Authors use symbolism in their books to explain to the reader what the character is learning or feeling. Throughout the novel, the reader is presented with many different symbols. These symbols are clearly seen by Holden's constant repetition of their importance. Like when Holden kept asking people what happens to the ducks, when he writes about Allie's glove or his constant visits to the museum. Symbols are so important and their symbolism helps us understand how Holden is learning and feeling. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAt many points in the novel Holden asks what happens to the ducks, who are normally in the Central Park pond, when winter comes and the water freezes. On page 60 Holden asks "Do you know those ducks in that lagoon right by Central Park South? That pond? Do you happen to know where the ducks go when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know that?" (Salinger 60). To his question all he gets in return is the taxi driver's cold response who tries to explain that ducks are under the ice like fish. Despite the response he gets, Holden is never satisfied with the answer. Holden doesn't realize that the ducks identify with him. Whether he admits it or not, Holden is scared. He has been expelled from numerous schools, gets bad grades, and his parents are disappointed in him. Holden spends his days wandering around New York because he doesn't know where to go as he ponders his question about the ducks. Maybe if he had known where the ducks ended up, he could have followed their example. Allie, Holden's younger brother, who died of leukemia years ago, was an important symbol throughout the story. When Holden recalls incidents from his past involving Allie, his attitude changes. Like when he writes the composition on the Allies baseball glove or when Holden broke his hand after punching all the windows in his garage when Allie died. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the damn windows with my fist, for the hell of it” (Salinger 39). He feels that Allie was one of the few people who wasn't fake in a world full of fakes. Allie also represents the innocence and childhood that Holden strives to find throughout the book. Holden believes that Allie represents the purity he seeks in the world. Holden admits that he admires Allie more than he admired Jesus and at one point even prays to Allie rather than Jesus. Allie is Holden's role model against whom he judges the rest of the world. Allie's death rocks Holden's world in the worst way. While wandering around New York, Holden comes to the natural history museum. He says he likes the museum because things never change and stay in their glass cases like when he said "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything stayed where it was. Nobody moved." (Salinger 121). Holden wishes he could put parts of his life in glass cases because they will never change. He likes going to the museum because when he was younger he always went there every Saturday. He associated these memories with happiness. Since the glass cases inside the museum never change, it is the only place Holden goes when he wants everything to be the way it was during his childhood. However, Holden decides to stay out because he is afraid that there is a possibility that the museum could be changed. Jane Gallagher has changed since her childhood and Holden thought this could never happen. Jane was Holden's friend and when they played checkers she always kept her kings in the back row for some strange reason. Holden thought that if Jane could change, then the museum could change with her. He knows that if the museum.