Catcher in the Rye.vp - Salem Press

sion which can reconcile him to his world. He can then stop trying on
caps—the desperate and futile gestures of adolescent self-discovery.
It is through the innocent Phoebe, at the end, that Holden initially
moves toward this redemption. As she is running to meet him at the
museum, he sees her because she is wearing his red duck-hunting
cap—his “people-shooting” rather than duck-shooting cap. He had
given her the cap after he had decided to leave New York, vaguely to
hitchhike to the West. Phoebe, he discovers, has packed her suitcase
and now asks if she can flee with him. Salinger describes Holden’s
sudden reaction: “I almost fell over when she said that. I swear to God I
did. I got sort of dizzy and I thought I was going to pass out or something
again” (185). For the first time in the novel, he has begun to realize
that the idea of wholesale retreat from human associations must be
re-examined. He discovers that he does not want to save this young innocent
from the phoniness and obscenity of New York City. Disappointed
and angry, Phoebe hurls the cap at Holden. He puts the cap not
on his head but into his pocket. Phoebe then walks ahead of him to the
zoo, where Holden is able briefly to observe the animals all safe and
well-fed in winter. Next they arrive at the carrousel. Holden’s mind
now fixes on the significance of the carrousel.
First, the carrousel comforts Holden because he discovers here a
permanent and secure spot in New York, specifically because in the
fixed center comes the same old song year after year. His earlier preoccupation
with change and death is still active. And it becomes more
highly charged as Phoebe climbs up onto the carrousel and it begins to
whirl. He sees the innocent children in danger of falling from the circling
carrousel as they reach for the stationary gold ring. But the moment
suddenly becomes also, for Holden, the instant of revelation. He
reflects,
The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let
them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if
you say anything to them. (190)
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