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Catcher In The Rye Essay Topics

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Recommended: The banning of books in schools

Many books in the American school systems have been banned for “ Exploring complex topics such as sexuality, violence, substance abuse, suicide and racism through well-drawn characters lets kids contemplate morality and vast aspects of the human condition, build empathy for people unlike themselves and possibly discover a mirror of their own experience”- (Regan McMahon). While Regan Mcmahon lists topics that are considered too inappropriate for students to read, she also implies that these books help in finding your own opinions and encourages critical thinking. In the book The Catcher In The Rye it explores the topics of sexuality,substance abuse, and depression. The book shows an insight on Holden (the main character) and his life as …show more content…

This defines our way of life as we need to grow our own opinions and know how to think for ourselves. Books are very critical to this part of our life. Reading about other people's perspectives can help us understand their lives and give us a feeling of comfort or being understood. It also shows the consequences of the characters actions and how others react to them. This can help many students who relate with the main character to form opinions and new perspectives. In "The Catcher in the Rye" Holden shows many times throughout the book his perception of the world by saying “You never saw so many phonies in all your life…”(pg 164). This describes how Holden does not see much truth in the people he is surrounded by. Which many readers can sympathize with as many of us see phonies in our world.The catcher in the rye also uses symbolism to show abstract ideas. On page 150 Holden hears someone say “ ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye’”. We can understand that it was misheard as it’s actually “if a body meet a body coming through the rye”. This was significant to Holden because hearing a child say that phrase made him feel less depressed which showed a lot about his character. Holden wanted to be the catcher and protect the innocent if they slip and fall. You can see his deeper intentions where he wanted to protect the innocent because no one did that for him. This follows the common idea of how broken Holden is and reveals deeper, complex meanings throughout the book on the impact his childhood had on his demeanor and made him mentally

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963 Words | 4 Pages

During the narrative, Holden is irrealistic with what he wants out of life. “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.” (ch. 22

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1210 Words | 5 Pages

Not only has Allie’s death prevent Holden from forming friendships, but he also is preoccupied with wanting to be the catcher in the rye. Holden says, “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” (173). All Holden wants to do is save people who are special and innocent just like his younger brother Allie.

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656 Words | 3 Pages

Holden says that all he want to do is be the catcher in the rye protecting children from falling. The whole novel Holden makes observation around him that are taking away from children's innocence. This is what upsets him the most the fact that everyone will eventually have to grow up. While he is trying to go get Phoebe he is reminded this in the following quote. “I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another "Fuck you" on the wall.

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672 Words | 3 Pages

Though he is very concerned with people being phony, he realizes there is no way around their phoniness. In the text it states, “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” (Salinger pg. 225). At this part in the story Holden is accepting his struggle of people in the world being phony. It’s the world that he lives in and instead of fighting it all the time he wants to help make it better for others.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

In more depth, this quotes shows his need to save children like his sister phoebe or his dead brother Allie from losing their childhood innocence and becoming adults which he believes are all phonies. In reality, Holden is one person so he can not be the catcher in the rye; despite that he keeps trying to be till he reaches a loin where he is truly lost in touch with reality and blinded. He does however realize that in the back of his mind, which is what leads him on such a destructive path of competing with himself constantly on meeting the idea he believes he is. He does this by drinking, smoking, becoming involved in fights and even attempting to have meaninglessness sexual encounters. However in the end he comes to the realization that he can not be the catcher in the rye despite what he’s done, and what triggers this realization for him is when he sees the word “Fuck you” on the walls of phoebe’s school.

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1475 Words | 6 Pages

By becoming the catcher in the rye, it allows him to have an excuse for not actually fighting phonies because he needs to protect kids. Holden believes that he is fighting the phony world by protecting kids from falling off this cliff which he mentions when Phoebe is telling him about being wrong. He pictures “little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big” except for Holden who is “standing on the edge of some crazy cliff” and if the kids are not looking where they are going; Holden has to “come out from somewhere and catch them” (224, 225). Being the catcher in the rye metaphorically means that there is a very steep cliff, and at the top of the cliff, there are children playing around while Holden is at the edge of the cliff protecting them from not falling down.

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1268 Words | 6 Pages

but the book has also sparked wild discussions about its content and if it should be taught in schools across the country. Although The Catcher In The Rye presents strong sexual themes and vulgar language, these aspects showcase the characters ' deepest emotions while staying true to the human experience and the power of language. The very same issues that cause the catcher in the rye to climb the banned book list, sexual themes and vulgar language, are exactly the things that make this piece worth teaching in high school curriculums, as they show readers the truest

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1107 Words | 5 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye Thematic Essay Imagine living a lonesome life, full of fear and little hope of better days to come. Imagine the toll this would take on a person’s life and how they develop as a person. For Holden Caulfield, the main character of J.D Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye this, is his reality. Holden is a sixteen year old troubled boy suffering through major mental issues and living a rather a depressing life for a teenager. Throughout the novel he goes through many hardships that only worsen his depression making him feel hatred towards his seemingly hellish world.

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1308 Words | 6 Pages

Holden’s obsession stems from his fear that he may become a phony one day. So, he spends the book running from adulthood by doing childish things and struggling to keep his life from changing. We see Holden’s fear of phonies shine throughout The Catcher in the Rye. Why does he have this fear?

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653 Words | 3 Pages

Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, is a novel about a teenage boy’s journey to figure out who he is and how he deals with problems that are still relatable to teenagers today. Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist, runs away from his home and tries to live in the real world, but soon realizes how difficult it is. He is faced with many decisions involving his morals and wrong but easy choices. However, this novel is also one of the top most banned books in the world because adults believe teenagers can be easily influenced by the bad habits Holden has. Catcher in the Rye should not be banned from our high school because it still deals with current problems young adults face in the real world.

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600 Words | 3 Pages

Jessica Casimiro October 30, 2015 English 3/PayLea Short Story Essay Patrick Rothfuss once claimed, “The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” The novel Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield, an angst-ridden teen conflicted between remaining in a state of prolonged innocence or transitioning into the world of adulthood, thus facing the corruption and phoniness that it correlates with. Through Holden’s dynamic character, J.D Salinger depicts how innocence is slowly lost when exposed to adulthood. Reluctant to the idea of growing up, Holden strives to protect the innocence of himself and the ones’ around him. Holden reminisces about the Natural Museum of History, a place he enjoyed going

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2150 Words | 9 Pages

Nostalgia sets in and he starts to fantasize about how he can save others from making this terrible mistake. He first experiences this fantasy when he hears a boy singing a song based on the poem "Comin Thro the Rye" by Robert Burns. He mishears the words to the song as “If a body catch a body coming through the rye.” The actual words are, “If a body meet a body coming through the rye.” Holden fantasized that he is in a field of rye with a cliff on one side.

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1446 Words | 6 Pages

In 1667, when anyone submitted an idea to the Royal Society, Hooke was the scientist to contact in order to begin experiments on said idea. Therefore, Hooke was the most prominent member of Society because the Curator of Experiments was the spearhead of the experimental and developmental stages of ideas. The Royal Society during his tenure poured massive amounts of work on his plate, but he prevailed and even found the time to present experiments of his own deriving from other experiments he had performed. Hooke also was immensely busy and thus unable – or in some cases unwilling, pending a way of profiting from the enterprise via letters patent to develop all of his own ideas. This was a time of immense scientific progress, and numerous ideas were developed in several places simultaneously.

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2178 Words | 9 Pages

Why would you think that this is not a disclaimer when it is? How could it not be when I had absolutely no say in the matter of my future? Either I was going to go through with this or I would be cut off. Money was my one and only weakness. I like money.

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1471 Words | 6 Pages

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help develop and inform the text 's major themes. One of the recurring themes in the novel The Catcher in the Rye is the omnipresent theme of death. It could be argued that the novel is not only full of references to death in the literal sense, physical disappearance, but also in the metaphorical, taking the form of spiritual disappearance, something which Holden often focuses on, along with the actual theme of mortality. It is possible that this occurs because of his reluctance to interact with the living world. As his means of escaping from the reality he despises, his mundane thoughts and the “phoniness” that he is surrounded by.

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