CITR #4: The Catcher in the Rye

When I first began reading this book, I had no idea what the title meant or symbolized. The meaning is revealed in the book, and I think it is important to discuss.

Although Holden appears to want to have a role in the adult-world, children and memories of his childhood bring him the most joy.  For the majority of the book, Holden is depressed.  Pretty much the only times in the book when he's happy is when he's thinking about his younger sister Phoebe.  For example, at the very end of the book, Holden is enjoying time with Phoebe at the zoo.  He watches her on the carousel and feels truly happy for the first time in the book "I felt so damn happy if you want to know the truth....It was just that she [Phoebe] looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all" (p 213).  Holden enjoys his time with Phoebe because he is able to forget the stresses and expectations of the adult world, indulging himself into a care-free one.

It becomes evident as the story develops that Holden's childhood was (and still is) very important to him.  I think he associates children with innocence.  Towards the end of the book, Holden expresses his desire to help children keep their innocence and care-free lives for as long as possible.  When Holden goes to Phoebe's   school, he notices that somebody had written "F*** you" on the wall.  "It drove me damn near crazy....I kept wanting to kill whoever'd written it" (p 201).  Holden then proceeds to rub it off the wall.  This is one example of Holden making an effort to help children keep their innocence.  

This is where the title of the book comes in.  Holden thought the old poem by Robert Burns went "if a body catch a body comin' through the rye.  (Really it's "if a body meet a body comin' through the rye," referring more to a sexual encounter).  Holden envisions little kids playing some game in a big field of rye.  "Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around—nobody big, I mean—except me"  (p 173).  He imagines standing on the edge of a great cliff and catching children before they fall off.  "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 really the only thing I'd like to be" (p 173).    By catching the children before they fall off the cliff, Holden is referring to catching the children before they lose their innocence and are exposed to the real adult world.  

Kai:  near the end, Holden tells Phoebe he's going away to live on a ranch, and she says she's going to go with him.  When she says she's not going back to school, he tells her to "cut out the crazy stuff" (p 208).  Is it really any more crazy for Phoebe to want to leave than it is for Holden?