In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, Holden has found enormous corruption and vulgarity in society. He knows that the children of the world are ruined by the corruption of adults around them. His newfound purpose in life will be to help save the children from this vulgarity by becoming a "Catcher in the Rye.".
In chapter 16 we have the first reference to the meaning of the novel's title, The Catcher in the Rye. Holden hears a little boy singing a verse, which makes Holden very happy: "If a body catch a body coming through the rye," Holden describes the little boy on page 115: "The kid was swell. He was walking in the street, instead of on the sidewalk, but right next to the curb. He was making out like he was walking a very straight line, the way kids do, and the whole time he kept singing and humming." Holden notes that the child's parents pay no attention to him. The little boy is in the road singing and his parents pay no attention to him? To Holden this child represents innocence and youth unspoiled by adult corruption.
Holden wishes to safeguard the innocence and purity of children, by protecting them from the evils of life. He feels that he has let Allie down; he wasn't there to protect Allie in his time of need. Holden now feels obligated to protect the rest of the children in the world. His little sister, Phoebe, asks him what he would like to be and he answers: "I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.
The Catcher In The Rye J.D. Salinger The Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. ... The Catcher In The Rye was a somewhat ironic title, occurring twice throughout the book. ... Haden replies that he wants to be the "catcher" in the rye. ... Once you have read The Catcher In The Rye we are reminded of the innocence of youth. ...
"The Catcher in the Rye" Reflection The title "The Catcher in the Rye" is to symbolize how Holden wants to protect the innocence of little kids. In the novel he told Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye, he would stand at the edge of a cliff as children play around with him, and he would catch them before they ran too close to the cliff. ... Salinger called the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" because it signifies how even though Holden is the way he is; he still has the innocence of a little child inside of him. ... The title tells the main idea of the novel. ...
The Catcher in the Rye The American classic, The Catcher in the Rye, although simply written, had quite sophisticated meanings. ... The last part of Caulfield, "field", has to do with the title's theme (Downey). The catcher in the rye has to do with a childhood fable in which the catcher catches children from falling off the cliff. ... "The scenes with Phoebe toward the end of Holden's story, as he tires to leave New York and hitchhike west, give him a chance to act as a kind of catcher in the rye' even in the midst of his psychological meltdown."" ... Although The Catcher ...
In JD Salinger's' Catcher in the Rye, a troubled teenager named Holden Caulfield struggles with the fact that everyone has to grow up. The book gets its title from Holden's constant concern with the loss of innocence. ... When Phoebe asked him to name something that he would like to be when he grew up, the only thing he would have liked to be was a catcher in the rye. ... I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. ... In the beginning of Catcher in the Rye, his initial character is one of a child. ...
The catcher in the rye is a work of fiction and a tragic-comedy. ... The title of this book is based on an old game where someone catches children from falling off a cliff. This symbolizes that Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye because he wants to protect the vulnerable, especially to prevent small children from losing their innocence and becoming corrupted by society as they grow up. ... This is shown very well when he says: I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. ...
The Catcher in the Rye J.D. ... The Catcher in the Rye. ... Summary The Catcher in the Rye is about a 16-year-old boy from New York named Holden Caulfield. ... Alternative works If The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. ... All of these titles have similar themes and insights as The Catcher in the Rye. ...
How Allie Helps Holden be the Catcher The book Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. ... He was in the middle of a meadow of rye, watching children run around innocently. ... This dream has an uncanny resemblance to the title of the book. He is catching children in the rye, being a catcher in the rye. ... This shows how Allie helped Holden to be The Catcher in the Rye....
The Catcher in the Rye Introduction: The reason why I had to make this extra bookreport needs no further explanation. ... 44a) Find a fragment that refers to the title. ... Fragment 3 44a) Find a fragment that refers to the title. Explain the title. ... Therefor he is the Catcher in the rye. ...
Salinger's novel, "The Catcher in the Rye," the reader is introduced to Holden Caulfield, a very troubled teenager who is fixated on protecting the innocent from the cruel realities of the world. The very title of this novel is a metaphor Holden uses to explain his obsession. ... Holden's one true desire in life is to protect the innocence of others as well as his self and he explains how he wants to be "the catcher in the rye." ... I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all"" (Salinger 191). ...