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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 cliff 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 probably wouldn t have felt comfortable talking to her. Holden has to realize though that he can t talk to his little sister for the rest of his life. To grow he must let go of his obsession so he can relate to other people as well. As the book moves on the reader witnesses Holden s growing depression. He visits his English teacher, Mr.
Antonoli, who tries to give him some advice. The whole arrangement s designed for men, who at some time in their lives, were looking for something their own environment couldn t supply them with (187). He is trying to relay to Holden that he can t always have innocence and to mature he must live humbly for it. Instead of trying to use it negatively try to understand it and work towards knowledge.
Holden begins to realize this at the end of the book when he sees Phoebe on the carousel. On the carousel there is a golden ring that all the children are trying to reach for. 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 (211). Holden has started to see that you have to learn from your mistakes, or maybe even, your loss of all that is innocent. Holden Claufeild may seem like a disturbed person.
If we look closely in our lives though, there is always something holding us back. This book is about that struggle that many have dealt with, but so few have overcome. Holden realized that people have to grow up and let go of their dependencies.
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Research essay sample on Catcher In The Rye Side Of The Street
