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 clif

f...I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all" (173). By saying this Holden it proves that Holden wants people to stay innocent and never fall off of the cliff of corruption. The only times when you see Holden slightly happy in this book is when he sees someone that reflects an innocent. He sees it in two nuns and a small boy walking on the side of the street. After he talks to the nuns he narrates to the reader "I said I enjoyed talking to them a lot too. I meant it too" (112). This becomes a dependency and almost an obsession. He looks for them everywhere he goes and tries to hold on to the innocence he sees in them. A small boy on the side of the street was singing the song catcher in the rye and Holden relates by saying, "It made me feel not so depressed anymore" (115). Holden also sees the same thing in Phoebe. She seems to be the only person he relates to in the book. He tells her how he feels and what happened to him. If hadn't seen that in her, he p

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

Approximate Word count = 648
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Catcher in the Rye - Themes

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