Pallavi

Catcher in the Rye - Chapter 12
Holden gets into a cab and starts a conversation with the driver, Horwitz, about the ducks at the Lagoon in Central Park. Horwitz becomes irritated and Holden drops the conversation. He then goes into a bar where he meets his brother D.B’s ex-girlfriend, Lillian Simmons and her current boyfriend. Annoyed at the fact that he met Lillian, Holden decides to leave.
Techniques –
The references to ‘Phoebe’ display that Holden still holds onto his childhood. She represents his innocence in an adult society.
Hyperbole. ‘They just can’t ignore it’ (page 75). Most of the words in italics show that Holden talks just like a teenager. The effect of this is to make written thought and conversations as speech like as possible so the audience can relate to Holden.
Frequent use of truncated sentences like ‘I’m not kidding’. Again the effect is to make written works seem like Holden is speaking to the audience directly.
The symbolism and constant reference to the ducks at Central Park is significant in Catcher in the Rye. When Holden wonders where the ducks go in winter we see genuine curiosity and his childlike manner, which is not present when he talks about other things. The ducks going away in winter and coming back in spring represents a cycle where change is not permanent. Holden still wants to believe that the death of his brother Allie did not occur and he will come back one day.
Like the entire novel, Holden is an individual who is separated from society. In this chapter the society is New York City. Holden states ‘New York’s terrible when somebody laughs on the street very late at night’. The quote shows that Holden cannot understand and feel what everyone thinks is normal. He does not want to conform, although, as a non-conformist, Holden feels lonely being by himself. He wants to be a part of society yet he yearns not to because he objects to its core values.