The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Essay Example for Free

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Essay Holden Caulfield in, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, lives a troubled life of not really caring about the repercussions of his actions. Holden’s beliefs on life are very narrow minded and he is very judgmental of everyone around him. Holden also has a strong belief that mostly everyone in the world is a phony. This ties into Holden’s wants of becoming a catcher in the rye when he is older. In the future Holden wants to become the catcher in the rye to save children from falling into the rye. This idea of doing this came into Holden’s mind after hearing the poem by Robert Burns. Holden thinks that the poem says â€Å"If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye,† but the actual lyric is â€Å"If a body meet a body, coming through the rye.†The original poem is about two adults meeting in the rye, Holden misconstrues this line and thinks that it means someone catching someone in the rye, which Holden wants to do. Holden wants to stand on the edge of the cliff and catch the children from falling. This is symbolic of Holden wanting to save himself along with other children having to grow up in a world that he believes to be phony. Holden wants to catch the kids before they lose their innocence and fall into an adult world with adult beliefs. By Holden wanting to be The Catcher in the Rye, it is symbolic throughout the book and how he doesn’t want to grow up and tries to avoid everyone who is phony. He doesn’t want children to lose their innocence because it is something pure that only lasts temporarily. Holden’s wish to be the â€Å"catcher in the rye† is significant to explaining who Holden is as a person. After the reader finds out what Holden wants to become when he is older you get a better understanding of Holden and his beliefs. In a world that is all phony to him, he just wants to live. Even though he may not want to hurt any feelings, he comes off very rude. Allies death was a turning point in Holden’s life and changed everything. This truly troubles Holden and is shown throughout the story, such as when he no longer cares about his studies or school. Allies death causes him to become very troubled in life and disregard the good of his own life. When Holden says he wants to be the catcher in the rye, not only does he want to save kids innocence but he doesn’t want to face adult hood as well. Living in a phony world will ruin the innocence of children that doesn’t last forever. As the reader can see, Holden is a very troubled boy growing up in a â€Å"phony† world. A kid wanting to protect children from losing innocence will happen when Holden becomes the Catcher in the rye. As a symbolic theme throughout the whole book it is a symbol of Holden not wanting to grow up as well.