What is the symbolism, if any, behind the specific name “Holden Caulfield”?
Assuming you are asking in reference to the book Catcher in the Rye: I remember people saying it was a reference in some way to David Copperfield (from the book of the same name by Charles Dickens), which Holden mentions at the start of the novel, but I am not sure that’s true or how Holden Caulfield and David Copperfield are related, except for the ‘field’ bit. I once read a book about J.D. Salinger that argued that, as I think many people do, ‘caul’ is related to childbirth and innocence (like the caul over a baby’s head) and ‘field’ is related to Holden’s fantasy about children running around in a field of rye. I am not sure what the symbolism behind ‘Holden’ would be, if there is any. You could stretch it to ‘hold on’ if you wanted, so that it’s holding on to childhood in some way or something, I’ve seen things on the internet claiming that. But sometimes I think people just try to find meaning where there might not be any. It’s just as likely that the name was unintentional as int
