So it's pretty much a unanimous decision that the story The Catcher in the Rye is a very saddening story. The main character and narrator Holden is always sad and alone. He is always faced with instances of death, like the symbolism of the mummies, James Castle and Ossenburger. Pencey even built buildings out of money that was made from funeral parlors. Death is everywhere in Holden's life. It's no wonder that this kid is sad and depressed. He heard a fellow classmate commit suicide and his brother died from leukemia. Also, the "f*** you" signs that were a sign of sadness. They were always written in places that had once made Holden happy, which definitely made him even sadder. Death and sadness haunted Holden throughout the entire story, that is, until one of the last events in the story. After Holden decided that he was going to run away, his sister convinced him to go ride the carousel. That was one of the only times throughout the entire book that Holden really admitted he was truly happy. When they were on the carousel, Holden came to a realization. At first, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, so I had to do some research. Apparently, carousel's used to have a gold ring on them and when you passed it on your horse, you were supposed to try and grab it. Usually if you got it, you got a free ride. Holden talked about just letting the kids reach for the gold ring, even if they might get hurt. I believe that he was finally realizing that growing up wouldn't be the worst thing in the world that could happen. It was his final realization that it was time to let go, and I think that he was still happy, even after thinking about growing up. Just like the gold ring, growing up isn't something you can protect you children from. You have to just accept it because you can't stop it from happening. Or I guess he really could have just been talking about the gold ring on the carousel.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.
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