Analysis: The Catcher In The Rye

What was it like to grow up? What would you change? Would you want to be a kid again? In the novel “The Catcher in The Rye” by J.D. Salinger, the character Holden Caulfield is trying to stop the way others grow up because to him the world of adulthood is corrupt. Ultimately the author sends a message that childhood innocence cannot be protected forever because everyone grows up.

At the beginning of the story we see the theme of childhood innocence cannot be protected forever because everyone grows up. In the following quote, Holden speaks about his childhood friend he grew up with. “I used to play checkers with her all the time… She wouldn’t move any of her kings… Did you ask her if she still keeps her kings in the back row?” (41 & 55). In this quote Holden is talking about his old friend Jane who he used to play with, in which his roommate Stradlater is about to go on a date with after he asks if they

When Stradlater comes back from his date Holden starts asking about the date and Jane ‘“What’d you do’ I said. ‘Give her the time in Ed Banky’s goddam car?’ My voice was shaking something awful… ‘That’s a professional secret, buddy’’’(56). In this quote Holden is asking what Stradlater did with Jane on their date. The authors use of the phrase “Give her the time” to help describe the idea of lovemaking, which establishes the idea of maturity. This represents that Jane is no longer a child that she is now a grown women. The choice of the word “awful” helps prove that Holden does not like the idea of Stradlater giving Jane “the time”. By selecting the phrase of “the time”, the author shows how Holden doesn’t think of Jane as a women ready for sexual relations but a child in which he used to play with. Thus, the author proves the theme of childhood innocence cannot be protected forever because most women choose to loses their virginity in the