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displays ecological thinking: he recognizes that horses and humans are elements in the same
ecology. According to critics Cui Wang and Xiaofen Zhang, ecocritics believe that "man should
recognize that man is but one element in the ecology" and that "by returning to nature and being
in harmony with nature, human beings can fmd a counteraction against the alienating power of
commercialism" (Wang and Zhang 270). Holden recognizes that most people assign more value
to cars and non-living objects than to other living creatures. Unlike the other characters in the
novel, Holden exhibits ecoconsciousness: he has an ethical attitude toward nature and finds
intrinsic value in ducks, horses, and other living organisms.

Disturbed by the rapid pace of urbanization, Holden searches nature for solitude and
stability. While looking for his younger sister, Phoebe, Holden describes the Museum of Natural
History he frequented as a child: "There were even more [glass cases] upstairs, with deer inside
them drinking at water holes, and birds flying south for the winter. The birds nearest you were all
stuffed and hung up on wires, and the ones in the back were just painted on the wall, [ ... ] the
best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was" (135).
Holden loves visiting the museum for various reasons, but mostly because it provides him with
an image of nature that is unchanging and unharmed by man. Wang and Zhang state: "the
museum [ ... J represents the world Holden wishes he could live in: 'a world where [nothing ever]
changes, where everything is simple, understandable, and infinite" (271). Holden, who cannot
find peace and stability in his life, finds it behind the glass in the museum exhibit. It is an
unmoving, unchanging snapshot of the world he wishes to be a part of, but is too removed from
to reach.

Holden's red hunting hat has become· an iconic image in The Catcher in the Rye,
though many debate its significance. After getting into a quarrel with some classmates on the