Falling: Death or Impurity?

Falling: Death or Impurity?

When kids reach their adolescent years, they sometimes do not know right from wrong. Teens tend to try out new things that can lead them into a better world or fall into the worse place they could ever be. In Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, Holden, the main character, is going through the stages of life where he starts to realize the bad influences in the world. He sees so many children fall off a cliff and land deep down under where the darkness lies. Though falling in the book can be taken literally, its true meanings represent life unraveling, entering death, having impurity and leaving innocence which a child does when it enters adulthood.

Falling can be represented as life unraveling in Catcher in the Rye. In a passage of the book, Mr. Antolini who was Holden's old English teacher gives Holden a lecture about life because Mr. Antolini really cares for Holden. Mr. Antolini explains to Holden saying '"The man falling isn't permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom. He just keeps falling and falling.'"(pg. 187). The man who Mr. Antolini is talking about is Holden. He is saying that Holden is falling like everyone else too. Holden is falling to his own death but he doesn't know it because he is so concerned about other people falling rather taking care of himself first. Holden looks for purity and innocence in the world but when he can't find even one thing that is pure, Holden feels very depressed that leads his life to unravel. What Mr. Antolini tells Holden is correct because throughout the book, Holden's life begins to become worse after Allie's death and losing Jane. Allie and Jane were people he really cared about but after losing them, Holden felt as though he should sacrifice himself for others but this just made his life more miserable and this caused him to feel depressed throughout the book .Mr. Antolini is warning Holden to watch out for the bottom and keep his grip together before he crashes like everyone else.

Although falling is represented as life unraveling, it can also be represented as death. While Holden is walking outside in New York, Holden thinks of a scary thought that comes into his mind. As Holden is walking, he says "Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd go down, down, down and nobody'd ever see me again."(pg. 197). Holden thinks he will really never get to the other side of the street which represents the other side of his life. After hearing Mr. Antolini's words of wisdom, Holden really feels like his life will come to an end just like his brother Allie. In this passage Holden is talking about death because many people who he knew died like Allie and James Castle who literally died by falling out of his window. Holden doesn't want to die after seeing so many people die around him. Even though Holden wants to commit suicide, he really doesn't mean it because he is afraid. Holden is stuck