The Catcher in the Rye

My book cover portrays the personality and desires of Holden Caufield, along with his melancoly perception of the world. All of the elements in my picture are placed in order to form a more accurate understanding on Holden's psyche. The snowglobe that has New York City within it is meant to depict the setting of the story,and also the fact that New York is encased in a snowglobe in my cover displays Holden's isolation, which he blames on his resent for everything that is fake or unreal about society(New York City isnt actually within a snowglobe). The gray and bland colorscheme of the New York is also meant to show Holden's distaste for life and his lack of creativity, which is shown in the novel through his unapproval of the arts(movies, plays, actors). The field of rye surrounding New York City portrays Holden's three day ordeal in New York City in which he tries to discover what it means to be an adult, and corresponds with Holden's statement in which he declares he wants to protect the children of the world from falling off the rye into adulthood, which Holden clearly hates from his misconception on what it means to be an adult(sex, phoniness, gambling etc). The snowglobe also happens to rest on Allie's baseball glove, one of Holden's most cherished possesions, and thus symbolizes Holden's reliance on people like Allie and Pheobe, whom he considers actually "real", or genuine. The barrier between the snowglobe and Allie's glove also shows the sad reality of Allie's untimely death (which had a major impact on Holden) and it also the reason for Holden's search to surround himself with intelligent, genuine people (such as the authors he wishes to converse with) to mask the pain of his brother's death.