When things go south, do the ducks go too?
I think that the question about where the ducks go in winter could be a metaphor for Holden wondering, where does one go when one’s not happy with the world around them. More specifically, I think winter may represent growing up and how grown up life seems to Holden. I think he wonders, when all the good things are covered in snow and the world looks the same, and the other animals are nowhere to be found, where do the ones with the means to go, go? Do they fly away to somewhere warmer, forever running from change. Do they hibernate, close their eyes to the world around them, and keep their heads down, pretending to be apart of a world where they do not feel they belong. I think that Holden relates to the ducks. I think that he is caught up in a world where he does not feel he belongs. Just like the ducks always wanting to be where it is spring, Holden wants to remain immature. He runs from one school to the next, just like ducks from the winter, his serial kicking-outs shown by