A catcher within rye, what importance do these words actually possess? Holden, the main character in the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, has been expelled from numerous schools, but still has hopes for his future. However, his dream drastically differentiates from what a normal teenage boy would hope to achieve in his future. He aspires to eventually be exactly that, a catcher in the rye. Holden wishes to intercept and seize any of the kids that fall off the the cliff from the rye fields, essentially protecting the kids’ innocence. The cliff that Holden speaks to Phoebe about represents the tainting of innocence. As his little sister Phoebe questions him about his future profession, Holden points out his personal preferences. He describes his goal as, “...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.” (173) Holden speaks about the children running around, and if they were to run off the precipice, he would stop them from falling. Kids themselves are the very definition of innocence, being as harmless and carefree as they are. This leads them to do reckless things, such as going off the ‘cliff’, or finding out about the world and the evils and truths it holds. And if kids were to fall completely off this cliff, their innocence would become contaminated. Holden himself hopes to protect children's innocence through refusing to let them drop, or catching them. Holden catching the kids represents him destroying the things that could corrupt them. Pacing through Phoebe’s school, Holden encounters a swear word:
“But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy... It drove me damn 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 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... But I knew, too, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I knew that. That made
Explore the different ways in which madness and loneliness are explained through the use of narrative voice in The Catcher in the Rye and American Psycho. Both Ellis and Salinger use first person narratives. The Catcher in the Rye was set in the late 1940s as opposed to American Psycho which is set in the late 1980s. These different contexts provide very different lifestyles and social pressures for both protagonist’s however, both writers focus on the effects of materialism and prodigality and the…
Tom, Caitlin Freeland – Block 8 10/23/14 Understanding and Uncertainty Knowledge is best obtained through experience. This is shown in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye , a young adult novel about a boy named Holden Caulfield in New York, who is surrounded by social and academic pressures and wants to be different from everyone else. Through analyzing Holden’s encounters and mindset, it is revealed that the book supports the argument that Holden or any other teenager has conflicts with society and struggle to grow up…
Catcher In The Rye Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, reveals the hardships that teenagers endure as they mature and enter adulthood. Holden Caulfield, the narrator, tells the story of his hardships. Any teenager’s mind can lose focus, especially in Holden’s case. Holden has many issues that lead to the root of his problems. Holden has been kicked out of several schools and endures many more issues. He suffers from the loss of a loved one, financial issues, and parental neglect. These three root…
In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is clearly unhappy with his surroundings, which is evident not just by the fact that he is telling his story from some sort of mental hospital, but also by the fact that he seems to find something to dislike in everyone he is around. Whether it’s his roommate Stradlater’s self-obsession, or his neighbor Ackley’s lack of personal hygiene, Holden seems to find something wrong with everyone. From 3 unintelligent girls…
The Catcher in the Rye In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D Salinger represents childhood as a stressful turn table of mixed emotions. The intense moments of Holden’s life (like in chapter one at the football game, where Holden feels excluded from his entire school as he glares down at everyone in the stadium) are amazing representations of childhood at a glance. Most teenagers go through hell during high school, and Holden Caulfield is a prime example of that. This book was interesting because of Salinger’s…
The Catcher in the Rye “The Catcher in the Rye,” a novel by J.D. Salinger introduces love, loneliness, loss of innocence, and the struggles of becoming an adult through a teenage eye. Holden is a very unpredictable character that looks at life with more detail than most. He shows sensitivity with sly symbols throughout the novel and proves his innocent misfit in the world. These symbols teach small and big lessons of life. “The Catcher in the Rye” should not be censored because of its beneficial…
The Catcher in the Rye In “The Catcher in The Rye”, author J.D Salinger uses a plethora of meaningful symbols that help main character, Holden Caufield, find his true purpose in a world full of phonies. A symbol is something significant that represents something else. Symbols are used everyday in our world whether we know it or not. There are three really important symbols in the book that are connected to a greater aspect in Holden’s life. The second most important symbol in Holden’s…
ENG 2D-Summative Project #1-Novel Study Monday, May 7, 2012 Hannah B Reader Response 1 The Catcher in the Rye is set around the 1950s; the story is narrated by a young man named Holden Caulfield. The beginning of the story takes place at Pencey Prep, a school in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Our look into Holden’s life begins on the Saturday after the end of classes at Pencey before the Christmas break. The way Holden talks about Pencey allows you to get a sense his parents sent him there to…
Catcher In The Rye Literary Paragraph What makes a good character? Depth, a relatable personality, development… All are good things to include when designing a character, no matter how big or small. Many background characters remain flat, drifting in and out of the story, but major characters tend to undergo some sort of revelation or hardship that allows them to change, typically for the better. Holden, the main character of Catcher in the Rye has few, if any, of these traits, which makes him…
Koby Hinnant Leiknes 1 January 13, 2013 Holden Caulfield: Smart or Stupid? Many people, after reading The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger, may think that Holden Caulfield is not a very bright person. They may be right in thinking that, but the author was trying to show throughout the book that he actually was very intelligent, just maybe not scholarly way. This novel gives investigates the ideas of many different themes to help show what life was like for Holden Caulfield over the period of…
