Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, symbolism is expressed in many forms. Each symbol has a hidden meaning waiting to be discovered. Once explored, Holden's life and the true meaning of Catcher in the Rye are revealed.
             Holden often thinks about the ducks that lived in the lagoon by his New York City home. He wonders where they go during the winter and how they get there. While he is in a cab on the way to Ernie's, a popular bar, he asked the cab driver his opinion about the ducks.
             Hey, Horowitz, you ever pass by the lagoon in Central Park? Down by Central Park South?...The lagoon. That little lake, like, there. Where the ducks are. You know....Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it? In the springtime and all? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance?.. The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves-go south or something? (Salinger 81)
             The ducks symbolize growing up. Winter symbolizes the teenage years. The winter, like being a teenager, is harsh. The teenager can not go back to being a child, like the ducks can not go back to the lagoon.
             Another example of symbolism in the Catcher in the Rye is when Holden tells his sister, Phoebe, he wanted to be the catcher in the rye. He wanted to stand at the edge of a cliff and catch the children, who were playing in the rye field, and keep them from falling.
             ...I keep picturing all these little kids playing some little game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big-except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're
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