Catcher in The Rye1

A detailed Summary of Catcher in The Rye1

Steven Boldis January 7,1999

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden views the world as an evil and corrupt place where there is no peace. This perception of the world does not change significantly through the novel. However as the novel progresses, Holden gradually comes to the realization that he is powerless to change this.

During the short period of Holden's life covered in this book, "Holden does succeed in making us believe that the world is crazy". Shortly after Holden leaves Pencey Prep he checks in to the EdmontHotel. This is where Holden's turmoil begins. Holden spends the following evening in this hotel which was "full of perverts and morons. (There were) screwballs all over the place." His situation only deteriorates from this point on as the more he looks around this world, the more depressing life seems.

Around every corner Holden sees evil. He looks out on a world, which appears completely immoral. The three days we learn of from the novel place a distressed Holden in the are of Manhattan. The city is decked with decorations and holiday splendor, yet, much to Holden's

despair "seldom yields any occasions of peace, charity or even genui

blames the world's corruption on adults and believes that when he stops the children from growing up he will preserve their innocence and save the world.

All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. 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, but it's bad if you say anything to them. In the above passage from the novel, Holden hits the final breakdown. Being "the catcher" becomes obviously unrealistic. The gold rings are ironically not gold but really brass-plated iron. The gold rings are symbols of the corrupted world which always "wears" a shiny surface to hide its evil. It is at this point that Holden sees that he can not stop children from growing up and therefore losing their innocence. They will fall if they fall, there is nothing that can be done.

Strangely enough, it is one of the "innocent" children that he is trying to protect who helps him come to terms with this realization. It is Phoebe who challenges his plan to escape out west. As he is telling Phoebe that she can not run away, he discovers that he too can not run away. "You can't ever find a place that is nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. "The final break - down comes near the end of the book when he is watching Phoebe on the carousel.

The one convict

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 990
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels