Holden Stradlater

Throughout the book Holden’s goal is to save children from falling off the cliff of innocence. He talks about innocence in many instances in the book. On instance is while talking to Phoebe when he says that he wanted to be ““just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd

Holden then realizes that he wants to help preserve children’s innocence before they go out in to a corrupt world. He wants to become a catcher in the rye, and catch children before they go off the “cliff”, as he did. “ 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.”(P173) Holden can be compared to peter pan in the

Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye and save the children from falling off the cliff. This cliff, however, is the real world, and Holden himself is afraid of it so he wants to protect children from it. This is also demonstrated when Holden visits his sister 's school and sees swears written on the wall. This makes Holden very mad, "It drove me damn near crazy. I thought of how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they 'd wonder what the hell it meant…But I rubbed it out anyway, finally"(201). Holden was able to protect the children for a short while but a few moments later he sees the same thing written on the wall again. Only this time it is scratched in with a knife or something and Holden is unable to rub it away like before and realizes "It 's hopeless, anyway…it 's impossible" (202) he indicates here that growing up and facing certain reality is inevitable. Holden finally realizes that he can 't protect the kids from the real world when he watches Phoebe ride a carrousel at the zoo. "All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring…this thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let

Holden compare his imagination to a poem by Robert Burns called “If a body meet a body coming though the rye”. Holden Picturing all these kids playing on a field of rye and Holden is standing near the edge of the cliff to catch them from falling. In fact, Holden said, “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game on the field of rye and all. I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.” In reality, he wants to stop kids from entering into the adult world losing his innocence, which Holden is afraid of because according to him kids are “real” meaning that they will always speak their mind.

As Holden observes the elders and adults in his world, he senses a loss of innocence from when they were children. He sees the adult world as “phony”, influencing himself to avoid falling in to the cruelty of the adult world. He wants to catch children before falling in to adulthood before they lose their innocence just as how many children are lost while playing in a rye field. “That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.

The Utterly Impossible Task of Being The Catcher in the Rye Holden's dream job to be the Catcher in the Rye reveals that Holden wants to preserve innocence and purity by saving all children from the world of adults. Holden feels if he catches all the kids from falling off the cliff they will stay innocent. Holden is afraid of the adult world so he feels that it is his job to make sure all children stay innocent. When Holden is telling Phoebe what his dream job is he says, “‘ I have to catch everyone if they start to go over the cliff...but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.

In The Catcher and the Rye, Holden is unable to reconcile his dueling archetypal identities of the Hero and the Outcast, resulting in his inability to move into adulthood. Holden Caulfield, an outsider in a wealthy society, spends his free time writing essays for Stradlater, his roommate, and also ends up giving in to Stradlater’s demands. Stradlater is introduced to the reader as someone who is given, or takes, everything that he wants. Holden tries to stop Stradlater from taking his new hound’s-tooth jacket feeling that Stradlater will end up “stretching it” with his “goddam shoulders and all” (Salinger pg#). Despite reasonable arguments on why Stradlater isn’t allowed to take his coat, Stradlater leaves with Holden’s jacket.

It seems like anything or anybody that still has youthful innocence in them reminds Holden of Allie, and brings him happiness―the children and Jane Gallagher, who he also loved and cared for very much. His loving and caring attitude towards youthful innocence and children, is also a disparity to the bitter, judgemental attitude he carries with himself throughout the book. Being the catcher in the rye―protecting, and “catching” children from “falling off the cliff” really the only dreams and care for the future he actually has though it seems farfetched and “crazy”. We also see how Holden’s dream of having this job can associate with the loss of Allie, which he still struggles to accept and cope with, or maybe even the loss of innocence as a child grows up, and witnessing the harshness of the

Throughout the novel, Holden is shown to be protecting over those he truly loves. Although a common symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is turning away from loved ones, with that, survivors may also be prone to be more protective over loved ones in fear. According to ‘Everyday Health’ and ‘The U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, the National Center for PTSD’, it is common that those affected feel guilty about not being able to protect their ones. “I was there for about half hour… bastard Stradlater was,” (Salinger 34). Holden has experienced so much trauma throughout his life, that he does not want Jane, someone of whom he is very close with, to experience what he has gone through. Holden fears that if Stradlater, Holden’s “secret slob”

Holden is talking about protecting the children so they will not experience the cruelty of the adult world. If he catches the children before they fall, he will preserve their innocence and keep them from the cruelties of the adult world. Holden’s only desire and goal in life is to be the catcher in the rye because is the only job that is appealing to him where he can shows his love and protection for childhood innocence, “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” (173).

Holden’s view of other people is often distorted and reduces people to their obvious characteristics, therefore in Holden’s idealistic world, the children are simple and innocent, and Holden views his catcher in the rye job as the protector of pure, uncorrupted youth, On the other hand, this fantasy displays how disconnected Holden is from reality. Subconsciously, Holden wants to preserve his own innocence and wishes to catch other children because he is trying to save others from the pain he went through when Allie died, since no one was able to catch him. The cliff is a symbol for a loss of innocence and this concept suits Holden perfectly because he is somewhere in between childhood and

Holden’s date with Sally Hayes exhibited his difficulty at cooperating with others. At first he gives us a dire impression of Sally, “I wasn’t too crazy about her, but I’d known her for years.” (p. 105) Later, he wants to marry Sally and says he is in love with her. The biggest mystery of all when it comes to women is with Jane Gallagher. Constantly mentioning Jane, Holden recalls playing checkers with her before he got sent to boarding school. When his roommate, Stradlater, has a date with Jane, Holden asks him a peculiar question, “Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row?” (p. 42) Holden, jealous of Stradlater’s date with Jane, longs to see Jane but never has the courage to call her. Interactions with other people especially women perplex and overwhelm Holden. He therefore resorts to isolation, illustrating a characteristic of his mental state.

Holden has numerous distinct attributes pertaining to both childhood and adulthood. His transition from growing and relational life, to an uncontrolled spiritual realm, this stresses him. He has instances of introspection that helps him encompass a realization for his own livelihood. When he shares with his sister Phoebe what he would sincerely like to do with his life he says “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.” (Salinger 173) That quote reveals the reasoning for the title of the book because Holden wants nothing more than to protect the innocence of children.

Holden has very noble goals, he wants to protect children’s innocence. He says to his little sister “‘Anyway, 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

When Holden is talking and describing things he will sometimes say something, but be hinting at another thing. When Holden was talking about his friend Jane he talked about chess and her holding back her pieces to depict something else for the reader. In addition, when he describes Stradlater he states “ if you knew Stradlater, you’d have been worried, too”(450, Holden is saying that Stradlater takes advantage of women without actually saying it. It is an important detail that he is holding back from saying that Stradlater is a rapist. This shows that he is sorta friends with Stradlater and does not want to be harsh.