T HE M USEUM T HE C ATCHER IN THE R YE Done By: Sheree, Katie, Emily, Aimee and Phoebe

T HE S CENE C HAPTERS 16 Basically, Holden walks to the museum, remembering his own class trips. He focuses on the way life is frozen in the museum’s exhibits. He remarks that every time he went to the museum, he felt that he had changed, while the museum had stayed exactly the same. He then leaves the museum without going inside.

T HEMES Painfulness of growing up: - Holden is terrified of growing old and dying. -Holden resists the process of growing older and maturing. -He is afraid he becomes superficial and phony.

S YMBOLS Holden tells us the symbolic meaning of the museum displays. They appeal to him because they are frozen and unchanging. The museum symbolises the world Holden wants to live in. He doesn't like the fact that he has changed every time he visits the museum.

Holden says that while the displays stay the same, a person is different every time they come back to visit. But he makes the point that it's not so much about getting older as it is about becoming different. We assume that Holden fears dying, and he also fears getting older. But... Holden emphasizes that it's not aging that bothers him – it's the changes one goes through in order to become an adult. So he's talking more about the rare qualities of youth and innocence than he is about the physical ones. Holden wants everything to be predictable and unchanging.

Q UOTE "Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway." Chapter 16

T HE M USEUM OF N ATURAL H ISTORY