The Catcher in the Rye

A detailed Summary of The Catcher in the Rye


In this book, the main character, Holden Caulfield, tells us a story about what happened during his Christmas vacation. Holden is a sixteen year old boy who has flunked out of a private school. Because he is afraid that his parents would find out this fact, he goes to a hotel in New York City instead of going home after he leaves school for Christmas vacation. In New York, many things happen to him within a few days. For example, he goes to the hotel bar and meets three women after he first arrives there. The women go away soon after he fails to talk with them, and Holden feels lonely and depressed. He goes to another bar to find someone to spend some time with, but he fails to find anyone to talk to and comes back to the hotel even more depressed. In the hotel, he meets a prostitute, but he sends her back without having sex because he feels depressed and sorry for her. He was even more depressed when she tries to rob him of his money even though he tries to be nice to her. In the next morning, he has a date with an old girl friend, and asks her to flee from this corrupt work and live in the woods with him. She tells him he is crazy and then leaves him. Holden meets some more people later but they also cannot solve his problems,


Holden Caulfield is an amusing character because he talks about everyone without any respect. This is through the language he uses which includes slang and swear words. Even though Holden believes in honest or innocence, he is a pessimistic character because he seems to find something depressing in almost everything and everyone. He is also a depressed character because he feels alone in the most of the time, and he never finds any place where he feels comfortable. He doesn't fit into this society where many people live by false values and take advantage of others. This is shown very well when he says: "I keep picturing all these little kids playing some games in this big field or rye and all. Thousands of little kids, nobody's around-nobody big, I mean- except me. 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 are going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. Just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."

The theme of this novel is how innocence is corrupt by society. Holden thinks ev

Some common words found in the essay are:
York City, Holden Caulfield, I'd Holden's, That's I'd, , sixteen boy, tells story, holden caulfield, goes hotel, little kids, fails talk, catcher rye, that's i'd, christmas vacation, feels depressed,

Approximate Word count = 830
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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