"Little Shirley Beans" Record

The record that Holden buys for his little sister, Phoebe, is titled "Little Shirley Beans." The record is a symbol for innocence, particularly pertaining to one's childhood. Shortly after purchasing the record, Holden drops it in the park and it shatters, representing one of the novel's themes of innocence being lost in the "real world." After dropping it, Holden scrambles to pick of the broken pieces because even though the "innocence" is permanently shattered, he is desperate to gather any small form of it he can find. The fictitious record was supposedly sung by the real life 30's singer, Estelle Fletcher.

"...very Dixieland and whorehouse … not all mushy …not cute as hell."

Red Hunting Hat

The Red Hunting Hat that Holden adores wearing is a symbol for his individuality and uniqueness throughout the novel. It is described as being very unusual and Holden has conflicting views about wearing the hat in public. Holden's self-conscious attitude toward his favorite hat represents his internal conflict of wanting to be isolated from society while still having companionship with others at an erratic frequency that is slightly reminiscent of Bipolar Disorder. The hat may have deeper significance to Holden than what he implies in the book, but it is known to many as a symbol of conflicting values from Twentieth-Century America.

“…but it was freezing cold and I took my red hunting hat out of my pocket and put it on, I didn’t give a damn how I looked."

“I took my old hunting hat out of my pocket while I walked and put it on. I knew I wouldn’t meet anybody that knew me, and it was pretty damp out.”

Cigarette

Holden Caulfield, the novel's main character and narrator, is heavily addicted to smoking. Throughout the novel's time frame of a few days, he manages to go through an entire pack plus more that he takes from a brief visit to his home. The most prominent significance of cigarettes for Holden is that he smokes them whenever an act of hypocrisy, immorality, or general "phoniness" depresses or irritates him. Another use that the narcotic substance has is to demonstrate Holden's own hypocrisy to the reader. While he is nearly a chain smoker, he still manages to find others at fault for smoking.

"I lay on the bed and light up a smoke. Stradlater hated when I smoked in the dorm, it was against school rules but no one could smell it. Stradlater hated when anyone broke any rules. He was so goddam phony. It killed me. It really did, I just turned to the other side on my bed and smoked like a madman , as he clipped his goddam toe nails."

"At the end of the first act we went out with all the other jerks for a cigarette. What a deal that was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about the play so that everybody could hear how sharp they were."

Introduction

WARNING: The novel (and therefore, My Blog) may contain STRONG LANGUAGE

My Blog is composed of specific items from Catcher in the Rye that are relevant to the novel's plot/themes. 

Each post will include a picture of the "artifact" and an explanation of its relevance.

*Feel free to comment below any post!*

~Austin Smith