Catcher in the Rye Themes

A detailed Summary of Catcher in the Rye Themes

Many of us have certain themes that we live throughout our lives. Sometimes one must overcome certain anxieties or pressures, and the one thing that may seem comforting, is what you may have to let go of. For Holden Claufeild in JD Salinger's Catcher in The Rye, that idea is innocence. This is his dependency, and to grow up he must over come it. Holden focuses on innocence as a way of life, he wants to catch children in the rye as the title suggests, it makes him happy to see reflections of innocence in people, and at the end of the book he starts to realize and accept that it is beyond someone's expectations to remain innocent.

The title of this book is the Catcher in the Rye. It deals with the underlying theme of innocence. Holden confides in his younger sister Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye and save children from being exposed to the injustices of the world. "What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cli

As the book moves on the reader witnesses Holden's growing depression. He visits his English teacher, Mr.Antonoli, who tries to give him some advice. "The whole arrangement's designed for men, who at some time in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with" (187). He is trying to relay to Holden that he can't always have innocence and to mature he must live humbly for it. Instead of trying to use it negatively try to understand it and work towards knowledge. Holden begins to realize this at the end of the book when he sees Phoebe on the carousel. On the carousel there is a golden ring that all the children are trying to reach for. "The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off..." (211). Holden has started to see that you have to learn from your mistakes, or maybe even, your loss of all that is innocent.

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Catcher Rye, Holden Phoebe, Holden Claufeild, , catcher rye, holden claufeild, people book,

Approximate Word count = 649
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Catcher in the Rye Themes

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