The record, "Little Shirley Beans", is symbolic of childhood and the sense of innocence of which Holden is afraid to let go. Fittingly, the song is "about a little kid that wouldn't go out of the house because two of her front teeth were out and she was ashamed to". Like Holden, the little girl in the song is afraid of the changes that accompany growing older, in her case, the loss of her baby teeth. Holden pays five dollars for the record, which is a lot of money. Symbolically, he would pay dearly to be able to avoid the reality of growing up (Chapter 16).
When the record breaks "into about fifty pieces", it represents the dissolution of Holden's dream of being able to avoid entering the world of adulthood. Holden had tried to protect his dream of childhood and innocence, keeping it carefully "in a big envelope and all", but despite his best efforts, the record still shatters. This indicates that, try as he might, Holden is going to be forced to let go of the past and face the future, leaving the security of childhood behind (Chapter 20).
found from: http://www.enotes.com/catcher-in-the-rye/q-and-a/what-significance-quot-little-shirley-beans-quot-41123
I researched this because it was the music Holden was discussing. With the details on top about how Holden wants to keep his childhood forever it help explains why he acts certain ways.
The question directed towards you guys is, what part of your childhood do you think was the hardest to let go?
Thanks for your research, Jessye. I understand how this is relevant to Holden and his present life situation. Through my eyes, the hardest part of my childhood to let go was the time period before my sister was diagnosed with diabetes; as my family was completely worry free, fearless, and had no stressful obstacles relating to medical necesseties. Although I was personally not the one diagnosed with the illness, even still, my sisters diabetic diagnosis affected my whole family--as we now must watch what we are eating, and must keep a constant time schedule on a daily basis. I miss the days of no stress; it was a hard time to let go--but unfortunately, it was forced away from me!
ReplyDeleteHolden not wanting to grow up reminds me of Peter Pan. There were times when I was younger that I couldn't wait to grow up because i wanted to be like all the older kids. But now that I look back on it, I think that I wouldn't want to grow up because of all the pressure that is not forced upon us, like regents and SATs next year.
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