catch22

A detailed Summary of catch22


In J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield's innocence is taken away

through a twisted chain of events. The novel opens up with Holden depresses after

fluking out of Penecy, the suicide of a classmate, and the death of his brother, Allie.

Because if these tragic events, Holden tries to preserve his innocence and the purity of

the children around him. Holden wants to "catch" all of the naive children who are

falling off the cliff into adulthood. As a result of Holden coming across his sister Phoebe

and the "*censored* you" on the wall of the school, Holden's dreams of becoming the catcher

in the rye disappear. He finally realizes that all children must fall into adulthood, just as

While walking through the bust streets of New York, Holden notices a lighthearted little

boy who is walking and humming "if a body catch a body coming through the rye" (43).

Holden finds it humorous that the child can hum so nonchalantly as the cars on the

bust street honk at him. Despite the fast-moving cars, which represent the average


where they're going, Holden is saying that he wants to save all the little children from

society's harsh elements, his dream of shielding all the innocent children from maturity

It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other kids would see it,

his sister Phoebe and the "*censored* you" on the wall of the school Holden comes to the



Some common words found in the essay are:
York Holden, Holden Caulfield's, catcher rye, *censored* wall, little boy, catcher rye disappear, children falling cliff, falling cliff adulthood, sister phoebe *censored*, dreams becoming catcher, holden finally, children falling, falling cliff, cliff adulthood, holden's dreams, little children, children fall,

Approximate Word count = 769
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

join now Save Paper



Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.