Catcher In The Rye Research Essay

When asked to pen a descriptive composition for a friend who has no time for classwork, Holden begrudgingly agrees, and immediately chooses to write about Allie’s baseball glove. The fact that his first choice of material to draw from was a possession of Allie’s shows how deep his love for his brother is. Holden reminisces about the mitt, saying, “The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so he’d have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat” (Salinger, 49). The fielder’s mitt itself is symbolic. Allie was left-handed and wrote in green ink, which signify him as being unique and distinctive. The fact that he wrote poems to keep him occupied show he is sensitive and bright.

The majority of New York’s population, though, do not meet Holden’s cut. Allie’s memory has changed the way Holden judges and values others in his life. He is attracted to the curious and unusual, not the stereotypically monotonous patterns his peers seem to cycle through. Holden’s red hunting cap plays into this as well. It is attention grabbing and at times, out of place, but its gaiety and intense color attract Holden. Holden’s constant search for something sincere and unadulterated is a direct link to the affect Allie’s death had upon him. One journalist, analyzing an essay by Carl Strauch, had this to say about the hat: “Strauch points out that he wears the hat "backwards like a catcher" (10), an undoubtedly pointed correlation with the novel’s title as well as Holden’s view of himself as a savior” (Scott). The hat, therefore, is symbolic to Holden’s role as the catcher in the rye, or the protector of