It is apparent that this title has a lot to do with the contents of the book. Holden Caulfield, the main character, said at one point, " I mean they're all right if they go around saving innocent guys' lives all the time." He is speaking to the reader, and the idea of saving is the 'catcher'. It is the same as in a baseball game. When a ball comes to the outfield, you must do your best to catch it, and without excuses. In addition, the catcher behind the plate can save the game. Holden Caulfield is the catcher with nowhere to go or anything significant to save. The rye is like a field where a baseball team plays, although it grows tall and Holden gets lost inside.

Holden needed to feel like a savior. One day at the museum, after writing his sister Phoebe a note to meet him there, he had an urgent need to be a 'catcher', to save Phoebe and the other kids. There was profane language on the wall and he did not want them reading it. He thought it may corrupt them and said, "It drove me damn near crazy".

The title also relates to the theme

, which is essentially that Holden Caulfield, a prep-school dropout, seems only to relate to his younger sister, Phoebe. He is an adolescent who finds himself alone, lost and troubled, in addition to being a compulsive liar. He tries to make sense out of life, but he's so confused that he cannot.

Holden saw other reasons why people do things, not just what is on the surface. Then he thought that they were phonies, especially the lawyers who he said do not really "save the innocent guys". What they are really doing said Holden, is making a lot of money, playing golf, drinking, and playing bridge. He was loner and was annoyed by people who were in cliques at school. He called them phonies too, because it was his way of dealing with the fact that he was not a part of any group. Holden was not a part of a group of friends, a baseball team, or even The Book Of The Month Club. He said, "I don't get hardly anything out of anything. I am in bad shape. I'm in lousy shape".

He had a sense of denial; he was severely depressed and could not grasp reality. Phoebe, at one point, confronted him in regards to Pencey Prep, where he attended school. Holden got defensive, angry, and frustrated. He almost wanted to be like a deaf-mute so that he would not have to talk or listen to anyone. Holden really had a very poor self-image.

The relationship with Mr. Antolini was interesting because this man was one of t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 957
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)