same. The Museum of Natural History is an example of things staying the same. The carousel at the zoo that Phoebe rides at the end of the story, also never changes. The job that Holden would like to have, being "the catcher in the rye" symbolizes him wanting to stop change from happening. In the book, Holden comes across as the type of person who is anti-change and wants his surroundings to stay the same.
             The Museum of Natural History is a good example of the fact that Holden dislikes change. Every floor and every showcase stage in the museum never changes. Everything put on display in the museum stays like that the whole time; nothing is ever moved or replaced by something else. Holden likes it this way. " The best thing though, in the museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish." Pg. 121 Holden says this as he is looking around at the displays at the museum. The way Holden likes the museum never changing shows not only does Holden's dislike for change in himself but his dislike for change in his surroundings.
             Holden, when talking to his sister, reveals the job he would like to have. Holden says that the perfect job for him would be to watch little kids play in a field of rye and if they ever got too close to the edge, he would be the one who caught them and took them back to safety. Holden would like to be "the catcher in the rye." " I'm standing on the edge of this cliff, what I have to do, I have to catch everybody, if they start to go over the cliff." Pg. 173 Holden is seeing the cliff as "the cliff of change" and if anybody goes too close to the edge, then they will take a step i...