Axelrod 1

Ilexa Axelrod
Miss David
HELA 10
8 March 2016
Catcher in the Rye Timed Write
In novels, there are strong symbols. In this story written by J.D. Salinger, protagonist
Holden Caufield is definitely considered a recluse. He rarely attends large school events and
hides in his room on the weekends. His strong symbol is a left-handed baseball glove. After
getting kicked out of boarding school, he has an illuminating incident alone in his room. This
illuminating episode involves his description about a baseball glove, how the moment is a
casement immediately following the episode, and how it affects Holden in the future.
Stradlater, Holdens roommate, is thought as selfish and annoying according to Holden.
While he was on a date, Stradlater wanted Holden to write a detailed piece on a place or object.
As a nuisance as his request was, Holden went ahead and wrote it for him anyway. This action
and decision became Holdens incredible illuminating moment. He reflected on his innocence,
childhood memories with his brother who was deceased. Holden wrote about his dead brothers
left-handed baseball glove. This glove represented his fond memories of childhood and he tried
to hold onto that. Besides the innocence, the thought of the glove comforted him, for he was
rejected once again from a school. This obvious illuminating moment Holden experienced did
have a negative effect on him later that evening.
The moment following this illuminating incident is not promising for Holden. He had the
realization that he might be better off dead than alive. Depressed people have high points and
low points; it is a constant rollercoaster that goes up and down. Unfortunately for Holden, his

Axelrod 2
kept on heading down. The immediate effect of this incident was negative, because he was still a
developing character that was holding onto his memories of his brothers. He still clings onto
Allies glove, because he is envious of Allie that he got to die innocent. Holden feels like he has
been through a lot of pain with the loss of his brother and not having the support of learning how
to grief from his parents are things he carries on his shoulders. Not only does Holden cling onto
his glove in remembrance of his brother, but he clings onto the innocence that he left behind.
People grow from their failures even if they are too far away to see the light at the end of
the tunnel. However, when Holden matures, he will appreciate and realize how vital it was to his
development as a person to write that assignment for his annoying roommate. He will understand
how valuable each day is, because the days are only moving forward and not backward. This
casement opens onto the meaning of the work as a whole by relating it to the theme of the
fondness of innocence and not wanting to mature. Writing about the left-handed baseball glove
will expedite his development in the long term.
Holdens illuminating incident is promising for his future. His writing caused an
immediate negative effect on his feelings about life; but his writing caused him to grow and later
understand his priorities. The left-handed baseball glove will give him hope in the future because
it represents the innocence he felt he has lost. However, holding onto the actual glove, he is also
remembering his childhood and how he lived a serene, carefree life without pain. It will be a
reminder for him that it is alright for his recollections, but it shows that he should continue living
in each day and living for the future.