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Literary Analysis Essay On The Catcher In The Rye

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While some members of society desire to isolate themselves from the impurities and imperfections that plague the world around them, achieving the societal utopia of truth and perfection is one that stands in contradistinction to the definition of humanity itself. In J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, we are situated inside the mind of Holden Caulfield, a teen who has trouble fitting into the apparent “phony” norms and contours that he is expected to assimilate into. In other words, Holden Caulfield is rightfully marked as a deviant misfit, often alienating himself from the ever changing world around him. In my opinion, it would be of value to look away from society as a whole and begin to problematize the totalizing nature of Holden’s rationality. Throughout the novel and society, the evidence to support my viewpoint is ubiquitous. Consider the case of …show more content…

Holden himself begins to attest to this himself subconsciously when his sister, Phoebe, questions Holden’s ability to mature and fit into society. When asked about his aspirations for the future, Holden says “...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.” (Salinger 22.51-55). Holden’s desire to catch kids falling off the cliff is symbolic of his drive to remain innocent and prevent the world around him from falling off the cliff and

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Towards the end of the story, while having a conversation with Phoebe about what Holden wants to do with his life, he tells her, “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” (Salinger 173). With this, Holden further reveals his childhood fantasy of being a hero and saving everyone. In his soul, Holden is an innocent boy who does not want to grow up.

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This mentality is constantly expressed in all aspects of his life. When Holden’s sister Phoebe asks what he wants to be, he answers, “You know that song ‘If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye?’... I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. What I have to do, I have to catch anybody if they start to go over the cliff... I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be” (Salinger 174).

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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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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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Salinger draws Holden into the idea of becoming a catcher in the rye, "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..." Salinger utilizes the poem and Holden's idea of a "catcher in the rye" to symbolize Holden's desire to protect kids from entering adulthood. This aspiration mimics that of Salinger's, who wished to preserve his generation's innocence after witnessing their

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851 Words | 4 Pages

When Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to be when he is older, he says, “Thousands of little kids... 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 don’t look where they’re going…I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.” (173) Holden states that he wants to stand in the rye, and catch kids all day if they happen to run over the cliff. Keeping children sae is very important to him because he does not want to experience the death of a young child again, since it will bring back the sadness of Allie dying. Furthermore, the two people closest to Holden are both children, Phoebe and the late Allie.

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These dark thoughts are seen in J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, an existentialist novel that follows the journey of a young teen, Holden Caulfield, who is struggling with society. Existentialist elements, such as going against social structure and striving for individualism, can be seen in the novel through the pessimistic protagonist's eyes, Holden Caulfield,

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Painted as the voice of a generation, Holden Caulfield is a young man that may be described in many different fashions. Prophetic, however, seems to be a description that has not translated to mankind’s latest generation. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is built up and described as the spirit of adolescence. And for generations after the release of the book, the label held; however, the ideas and appeal of Holden seems to have lost its strong bonds with the feelings of current young adults. Holden is often not afraid to speak honestly on sensitive subjects throughout the novel.

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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,” (Salinger 224-225). Holden finds comfort in this fantasy because he is saving children from having to encounter adult life. Holden cannot figure out adult relationships and wants to protect childhood relationships because these are the

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Many people harbour a desire to accomplish something specific in life. Sometimes this desire stems from the background of a person, and sometimes desires are developed over time and with age. “The Catcher in the Rye” narrated by Holden Caulfield, who is an overly disturbed teenager, is about the change from childhood to adulthood. Holden, like many, has a burning desire to protect the innocence of children; this desire is tied to the themes of relationships, intimacy and sexuality which are carried throughout the novel. In a stroke of genius, the author, J.D. Salinger, sums up this desire in the title, which is taken from a poem by Robert Burns: Comin ' thro ' the Rye ( 1796).

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Intriguing, boring, captivating, uninteresting: these are all examples of words that teenagers use to describe the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. In this coming-of-age fiction by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, an expelled teenager, kills a few days in New York City in order to prolong having to tell his parents the news of his expelling. This book is irrelevant to today's teenagers because they have different interests, they can’t feel sympathy for Holden, and the language used throughout the book is outdated. Today’s teenagers have different interests now than they did back in the 1950s.

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I wake to the now familiar smell of smoke, and the blaring ring of sirens. I sit up to see my mother crouched on the floor, cooking breakfast. During breakfast, my mother and I reminisce of our old life, the life we had before Syria was at war. I dream of our house, and our lush, beautiful garden. I remember how the sweet fruit trees filled the air with a beautiful fragrance.

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Catcher In The Rye:Chapter 1: Significant Passage: “He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks.” Speaker: Holden Caulfield Audience: the reader

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Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the

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REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS: YOU NEED TO COPY AND PASTE THE QUOATION WITH YOUR RESPONSE. (-) 4. In J.D. Salinger 's novel "Catcher in the Rye", the protagonist Holden Caulfield says these lines to his younger sister Phoebe when she questions him on the topic of his likes and what he wishes to do when he is an adult. Holden ideally, but unrealistically states that he wants to be "the catcher in the rye and all", a reliable figure to "catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. " Holden describes his desire to be someone constantly watching over children and his way of catching them is to keep them save from any physical danger as they are playing baseball and having fun.

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