If anything, Salinger seems to make Holden see sexuality he can’t erase, for example a’Fuck you’ on the wall, which depresses him. Not by the author, but by Holden himself. It is interesting to note that throughout the book, sex is explicitly censored. There is always a chance he is bisexual or falls somewhere on the spectrum, whether that be more towards male or female attraction. Holden’s sexuality is purposely left up to interpretation. Of course, there is no definitive answer. He has no emotional help and is completely lost, which only makes it worse. Homosexuality, and most of his sexual thoughts therefore, repel him as he hasn’t found a way to deal with himself. And so it is quite possible that he is hiding his own sexuality. And though Holden claims to be no phony, he hides his true self from everyone else by hiding behind his red hunting hat and various personas. The ambiguity of the scene places the responsibility on the reader to make out what the truth is. Either way, Holden is so frightened he flees. Is the sexual threat in Holden’s head? Maybe. Antolini sexually pushing on Holden? Maybe. Antolini, homosexual and physically attracted to Holden? Maybe. Antolini is a complex character, especially because we see him through Holden’s unreliable eyes. Antolini when he wakes up in the middle of the night with the former English teacher stroking his head. This is further emphasized by his brief stay with Mr. More concerning than his observations and assumptions of “flitty-looking guys” is his seemingly baseless fear that he would “turn into a flit or something” (Salinger 186). There is also Holden’s frequent use of the word “flit”, a derogatory term ascribed to homosexuals. The shallowness of lust repulses Holden, and he feels ashamed of his own experience of it. The two love birds spit water, or “highballs”, in each other’s faces and frolicked in public as Holden watched on with disgust. The scene that stands out is when he’s in his hotel room and spying on the couple on the other side of the hotel. Holden’s hangups about heterosexual sex would suddenly seem more reasonable from that perspective. Following this logic, it is understandable why Holden is so upset at the idea of the very sexual Stradlater making advances towards Jane, who may have been sexually abused by her father in the past.Īnother interpretation of the novel is that Holden is a repressed homosexual. The loss of one’s virginity or sexual innocence directly correlates to the loss of childhood innocence. Both Jane Gallagher, Holden’s childhood love, and the color green symbolize innocence. His inability to readily lose his virginity intertwines with the theme of innocence. Then there was Sunny, a young prostitute he also couldn’t lay with because she wore a green dress. This is shown through memories of playing checkers with Jane, who Holden recalls ‘wouldn’t take her kings out of the back row’ (Salinger 101), in contrast to Stradlater’s apathy towards girls’ hobbies in favor of carnal pleasures. It’s yet another part of an adult world that he isn’t comfortable with, doesn’t really understand, and views as “crummy” and dirty. Being a massive hypocrite, Holden can’t even completely convince himself he actually wants to have sex – he has a natural inhibition to it and shows no demonstrable desire despite feeling and being hold he should want it. It is implied that he wants to have sex, and has had multiple opportunities, but never quite came around to actually taking action. His virginity, his disparity over his sexuality, and his censorship of sex all encapsulate his immaturity and teenage angst. One way Holden personifies the frustrations of clinging to youth is through sex, or the lack thereof. Adulthood is the choice of a career, a formed personality, and acting in ways that your younger self would not tolerate. Caulfield is a manchild of sorts he is a child not having selected adulthood yet. Even the title The Catcher in the Rye originated from Holden’s misinterpretation a sexual poem, hearing ‘if a body meet a body’ as ‘if a body catch a body’ (Salinger 224). Salinger heavily probes the theme of sexuality – specifically, Holden Caulfield’s immense turbulence over it.
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