1. Allie's Baseball Mitt
1.1. Holden reveres Allie's baseball mitt as the defining physical legacy of the deceased brother he respects above all. He loves the mitt's poetic decoration for the same reason he hates D.B.'s Hollywood screenplays: the mitt's poems show a complete lack of vanity and indifference towards conformity. Writing on a mitt in green ink might seem foolish and childish at first, but upon further inspection reveals a consciousness and worldliness beyond Allie's years. This is what Holden treasures most about the mitt.
1.1.1. "He wrote them on it so that he’d have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat."
1.1.1.1. This quote shows Holden's recognition that not only was the mitt's decoration unconventional, but the purpose for it more unconventional still. Allie's choice to use outfield time for reading and introspection, rather than careful observation of the baseball game around him, shows his natural sensitivity and inclination towards shattering society's expectations and norms. Holden admires this quality and seeks to replicate it throughout the novel, with limited success.
1.1.2. "She was the only one, outside my family, that I ever showed Allie’s baseball mitt to, with all the poems written on it."
1.1.2.1. This quote exhibits Holden's esteem towards his brother, as he takes great pride and joy in sharing his beloved mitt with Jane Gallagher (the only girl with whom he has ever developed feelings of intimacy). This act is both childish and grown-up: Showing someone another person's baseball mitt could be described as a juvenile, clumsy attempt at a romantic gesture, but it also shows how much he cherishes the private, devoted nature of his and Jane's relationship.
1.1.3. "Old Allie’s baseball mitt. I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the poems that were written on it."
1.1.3.1. This quote demonstrates Holden's prolonged grief and despair over Allie's premature death, as well as his efforts to reconcile the reality and permanence of it. Holden's attempt to recount his brother's insights may be therapeutic in nature, and mimics his decision to recount the entire novel's events within the sanitarium he starts the novel residing in.
2. Pencey Prep
2.1. Holden's boarding school, Pencey Prep, is a cesspool of pretension and fraudulence masquerading as a character-building academy of sophistication and academic excellence. He finds the school especially perverse because it systematically eradicates childlike innocence and serves as a "phony factory" that instills values of conformity and shallowness. Holden's feelings of repulsion towards Pencey Prep display his desire to create an identity independent of conventionally praised norms.
2.1.1. "They advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hot-shot guy on a horse jumping over a fence. Like as if all you ever did at Pencey was play polo all the time. I never even once saw a horse anywhere near the place."
2.1.1.1. This quote represents Holden's disdain for any kind of "art" that exaggerates or strays from truthful depictions in an effort to impress an audience. The quote draws parallels to Holden's strained relationship with his brother D.B., who has sold out his legitimacy to become a "prostitute" screenwriter in Hollywood. Holden seems to be alright with children embellishing or fantasizing in their artistic creations, but finds it despicable when adults consciously do the same thing because their purposes and intentions are more nefarious.
2.1.2. The game with Saxon Hall was supposed to be a very big deal around Pencey. It was the last game of the year, and you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn't win...I remember around three o'clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill."
2.1.2.1. This quote is symbolic in that it presents Holden as morally superior to other Pencey Prep students as he watches over their trivial sports matches from above the hill. Furthermore, it exemplifies Holden's inability to relate to the base instincts and simple pleasures of a student body that worships pointless exhibitions like sports matches.
2.1.3. "All of a sudden this guy sitting in the row in front of me, Edgar Marsalla, laid this terrific fart....[Old Thurmer] said that the boy that had created the disturbance in chapel wasn't fit to go to Pencey."
2.1.3.1. This quote draws subtle parallels between Holden and Edgar, as they are both expelled for refusing to conform and tarnishing Pencey Prep's immaculate academic and well-mannered reputation. In addition, this quote shows how Pencey Prep only seems to care about or punish those who break the rules or violate norms in public, juvenile, and discourteous ways. If someone breaks the rules but doesn't get caught and keeps quiet about it, Pencey Prep is suggested to look the other way.
3. Carousel
3.1. The carousel may be the most salient object in the novel upon which all other objects culminate. The circular, cyclical essence of the carousel helps Holden realize that he cannot break or fight the cycle of human maturity and development. This helps him reach the epiphany that his "catcher in the rye" fantasy is well-intentioned but ultimately futile and delusional. In addition, Phoebe's attempts at catching the gold ring on the carousel helps clarify to Holden that ambition, progress, and unpredictability can be unsettling, but also thrilling and potentially rewarding. He appears to arrive at a deeper and healthier understanding of adulthood than he did previously.
3.1.1. "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them."
3.1.1.1. This quote illustrates the enormity of Holden's epiphany about maturity's inevitability. Even though this idea completely contradicts the noble guardian fantasy of Holden's "catcher in the rye" invention, he handles it with surprising grace and contentment. Although he is far from eradicating the crippling grief and depression he suffers from throughout the novel, this insight allows him to tackle those issues with greater strength and clarity than before.
3.1.2. "That’s one nice thing about carousels, they always play the same songs."
3.1.2.1. Although Holden is realizing at this point in the novel that he cannot stop Phoebe or himself from confronting the pressures of adolescence and adulthood, he still appreciates that childhood contains certain timeless and unchanging qualities that even adults seem to innately recognize. The carousel songs, played on repeat by adults for children, symbolize this well.
3.1.3. “Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round..."
3.1.3.1. This quote is subtle, but reveals Holden's gradual maturity and acceptance of adulthood. Holden watches her ride the carousel because that's all he can do. He doesn't avert his gaze or shout out for her to be careful, but rather allows the merry-go-round and nature itself to run its course without fighting or resisting it. This is a major shift from the start of the novel, when Holden is getting into fights in dorm rooms and lying to strangers about his age.
4. Holden's Hat
4.1. This hat, and the way Holden wears it, demonstrates the struggle between his commitment to nonconformity and his childish self-consciousness. He wears the hat mainly around strangers, and takes it off when meeting acquaintances. The hat is also representative of Holden's struggles with depression: he simultaneously feels an attraction towards complete spiritual and physical isolation, but is drawn toward the basic human demands of companionship and conversation. Finally, the hat symbolizes Holden's pride in his authentic self-expression and disgust with his immature self-doubt.
4.1.1. "I put it on, and turned the old peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I went over and took a look at my stupid face in the mirror."
4.1.1.1. This quote exemplifies Holden's self-disgust and self-pity, typical among depressed adolescents who feel alienated from those around them. Holden also appreciates the hat's ability to shield himself from the ugly truths and aggressive demands of life.
4.1.2. "I’d put on my red hunting cap when I was in the cab, just for the hell of it, but I took it off before I checked in. I didn’t want to look like a screwball or something. Which is really ironic."
4.1.2.1. This quote illustrates that Holden is aware of social norms, and is unwilling to disobey or disregard them unconditionally. This is actually a rare bit of self-awareness and respect for social expectations for Holden. It suggests he is open to occasionally adjusting his behavior so as not to insult or offend others (a hallmark of adulthood.)
4.1.3. "It only cost me a buck. The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around to the back—very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way."
4.1.3.1. This quote is amusing, because it appears to be one of the few instances in which Holden is actually concerned about thrift. He otherwise spends his money liberally and foolishly throughout the novel, displaying his immaturity. He admits the way he wears the hat is "corny" (a word usually associated with "phony"), but embraces it because it promotes individuality and unconventionality.
5. Museum Displays
5.1. The museum exhibits, particularly those of the cavemen, bring great comfort to Holden because they are static, constant, and predictable images in an otherwise constantly shifting and incalculable world. Holden is disturbed by the fact that he himself has undergone some change in between each subsequent visit, and longs to find an environment in which he does not have to confront the radical changes adulthood requires (hence, his longing for an escape to an isolated wood cabin).
5.1.1. "You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole..."
5.1.1.1. This quote shows Holden's jealousy towards and admiration for the simplicity and cyclical structure of animal behavior in both nature and the glass displays. He longs for this kind of unapologetically simple and innocent existence, and loathes the fact that cannot mimic it without experiencing human guilt and self-loathing.
5.1.2. "It always smelled like it was raining outside, even if it wasn’t, and you were in the only nice, dry, cozy place in the world."
5.1.2.1. This quote is especially revealing for several reasons. Holden's claim that the world is "always raining" suggests that the outside/adult world will always be hostile and distressing, leading him to seek shelter in the comforting, warm shelter of the museum. This thought mimics Holden's unspoken desire to figuratively crawl back into the womb, where he will be sheltered from adulthood's complications and protected from change and growth (which his name "Caulfield" alludes to).
5.1.3. "I thought how she’d see the same stuff I used to see, and how she’d be different every time she saw it. It didn’t exactly depress me to think about it, but it didn’t make me feel gay as hell, either."
5.1.3.1. This quote represents Holden's appreciation for his sister Phoebe's current retention of childlike innocence and wonder. He tries desperately to maintain this same mentality, but his age and depression have granted him more advanced cognitive faculties which prevent him from seeing life exactly as she does. One might think this idea would completely depress Holden, but he seems to realize that Phoebe may have an easier time transitioning to adulthood than he does because of her comparative lack of depression and sexual trauma.