Question

For the second time in this novel, Holden has asked someone about the ducks in Central Park and what happens to them in the winter when the lake freezes over. Symbolically, what might winter represent to Holden? Why, do you suppose, he’s wondering about the birds?

Answer 1

Answer:

I think his way of asking is about the isolation and transformation of death.

Explanation:

He is stuck in a pattern of despondency over the loss of his younger sibling, he can't understand his passing and can't discover his way back to investment in the public arena without  getting some answers..

Holden longs to understand the cycle that the ducks follow, he somehow equates it with a sense of eternity, where life is renewed each and every spring.