Atanasova, Karina
9/7
April 20, 2009
The Perfect World
Symbolism Essay - Final Draft
People usually visit museums in order to learn more about the history and the past of the
world they live in. Instead, Holden in JD Salinger's Catcher In The Rye does it with another
purpose - to feel comfortable in a world where nothing changes and everything stays the same
forever. He mentions the museum when he talks about Phoebe, because he used to go there and
Phoebe does now. Holden claims that he "loved that damn museum" (120), because it represents
his own model of the world as he wants it to be. Holden wants to know the whole routine of the
world he lives in, to understand all its concepts, and to know what happens when and where. He
also wishes everything to stay the same, which is a way of showing that he does not want to
grow up. Nevertheless, he points that the world he lives in is not the one he wants to live in and
tells the difference between them. The Museum of Natural History is a symbol of the world
where Holden wants to live but he eventually finds out that making his dream come true is
impossible.
Holden's dream consists not only in being the "catcher in the rye", but also in knowing and
understanding the world he lives in, which he is obviously not able to do. While talking about the
museum for the first time, Holden mentions that he "knew that whole museum routine like a
book" (119). This quote represents that he wants to know everything that happens in the place he
loves and he also loves the place where he knows everything that happens there. Holden wants
everything to be familiar to him in order not to be suddenly surprised by a bad thing, for example
Allie's death. "I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all,
because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the
garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it"
(Chapter 5). This quote describes Holden's reaction after his brother's death and his inability to
deal with sudden changes in his life. It proves that Holden's life is not a perfect one and he has to
deal with such things even though he does not want to. Allie's death is not a part from the
"routine" he wants. In addition to the familiar "routine" he wants, Holden also wishes everything
to stay as it is, which is another thing that is not possible in real life.
A significant part of the world where Holden wants to live is everything and everyone
staying at one place all the time, not moving and not changing. He clearly shows that during his
description of the museum, where he adds, "The best thing, though, in that museum was that
everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move" (121). By not moving, Holden
also means not changing as he clarifies later in the book while he talks about the museum. He
does not want and refuses to grow up and to change. Moreover, he does not want the people
around him to change and does not accept their growing up and turning into adults. He has a hard
time realizing that Jane had a date with Stradlater, while if they all lived in Holden's perfect
world, they would have been all the same and still playing checkers. During their date Holden
was nervous and "nearly went crazy" (34), which shows that he does not want Jane to change
and he wants her to live in his perfect world. He refuses to accept the fact that she is not a part
from his world and later he realizez that even he, himself, is not a part from the image of the
perfect world, similar to the museum. Another person who wouldn't have "moved" is Allie. If he
was in a glass case, just like the Indians, he would have still been the same. He would have still
been alive. Everyone is sad in a way when things change, but Holden represents this in a very
strong way by making a connection between the museum and the real world and telling the
difference between them.
There are many differences between Holden's perfect world and the one he actually lives in,
but the most important one is that people in real life actually change, but the best time for Holden
to realize this is when visiting the museum. He says, "The only thing that would be different
would be you" (121). He talks about every time when going in the museum and seeing how
everything has been staying the same but people in real life have changed. Holden wants people
to stay the same. Furthermore, he wants himself to stay the same, because by going to the
museum again he knows that he would see how much he has changed and that despite everything
he does in order not to grow up and become an adult, he changes little by little and there is
nothing he can do. His meeting with Sunny proves the fact that Holden does not want to grow
up, where he says "The trouble was, I just didn't want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if
you want to know the truth" (Chapter 13). He refuses to change and to grow up. He wants to put
himself and the people around him in big glass cases and for them to be the same every time they
visit the museum. He does not want to be different in any way, but by visiting the museum he
shows that somehow he has gotten used to the idea that he would be changed in a way.
Everyone goes to the museum in order to discover some things but everyone has different
goals. People go there to discover interesting and significant facts about the history, while
Holden goes to the museum to see how much he and everything around him has changed. He
claims he loves the place because it is a model of his perfect world where everything is familiar
to him and there are not bad and unexpected things happening and nothing moves and changes,
so there are not things and people he would lose. On the other hand, every time he escapes to his
perfect world he realizes that he does not live there and he never would be able to. He cannot
explain how things have changed so he concludes, "You'd just be different, that's all" (121). Even
though he knows that every visit there would be somehow painful, he does not stop going there
and he would rather accept the fact that he has changed than losing his perfect world forever.