Holden's Memories

Maine

Holden Caufield spent summers in Maine. The only bright spots in the book are when Holden refers to his pleasant experiences in Maine. When Stradlater tells Holden that he is going on a date with Jane, Holden begins to reminisce about the time he spent in Maine with Jane. He remembers playing checkers with her and how she was a dancer. He even remembers small details like, "She wouldn't move any of her kings. What she'd do, when she'd get a king, she wouldn't move it. She'd just have it in the back row." Since Holden remembers these intense details about his younger life in Maine, that must mean he is desperately holding on too them because those were the only truly happy moments of his life.

Cary Grant

Cary Grant was a popular actor during the time Catcher in the Rye takes place. He is in this image montage because he is one of the people Holden characterize as a phony. Holden calls everyone a phony. To him a phony is a person who acts a certain way to give off a certain image, but really is not or the exact opposite of the image they are trying to obtain. This word, phony, is in this book over a million times. he calls everyone who seems to be going through or having a better life than he is. Which is really everyone in the book.

Fish

Fish are an important part symbol of the book because of a brief conversation Holden had with a taxi cab driver. Holden asks the driver if he knows where the ducks in central park go. The taxi cab driver sternly answers back saying who cares. He then goes on talking about the fish in the pond at central. He says that the fish have it tougher because they have to stay in the pond no matter how the weather changes, while the ducks just fly away. The ducks symbolize Holden while the fish symbolize a regular person. A regular person must adapt and accept all change within their life. While Holden, the duck, flies and runs away from change.