the main character Holden Caulfield as a protector of

innocence which is shown through his protection of children,

giving up his own innocence to help others, and his disgust

of the adult world. Salinger uses minor characters such as

Phoebe, Allie, and Jane Gallagher to tell us information about Holden.

Holden is a very strong minded individual and is very open about

the way he feels about things. Although it does not seem that

he is the "protector of innocence" at first, as the story progresses

he begins to shed more of his own innocence to affect those

The main way Holden wants to be a protector is to

keep children from growing up and becoming phony and corrupt

as he feels most adults become. Some would believe that

Holden has become obsessed with his sister even if he just

wants to protect her. Holden does not want her to change.

"Certain things they should stay the way they are. You

ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass

cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible

but it's too bad anyway. Anyway, I kept thinking about

becoming a catcher in a quiet speech to himself:

get closer to it. Allie's death brings out this hidden fear of

but not as much now that he begins thinking about

come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all

from the cynical adult world."You don't always have to get too

and save all the children who may fall. Holden's wish

Allie, and he feels that if he were to die, she would be

Some common words found in the essay are:
That's I'd, Holden Phoebe, Holden Holden, Holden Jane, Phoebe Feel, Stradlater He's, Holden Caulfield, Ed Banky's, Allie Phoebe, JD Salinger, jane book, drives crazy, it's bad, little kids, protector innocence, holden expresses, own innocence, sister begins, phoebe allie, sister phoebe,
Approximate Word count = 1182
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)