The overall theme portrayed in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, is the loss of innocence. The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, values his innocence and fears of who he will become once he matures and conforms with the rest of society as an adult.
Firstly, Holden fears the loss of his innocence because he has realized that once a youth’s innocence is gone, there is no way of retrieving it. In the article Growing Up and Losing Your Innocence by Marielle Marlys, she confirms Holden's theory when she agrees that “[...] once we lose our innocence, it’s almost impossible to retain. [...] the knowledge that makes us cherish innocence is the very thing that makes innocence unattainable” (Marlys 2). Holden’s desire to protect his innocence has been generated by his fear of conforming with the rest of society and becoming a phony, which is how he perceives the rest of the adults in the world. Not only does Holden want to prolong his innocence, but he wants to save the rest of the children of the world
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Thousands 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 mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy. (Salinger 224)
The children jumping off the cliff is the jump from childhood to adulthood and a loss of innocence taking place. Holden wants to save these children from the world of authority, maturity and responsibility. Holden refers to himself as the catcher in the rye, justifying that he will catch the children before they fall into the world of adulthood as there is no way to regain one's
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.
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
The theme of The Catcher in the Rye is simple. J. D. Salinger uses this novel to draw a clear distinction between the purity of childhood and the wickedness attained when one reaches adulthood. Salinger uses multiple literary devices including diction, symbolism, tone, and even the title of the novel to drive home his ideas about the innocence of children and the corruption of the world.
Holden plays the role of the catcher in the rye by physically catching the children before they fall off the cliff proving that we all end up falling. Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to be, Holden responds, “if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them…I’d just be the catcher in rye and all” (Salinger 173). The cliff is symbolic of loss of innocence. Holden’s role of the catcher in the rye allows him to physically catch children before they fall off the cliff, therefore saving their innocence before they fall into adulthood. When the children fall off the cliff, it is much like the fall into adulthood, we fall in not looking where we are going and not knowing what to expect. Not only has Holden become obsessed with trying to preserve the innocence of children, but he also ends up having a nervous breakdown. Holden says to Phoebe, “I know it’s crazy…I know it’s crazy” (Salinger 173). Salinger’s use of repetition emphasizes the word crazy, therefore; foreshadowing that Holden will have a nervous breakdown and go crazy. Not only has Salinger’s use of repetition foreshadowed that Holden will go crazy, but so has Mr. Antolini....
When Holden hears the quote, “if a body meet a body coming through the rye,” he hears it as, “if a body catch a body coming through the rye.” Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands 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.” (47-50.2) Holden believes that maybe if he catches the kids, and saves them from the cliff, maybe that means he can protect their childhood purity innocence as well. Another article, “Dealing with the Death and Loss of a Sibling.” states that, “this brother or sister’s death can make you feel older.” This may be where Holden's connection innocence comes from, like other surviving children, he feels as if he had to grow up too fast to deal with his
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...
We see during the novel that Holden wants to be able to protect innocence in the world, however by the end of the story he lets go of that desire. This is a point of growth for Holden. He finds that it is impossible and unnecessary to keep all the innocence in the world. While with Phoebe Holden says, “I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye...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...That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye” (173). In this moment Holden wants to be able to preserve all the youth and innocence in the world. He doesn’t accept that kids have to grow and change and that they can’t stay innocent forever. Later on in the story when Holden is with Phoebe at a carousel again he thinks, “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the golden ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.” At the end of the novel Holden realizes and comes to terms with the fact that kids grow and lose their innocence. He moves from his want to be the “catcher in the rye” to...
...oes want them to turn into “phonies.” Holden seeks for a peaceful and uncorrupt world but he cannot obtain that due to the actions of others. Despite Holden’s attitude and outlook on life, he is quite passionate. Although he is a firm pessimist, calling every person he comes across a “phony,” there is an alternate side to him. In his interaction with Phoebe and the other children in the book, he tries to protect them from the rest of society, since children are still naïve and pure. It is justifiable why Holden craves to preserve the innocence of others. For most of us, growing up, we begin to understand more. We start to look at life in a different perspective, different from the one we did when we were young, but as a person who has seen and experienced more in life.
If there were one word to tell what the theme of the book was it would be innocence. How we are all innocent at some point, how to try to keep our innocence, and how no one can keep their innocence forever. We all fall from our innocence. Adam and Eve fell from grace and innocence and set the tone for all of our lives. Throughout the whole book Holden is trying to make people keep their innocence and he wants to hold onto it himself. What he needs to learn and does learn through the course of the book is that no one can keep his or her innocence. We all fall at some point, but what we have control over is how hard we fall.
Which is the kind of world he wants to live in. Holden expresses his desire to preserve the innocence of others when his sister Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn't like anything, and that he has no ambitions of what he wants to be when he is older. Holden then explains that he wants to be the catcher in the rye. He says that he imagines little children playing on top of a hill and that his job is to protect children from falling of the hill. This symbolizes catching children from losing their innocence and falling into the adult world. Holden tells Phoebe, “I know it crazy, but that is the only thing I’d like to be” (172). This unrealistic desire is contributes to why Holden is struggling to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Critics of the novel have said Holden would like to suspend time stating, “Holden's desire to protect children shows his desire for suspending time, for inhabiting a space of young people conserved endlessly” (Yahya 3). Not letting go of childhood memories or accepting the harsh realities of adulthood are damaging when transitioning from
(Holden wants to be a catcher in the rye, He wants to save children from falling from a cliff . Children meaning innocence and falling down to society and losing their innocence) Elaborate
In a novel, the theme is the insight of real life. J.D. Salinger’s initiation novel, The Catcher In The Rye, describes the adventures of 16-year old Holden Caulfield, the protagonist and first person narrator, who refuses to grow up and enter manhood. The most important theme developed by Salinger is Holden’s problem of dealing with change; he has trouble dealing with death, he refuses to accept children’s loss of innocence as a necessary step in the growing-up process, and has difficulties with growing up.
... childhood. Additionally, his concern with the way that things are constantly changing also communicates his wish to simply freeze everything and keep it the way it is. That way, neither he nor any other child would have to go through the pain of growing up. Despite all of Holden’s thoughts about preventing “loss of innocence” and change, he is helpless in the end because change is inevitable and everyone has to grow up and play their part in life, whether they want to or not. Becoming an adult, no matter how hard it may be for an individual, is an important part of their life cycle. All in all, the preservation of innocence is a noteworthy cause, but is not a completely realistic one because it is not within the grasp of humans to change the way in which their minds develop.
Holden says, “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all... 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. I know it 's crazy, but that 's the only thing I 'd really like to be.” (191). Holden is saying that he wants to catch kids who are about to fall of the cliff. What he means by this is he wants to save kids before they lose their innocence. Holden does not want any kids losing their innocence, and he says his dream is to just be there, at that cliff to save anyone who gets into something that is awful and depressing. Another quote in the book that shows holden does not want kids to lose their innocence is when he sees a vulgar word scratched into a wall, visible to kids at a school. “Fuck you" on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they 'd wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them – all cockeyed, naturally – what it meant, and how they 'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever 'd written it.” (221). Holden truly worries about the kids seeing this word because he doesn 't want them to have any fear or uneasiness. He
The theme of the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is that everyone needs to face reality and grow up along with the painfulness of growing up. Within this theme are other aspects, like immaturity, maturity, youth, innocence, and death. The main character faces all these aspects and struggles with the reality of growing up.