Catcher In The Rye Argument

Everybody has to experience the process of becoming an adult, yet it is different for everyone. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. Holden is a sixteen year old boy struggling to let go of his innocence by experiencing a weekend in New York City dealing with getting kicked out of another private school. By trying to control people and events around, it exhausts him leading to loneliness in the city. J.D. Salinger symbolizes the pain of growing up through the Museum of Natural History, the Comin thro’ the Rye poem, and Holden’s red hunting hat, and to show process of accepting adulthood. A memorable event most adolescents are field trips with their school. Growing up in overnight private schools, Holden often went on field trips in grade

Holden’s misunderstanding of the Comin thro’ the Rye poem leads him to agonize about the process of growing up. Originating from a small Scottish town in 1782 by Robert Burns, it illustrates a secluded rye field for a man and woman to meet in secret. What happens in the rye fields is not bothered from the outside. This contradicts Holden’s thoughts of how life should be approached. “He was singing that song, ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye.’ … The cars zoomed by, brakes screeched all over the place, his parents paid no attention to him, and he kept on walking” (115). As Holden listens and watches the boy dodge traffic he connects the two. Parents who are involved in their adult life don’t pay attention to their child. The boy’s innocence allows him to not worry about the cars that pass by. Holden feels better that he can see this happening. When Holden has a conversation with his sister Phoebe, he brings up Comin Thro the Rye. However he still has a misunderstanding of the poem. “Thousand of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff… I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (173). The poem has symbolized how Holden thinks he can save children from having to grow up. By catching them off of the cliff, he can keep them in the rye field. The rye field resembles how the kids are able to run around innocently. Phoebe corrects him saying the poem is “If a body meet a body coming through the rye”. Holden has difficulty believing Phoebe because he wants to be the catcher in the