Decoding the Symbols Used in The Catcher in the Rye
Abstract
The Catcher in the Rye is the important works of a contemporary American writer J.D. Salinger. The novel vividly reflects Holden who represents the agony of youth in the United States after World War II. Salinger delineates Holden’s inner world by symbolism. Symbolism just like a black and white movie embellishes a few bright colors occasionally and forms a unique art style. The application of symbolism plays a decisive role in the presentation of the theme and characters. The object, scene, color and character in the works are all given special symbolic meanings. The writer sets Holden in a scene which made up by duck, snow and cliff. Using environment such as Pensy Prep school to express the powerful mainstream society culture, Holden is too weak to resist it alone. Meanwhile, Salinger takes advantage of red hunting hat, museum to represent the emptiness of Holden’s inner world and the difficulties to pursue his ideal world, revealing the youth in American suffered a lot on both body and mind in the reality of existence crisis after WWII. All in all, the novel is very successful, the symbolism always runs through the whole novel. Without this unique writing style, there are no such characteristics of Holden, and of course, there is no success of the novel.
Key Words: symbolism；Holden Caulfield； the Beat generation; J. D. Salinger；The Catcher in the Rye；
摘 要
《麥田裏的守望者》是美國當代作家塞林格的重要作品,小說主人公生動地反映了2戰後美國青年1代成長的煩惱。作者利用象徵的手法揭示了人物的內心世界, 小說中的象徵宛如1部黑白電影, 間或地點綴着幾道明亮的色彩, 從而構成獨特的藝術風格。其象徵手法的.運用對烘托主題、刻畫人物起了舉足輕重的作用，作品中的事物、場景、顏色和人物等均被賦予了特殊的象徵意義。塞林格頗具匠心地將霍爾頓置於1個由鴨、風雪、懸崖等意象構成的生存場景中，透過其環境的如潘西中學來說明傳統主流文化的強大，霍爾頓太弱小了無力抵抗。用紅色獵人帽、博物館等來寓示霍爾頓精神的匱乏、理想追尋的艱難，揭示了戰後美國青年在身心和生存危機中倍受煎熬的現實。總的來說，這部小說非常地成功，其中的象徵始終貫穿全文，彰顯霍爾頓的個性，使得小說走向成功。
關鍵詞：象徵、霍爾頓、垮掉的1代、塞林格、麥田裏的守望者