In The Catcher in the Rye, the Museum of Natural History is symbolic of Holden's wish for everything to stay exactly how it is, particularly his sister Phoebe's childhood innocence. Holden wants his sister's innocence to stay intact, unlike how his has since his impending adulthood and his brother Allie's death several years earlier.
When speaking about the Museum of Natural History, Holden focuses on the idea that "the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was." He goes on to describe the exhibits and mentions the eskimo and deer never changed their positions. He goes on to explain that life should be like the museum:
"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone."
Holden says all the things above in his stream-of-consciousness-like explanation of the building and his memories of it from his childhood. After thinking about the museum, however, Holden says he "wouldn't have gone inside for a million bucks." This symbolizes that Holden already lost that innocence he held as a child when he used to visit the museum when he was Phoebe's age.
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