J.D. Salinger, in The Catcher in the Rye, shows Holden Caulfield to be aware of both the values of childhood and of the loss of these values as one grows older. What this means is that children feel safe in the world, protected by their parents and ignorant of many of the things that frighten adults (money, sex, death), so they are free to be innocent, to express love, to have a simple faith in life, and to hope that everything will be all right. But when children begin to age, they lose that sense of inner security, and begin to have to look outward for security, usually becoming "phony" and "materialistic" in the process. Holden's sister Phoebe is one of the most important symbols of childhood. As he watches her on the merry-go-round, Holden says "I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around . . . in her blue coat and all" (Salinger 213). Phoebe is happy simply going round and round on a painted horse, and the surviving child in Holden is happy watching. A telling example of the loss of childhood and the love of material things is found in their father's response to the invitation to go to Phoebe's school play: "Daddy can't come. He has to fly to California" (Salinger 162). What business trip, to make money and gather power, could be as important as seeing one's daughter play Benedict Arnold---"practically the biggest part" (162)---in her first play? What makes the book poignant in this exploration of childhood innocence and phony adult materialism is that Holden himself is at the crossroads of these clashing worlds of values. He already feels his innocence slipping, but he cannot imagine himself joining the phony world of adults.
The next question is just how successful Holden is in bridging this gap. Except on an emotional level, Holden is not successful at all. It is impossible to imagine him going out and getting a job and getting married and settling down. He is simply too much the vi...