Significance Of Phony In Catcher In The Rye

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COMIN’ THRO’ THE RYE

“I was surrounded by phonies.” (19)

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, a 16-year-old named Holden struggles to live daily with all of the phonies in the world. He has trouble grasping the fact that all children need to grow up, but doing so is considered phony by Holden. The title, The Catcher in the Rye, gets its meaning from the loss of innocence, and how Holden wants to save children from adulthood. Holden wishes to be “the catcher” so he can preserve the innocence of children and childhood memories because it is so meaningful and important to the purity of life but also to avoid the inevitable tribulations of adulthood as long as possible. Holden desires to be “the catcher” in order to preserve the innocence of children and keep them pure. For example, when Holden is in the Museum of Natural History and looking at the exhibits in cases, he confides, “Certain things should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway” (158). Holden is indirectly voicing that he wishes innocence will never go away …show more content…

But, Holden interprets the action differently and takes off right away. Ultimately, Holden experiences an epiphany about adulthood when he is in Phoebe’s school. “That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write ‘Fuck you’ right under your nose” (264). Holden realizes that children reaching adulthood is inescapable, but is why he attempts to be “the catcher” for so long. He wants to preserve the innocence in children for as long as possible before their forthcoming future of adulthood and tribulations as

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