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catcher in teh rye


            Death is a prominent motif that is displayed throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger's work, there are a variety of symbols and images that represent death. Allie's fatality was the main cause of Holden's inner turmoil. Holden had trouble accepting the young death of Allie, and drifted into a state of melancholy. The loss of his brother led to Holden's fascination with mummies and the idea of preserving the dead. The only thing that kept Holden together was Phoebe's love and support for him through his troubled times. Holden, subconsciously, mentioned death frequently in his everyday language. His verbal expressions of death symbolized his constant thoughts about suicide. Despite his suicidal mentality, he had a fear of death and disappearance from the world. From the book, one could infer that Holden despised violence greatly because of its deadly repercussions. .
             Allie Caulfield was Holden's deceased younger brother. He died of leukemia when Holden was thirteen. Allie was " the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody." (Salinger, 38) Holden deeply cared for Allie and respected his personality, so to Holden, Allie's death was a loss to the world. Holden was heavily stricken by the passing away of Allie that the night he found out, he slept in the garage and " broke all the goddam windows with [his] fist, just for the hell of it." (39) Holden became depressed after Allie's death and had negative outlook on life. Often times, "[he] felt miserable. [He] felt so depressed, you can't imagine. What [he] did, [he] started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. [He did] that sometimes when [he got] very depressed." (98) Because of Holden's love and admiration for Allie, he believed that Allie deserved a better resting place. " [He] certainly [didn't] enjoy seeing [Allie] in that crazy cemetery. Surrounded by dead guys in tombstones and all.


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