Holden feels comfortable wearing the big red hunter's hat backwards. The hat acts as a kind of comfort blanket that protects Holden to a certain extent from a world he loathes and fears in equal measure. He calls it his "people shooting hat" when Ackley says it looks like a "deer shooting hat." This implies that it provides some measure of safety from the people—the "phonies"—he so loathes.

But it's notable that Holden only feels comfortable about wearing the hat in private. He feels decidedly anxious about wearing it in public, not least because it would make him feel self-conscious, which is the last thing he ever wants to feel. So Holden always makes sure to take the hat off before venturing out in public. For example, he takes it off when he checks in to his hotel in New York because he doesn't "want to look like a screwball or something."

Wearing the hat affords Holden some measure of comfort and protection. However, the end of the novel implies that it ultimately might not be enough. When Holden takes Phoebe to the carousel, it starts to rain, and he says, "My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway." While his hat protects him "in a way," it can't protect him from everything.