Catcher In The Rye: Poem Analysis

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As one grows up and experiences the taste of life, opening one’s eyes to both negative and positive aspects of the world, it is common that one starts to lose their innocence little by little throughout one’s journey. The title of novel, The Catcher in the Rye (1952) by J. D. Salinger, signifies the desires of Holden Caulfield, the narrator, to preserve innocence, and the allusion to the Robert Burns poem “Comin Thro’ the Rye” further emphasizes his desires and also represents his innocence. With most interactions he has with adults, Holden sees corruption and superficiality in those people. On his date with Sally at the theater, he claims: “You never saw so many phonies in all your life, everybody smoking their ears off and talking about …show more content…

The poem, “Comin Thro’ the Rye”, is about a girl engaging in a sexual intercourse with no intention of carrying the relationship further than the act itself. However, Holden misunderstands the title of the poem, which he mistakes as a song, and the image that comes into his mind was not of the sexual act but of the children playing around and needing protection from the fall from the “crazy cliff,” inspiring him to become the catcher in the rye to watch over the kids. The way he interprets the poem is that once a child falls over the cliff, that child is lost to the cruel and ugly world that the adults have created, forever losing his or her childlikeness. In addition, the misinterpretation of the sexual content of the poem signifies his feelings about sex in general. During his conversation with Luce, he claims, “I know it’s supposed to be physical and spiritual, and artistic and all. But what I mean is, you can’t do it with everybody – every girl you neck with and all – and make it come out that way” (Salinger 147). Unlike the girl in the poem and his friends who “get sexy” with multiple girls, Holden cannot bring himself to “get sexy” with a girl he truly does not like, expressing his purity. Also, sex is a part of growing up and maturing into an adult; his hesitation to have

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