Day Reading Of 'Catcher In The Rye' By J. D. Salinger

Gwen Mancino

Mr. Agelis

Honors English

October 26, 2022, A Modern-Day Reading of The Catcher in the Rye

“Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging” says esteemed writer Maya Angelou. Through the years, many will find the validity of such a statement as they continue to pass through life. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger is a coming-of-age novel that follows Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old boy who has yet to find his place in society. Throughout the story, Holden struggles with feelings of confusion and alienation as he attempts to navigate through an adult world he feels

Holden´s own innocence was taken away too early which develops into his hatred of ¨phonies” and his desire to protect other children's natural purity which has not yet been spoiled by the mundane, and sometimes cruel, affairs of adult life. Thus it is because of this that Holden learns further into adult nature throughout Catcher in the Rye. Fundamentally, Holden strives to be seen as an adult, however, his attempts at navigating adulthood ironically portray him as a child. This sentiment is first introduced when Holden meets his former teacher, Mr. Spencer, to talk about his pending expulsion due to his failing grades which resulted from a lack of motivation. While there, Holden reflects that “sometimes I act a lot older than I am- I really do- but people never notice it. People never notice anything” (Salinger 9). Although Holden endeavors to present himself as mature and he believes no one can see past his adult facade, the adults in his life often do. Paired with his self-proclaimed hatred for ¨phonies¨,

This is best witnessed when Holden tells his little sister Phoebe that he wants to be ´the catcher in the rye´ (173). Holden imagines himself catching children, who play in a field of rye before they fall off a cliff. Figuratively, the field of rye, where the children are playing, symbolizes childhood innocence, while the cliff represents the ever-looming ´threat´ of adulthood. Viewing the adult world as ´phony´ and disingenuous, Caufield seeks to preserve the purity of children. Holden struggles in life because he lost his own naivete too soon and he seeks to protect other children, especially his sister, from this fate. Holden´s childhood innocence is taken when he witnesses James Castle, a former classmate, being violently violated by another boy at Elkton and then later committing suicide. Holden describes how ¨there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him¨ (Salinger 102). Castle's death was the catalyst for Holden´s obsession with protecting innocents, especially children. Despite saying he barely knew James, Holden felt a bond between them which was symbolized by James wearing Holden´s borrowed sweater when he died. This trigger furthers Caufield´s attempts to protect the innocents