In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye the dominating theme is the protection of innocence. For most of the book Holden sees this as his main virtue. Holden’s only enemy is the adult world because of all the cruelty and artificiality it entails. The people that Holden loves all represent or protect innocence. Holden constantly makes up schemes to escape growing up, such as fleeing to a cabin in New England, or working on a ranch out West.
One example of a character who represents innocence is Jane Gallagher. Holden sees Jane not as a maturing young woman, but as a girl he used to play checkers with. He obviously has feelings for her, but he goes out of his way to tell us that they did not have a sexual relationship. Their relationship was very innocent. They usually only held hands. Therefor it bothers Holden that she may have suffered sexual advances from her stepfather, or from Holden’s roommate Stradlater.
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When Holden goes to Phoebe's school to give her a note he is upset by the swear words written on the bathroom wall. He is upset because he doesn’t want his little sister seeing that because he wants to protect her innocence. At the end of the book when, Holden is watching Phoebe play on the carousel, he is happy because he sees real innocence. The title “Catcher in the Rye” comes from Holden’s conversation with Phoebe about what he wants to do when he grows up.
The Catcher in the Rye is a catchy phrase that has a lot of significance in the book. It is a reference to Robert Burns poem, Comin’ Thro the Rye. Holden’s interpretation of the poem centers around the loss of innocence. Holden envisions a field of rye near a dangerous cliff. Children play in the field, but if they should come too close to the edge of the cliff Holden will be there to catch them. This is symbolic of his wish to save himself and other children from having to grow
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye follows the journey of a young boy, Holden Caulfield, from adolescence to adulthood. There are a number of symbols that Salinger uses to help to portray the various stages that Holden goes through as he matures into adulthood. The snowball incident, his sense of fulfillment when at the museum, and his run in with a pimp, are all representations of how Holden is deeply obsessed with innocence thoughts and how reluctant he is to give them up.
The author uses the title to create an impression on the reader by making it a deliberate mistake. Holden, the protagonist, misheard the words in Robert Burn’s poem, and imagined a field of rye, where he would protect all the children who were in danger of falling off. He uses creativity in the style of how he misheard the words. Creativity is important as it is a trait that everyone desires, and makes it so that the protagonist is more relatable. The title, The Catcher in the Rye, is important as it shows how Holden is a saviour of all children everywhere,...
Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger is about a boy named Holden Caulfield who struggles with the codes of conduct his upper class lifestyle follows. For Holden, loss of innocence is not about smoking a cigarette as much as it is about his realization that the rules placed on him by society are phony. Holden distracts himself by focusing on his feelings of alienation because he does not want to face his own deep sadness over his own loss of innocence.
In The Catcher in The Rye, by J.D, the main character, Holden, can be seen as a troubled teenager growing up in a less than perfect society. Throughout the novel Holden struggles with the fact that many young and innocent kids will grow up and see the world from a different perspective. He naturally becomes worried for all future generations who will one day grow, as he did, and loose their innocence. The fixation of youth and innocence can be seen in the title of the book, as well as throughout the novel.
The themes of “The Catcher in the Rye” are isolation, avoidance, and the fear of growing-up. The plot revolves around Holden and the people he interacts with. Holden is a mess. He is like a lot of kids who find out that growing up can be scary. I think that Holden wanted to be like Peter Pan and never grow up. The plot shows that the way Holden handles his fear leads to many stressful and disappointing situations and relationships.
This reveals Holden’s fantasy of an idealistic childhood and his role as the guardian of innocence. Preventing children from “going over the cliff” and losing their innocence is his way of vicariously protecting himself from growing up as well. Holden acknowledges that this is “crazy,” yet he cannot come up with a different lifestyle because he struggles to see the world for how it truly is, and fears not knowing what might happen next. Holden’s “catcher in the rye” fantasy reflects his innocence, his belief in a pure, uncorrupted youth, and his desire to protect it. This fantasy also represents his disconnection from reality, as he thinks he can stop the process of growing up, yet
In this novel, Salinger denotes innocence by the way Holden views a variety of characters. First, Jane Gallagher, Holden’s childhood friend, displays innocence through her actions, and Holden’s opinions of them. She shows this trait by the unique way she played checkers with Holden. Holden describes this saying, “What she’d do, when she’d get a king, she wouldn’t move it,” (Salinger 31). This demonstrates her protectiveness and innocence, and additionally can be used to show her irreproachable lifestyle. Another thing that promotes Jane as an innocent character is the way Holden claims to know that she did not let Stradlater get sexual with her, while on their date. By assuming this, Holden shows that Jane is sexually innocent, and will always be seen by Holden as a permanent virgin. Another character that portrays innocence is a young boy Holden hears walking on the curb of the street singing, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye,” (115). This boy displays purity by naively walking next to the curb, while cars are rushing a couple feet away from him. This boy’s actions show being on the line of adolescents, the side walk, and adulthood, the street, while not falling into either side completely. Holden admires this boy’s morality because Holden is at the point in his life in which this is happening. Lastly, Holden’s younger sister, Phoebe, displays innocenc...
Holden wants to shelter children from the adult world (Chen). In Chapter 16, the catcher in the rye finally appears. This is also a symbol for what Holden would like to be when he grows older. He pictures a group of many kids playing in a field of rye, where it is his job to catch them from falling off the cliff. This shows Holden’s love for childhood and his need to preserve it in any way he can. According to Alsen, “The way Holden explains why he wants to be the catcher in the rye shows the kindness and unselfishness of his character. However, the surreal nature of the metaphor also reveals his unwillingness to face the real life choices he needs to make now that he is approaching adulthood.” By the end of the book, Holden realizes in order for kids to grow, there can’t be protection from all of potential harm. “He therefore gives up his dream of being the catcher in the rye and is ready to make a realistic choice of what he wants to do with his life” (Alsen). Holden’s dream world, that doesn’t involve change, is unrealistic. He is terrified by the unpredictable changes of the adult world, but there is no way for Holden to avoid the experiences and changes that the
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s outlook in life is either the innocence of childhood or the cruelty of adulthood. He believes that the innocence of childhood is very valuable and it should be protected from the cruelty and phoniness of the adult world. Therefore Holden has a desire and is compelled to protect a child’s innocence at all costs. This is revealed when Holden tells Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. Holden says to Phoebe, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they’re ru...
For example Jonathan Baumbach and his literary criticism show that Holden is unwilling to lose his innocence and the innocence of other children. “Apparently Holden wish is purely selfless. What he wants in effect is to be a saint-the protector and savior of innocence. But what he also wants, for he is still one of the running children himself, is that someone prevents his fall” (Baumback 266).This is a quote that shows that shows that he wants to help others but he also want someone to save him fr...
Teenagers eventually have to face the harsh, vile reality of growing up. Others however try to retain their innocence. In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger portrays Holden Caulfield, the main character, as a teen who wants to hold onto, and is obsessed with, childhood innocence. Because of this, he sets out to protect people from the corruption of the world. This “desire” to protect is important to Holden’s life as it stems from his brother Allie who died at a young age, and because he himself has lost his innocence and despises all things “phony” (Holden’s term for individuals that are not genuine or have lost their innocence). In addition, his desire to be a protector leads him to realise that change is not only inevitable, but also
Oftentimes individuals have difficulty separating themselves from their childhood and accepting the reality of maturation. In J.D Salinger's The Catcher in The Rye, Holden develops the desire to protect innocence due to his fear of maturation, leading to an awareness of his inability to do so. Holden Caulfield is a young teenage boy who has been through numerous rough encounters with himself and others , in which have led him to a mental hospital. Holden is sharing these moments with a psychiatrist where he stays. Caufield is not fond of change, and wishes everything could always just stay at its original state. His younger sister Phoebe is his ideal, pure innocent child, in which he adores. Lastly, Jane, is another girl in which Holden
Correspondingly, Holden values innocence through society's concept of childhood. While watching the movie in Radio City Holden is disturbed by the way it depicted reality. Holden says, "The part that got me was, there was a lady sitting next to me that cried all through the goddam picture. The phonier it got, the more she cried. You'd have thought she did it because she was kindhearted as hell, but I was sitting right next to her, and she wasn't. She had this little kid with her that was bored as hell and had to go to the bathroom, but she wouldn't take him. She kept telling him to sit still and behave himself. She was about as kindhearted as a goddam wolf," (Salinger 137). Through Holden's perspective nearly every member of society of society is a phony but if there is one thing that Holden understands it's the burden that children take from their parents during childhood. Holden's perspective on the women watching the movie and his parents are oddly similar. In the introduction Holden
Innocence is a word that can usually only be associated with children and teenagers. J. D. Salinger shows innocence through the main character, Holden, a 17 year old teenager who just got kicked out of another school, in his novel The Catcher in the Rye. Holden shows his innocence through how he wonders where the ducks go in the winter, his lack of sexual experience, and how he views the ‘f*** you’ written on the school’s wall.
J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye explores the ambiguity of the adult world Holden must eventually learn to accept. Throughout the novel, Holden resists the society grownups represent, coloring his childlike dreams with innocence and naivety. He only wants to protect those he loves, but he cannot do it the way he desires. As he watches Phoebe on the carousel, he begins to understand certain aspects of truth. He writes: