eful rubs this off with his hand so as to protect the innocent children from reading it. Later on he finds "*censored*-you" (Salinger 202) scratched into the surface with a knife. He discovers that he can't efface this one. Even in the timeless peace of the Egyptian tomb room at the museum there is an unerasable "*censored*-you" (Salinger 204). This incident is the beginning of Holden's realization that his dreams are infeasible. Ironically enough, it is one of the "innocent" children that he is trying to protect who helps him come to terms with this realization. It is Phoebe who challenges his plan to escape out west. As he is telling Phoebe that she can not run away, he discovers that he too can not run away. The final break-down comes near the end of the book when he is watching Phoebe on the carousel."All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold 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" (Salinger 211). In the above passage from the novel, Holden hits the final breakdown. Being "the catcher" becomes obviously unrealistic. The gold rings are ironically not gold but really brass-plated iron. The gold rings are symbols of the corrupted world which always "wears" a shiny surface to hide its evil. It is at this point that Holden sees that he can not stop children from growing up and therefore losing their innocence. They will fall if they fall, there is nothing that can be done. "Wiser and sadder, [Holden] decides that he must return home rather than taking the responsibility of leading Phoebe astray" (French).Shortly after this point Holden has his nervous breakdown. His breakdown is due to this depressing realization that the world is corrupt and filled with evil. ...
