The novel "The Catcher in the Rye" revolves around the protagonist Holden Caulfield as the story is told from his point of view. JD Salinger described Holden Caulfield as a cynical person who can't accept growing up. In “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger uses symbolism to reveal and reinforce critical aspects of protagonist Holden Caulfield. Three important aspects that Holden gained through Salinger's use of symbolism are: his stubborn and uncompromising mentality; his softer, more thoughtful and respectful side; Holden's cowardly way of acting and thinking. An important feature of Holden's character is stubbornness. Holden is unwilling to accept his problems and let others help him. It is equally important to realize that Holden's stubbornness is fatal to change, or growth. One of the first symbols introduced is Holden's red hunting hat. “This is a hat tip to people. I shoot people with this hat. (3.31)” gives signs that this hat is a way of alienating oneself from the world. When Holden articulates this it is to shoot people; shooting is really calling them impostors just to stubbornly protect themselves from the outside world. Proceeding to Holden's visit to Phoebe's school, the "fuck you" signs on the wall are a way to represent negative influences on kids. Holden's stubbornness is shown when he attempts to erase them from the wall, even though he states "you couldn't erase half the 'F**k You' signs in the world". (25.18)" The meaning of the symbol in the story is understood that it would be useless to also erase all the negative influences of the world because they would reappear, except that the protagonist cannot accept the reality of the situation. Skipping directly to the end of the novel, when Phoebe... ...middle of paper......e/http://flavorwire.com/308969/http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/ tag/holden-caulfieldhttp://www.shmoop.com/ catcher-in-the-rye/mummies-symbol.htmlhttp://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/james-castle-mr-antolini-quote-more-about-death-symbol.html http ://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/phoebe-notebook-even-more-about-holden-narrative-technical-think-we -all-thought-that-wasn-t-possible-symbol .html http://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/phoebe-carousel-gold-ring-symbol.htmlhttp://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/fuck- you-signs-on-walls-symbol.htmlhttp://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/little-shirley-beans-record- symbol.htmlhttp://www.shmoop.com/catcher- in-the-rye/museum-indian-room-symbol.htmlhttp://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/ducks-fish- other-wildlife-symbol.htmlhttp://www.shmoop. com/catcher-in-the-rye/holden-red-hunting-hat-symbol.html