Holder’s red hunting hat reveals his sympathy within himself and his surroundings. Not only does the red hunting hat describe Holder, but there is a connection made between history and people. To Holder, The Museum of Natural History represents consistency. Everyone wonders what will life be like once graduating high school but almost everyone has an idea of where to. The ducks in the lagoon in Central Park make Holder question himself; where he will end up in life? It is obvious that all these symbols have to do something with Holder’s actions and way of thinking.
Slinger uses the humbly Of the red hunting hat, the Museum Of Natural History, and the ducks on the lagoon in Central Park to convey Holder’s alienation. The red hunting hat is a remembrance of Allele and makes Holder’s way of feeling safe. For example, “My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway” (212-213). Phoebe puts the red hunting hat on Holder’s head and makes him feel really content. Holder would watch his sister go around the carousel which revealed how much Holder adores her. Holder tends to give Phoebe his red hunting hat so it can also protect her like t protects him.
By Holder wearing the red hunting hat, it gives him the safety and protection from the adulthood world. On the other hand, Holder’s brother Allele “had very red hair” that could be seen from “about a hundred and fifty yards. ” Allele was a very unique, intelligent, and a nice person that Holder has lots of respect for. Due to the hunting hat being red as his Brother Allis’s fiery hair color, it expresses Holder’s way Of remembering Allele by wearing the hat. The color red reminds Holder of innocence and childhood. The red hunting hat makes Holder feel secure and safe.
It expresses Holder’s feelings towards his siblings especially his dead brother Allele. Despite the red hunting hat being Holder’s form of security, history is about of past events that do not change no matter what. The Museum of Natural History reveals how much Holder does not like change and prefers things to stay the same. To Holder, “The best thing… In that museum was that everything always stayed right where it The museum’s consistency gives Holder a reason to always come back to visit since he knows everything will Stay the same. Holder fears adulthood so knowing that the museum will always main indistinguishTABLE comforts him.
In fact, only thing that would be different would be you” (121). People are constantly changing over the years while in the museum, everything stays the same with no difference. In the museum people can go back to visit and notice how much everything about themselves has changed throughout the way of thinking and the way of acting. The Museum of Natural History displays are frozen indicating how everything stays constant. For Holder that means that there is no need to worry about change but Of course Holder struggles where he will end up in life.
The ducks in the lagoon at Central Park represent Holder’s uncertainty on where to go and what to do with his life. Holder does not “care if it’s a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye” since he likes to be known that he is leaving a place. Holder getting kicked out of Pence prep makes him wonder what else is there to do in life since Holder has no type of clue where to go anymore or what he will do in the future. Holder is entering and beginning his journey into the real world. When Holder was in the taxi, he asked “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South… You happen to know where they go… When it gets all frozen over” to the taxi driver. Later on, Holder asks Hurwitz the same question. Hurwitz then says the fish have it harder but are provided with food by Mother Nature. Holder is forced to move on to other things in life. Therefore, he prefers relating to the fish since they stay where they are and are maintained. It becomes obvious that Holder is a very confused and lost male who does not know what to do in life so therefore these symbols show a deeper meaning to Holder’s alienation to the adult world.
In fact, Slinger included all these symbols to go more in depth with Holder’s feelings. Allis’s fiery red hair gives Holder a happy memory of him when wearing the red hunting hat. Even so, consistency is what Holder likes since there is no change as for example in the museum, but Holder does have to face reality and figure out what he will do in life. Of course that is why Holder wonders where the ducks will go once the lagoon freezes up. All these symbol show the difficulties and hard times teenagers have to go through and the process Of entering the adult world by growing up.
