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broadening of humans' conception of global community to include nonhuman life forms and the
physical environment" (Shoba 5). Through Holden's unpleasant experiences in the city, The
Catcher in the Rye implies the biocentric world-view that Shoba describes, but offers no explicit
solution to humanity's degradation of nature.

Holden's ongoing concern for the ducks in the Central Park lagoon suggests that he
has an ecological consciousness. Ecological consciousness, a term coined by environmentalist
Aldo Leopold, "makes possible the extension of an ethical attitude toward nature, pointing the
way to a new relationship between nature and man" (Wang and Zhang). Furthermore, this type
of thinking promotes the idea that "once humanity looks at organisms as individuals having
intrinsic value in them, we are more likely to show them respect" (Wang and Zhang). Holden is
the only character in the novel that displays this type of ecological thinking, and the other
characters he interacts with find his concern for nature strange and irrelevant.

Throughout the novel, Holden is troubled that no one can explain to him where the
ducks go during the winter. He asks several people, but Horwitz, a cab driver, is the only person
who attempts an answer. Innocently, Holden asks: "Do you happen to know where [the ducks]
go in the wintertime, by any chance? [ ... J does somebody come around in a truck or something
and take them away, or do they flyaway by themselves- go south or something?" (Salinger 91).
As soon as he asks, Horwitz responds: "How the hell should I know a stupid question like that?"
(91). Holden observes a change in Horwitz's demeanor and notes that he has become "sore" or
angry as he scrambles to find an explanation. Horwitz is insulted by what most would consider
an elementary question, but becomes outraged when he realizes that he, himself, is unable to
answer such a "stupid question." Frustrated, Horwitz fabricates a ridiculous explanation for what
happens to the fish in the wintertime: "Their bodies take in nutrition and all, right through the