Holden's Experience in The Catcher In The Rye Essay

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is based off of Holden Caulfields experience during his years in prep school. He tells his story to someone while he is staying in an insane asylum, telling this person why he pretty much hates everyone in life besides himself. Holden Caulfield hates every person in the world besides family.

Caulfield has an opinion on everything and every person in the world; he has to comment on everything all the time because he believes that he is right about all things in life. Holden claims that the world is full of phonies, but he is the biggest phony in the world. Some people are phonies in life, there is no doubt about that, but he claims that everyone is a phony. For example people that go to shows or the movies, any guy who goes to an Ivy League school is a phony according to him. He doesnt realize that people choose to be the way that they are, theyre not acting a certain way, and it is who they are. People are allowed to have opinions in life, but according to Caulfield, theyre not!

We first understand part of the title in chapter 16 when Holden is walking behind this family and he hears this little boy singing this song. He hears the little boy singing If a body catch a body coming through the rye. The reason why Holden likes this so much is because the kid has yet to be influenced by adults, so according to Caulfield this child is innocent and poor. That is why Holden is so close to his sister Phoebe, because she isnt affected by adults yet, she is too young to understand the world as an adult does. Later on in the novel Holden says that he keeps seeing little kids playing a game in this field of rye, and he is standing on this cliff and he has to catch any kid that starts to fall over the cliff, he said he would do that all day, making him the catcher in the rye, and that is all that he would like to be in life. I dont know why he would do this but he appreciates children so much and he cares for them so much. It seems that he would risk his life for a child if necessary.

Holden wants to save children from growing up and becoming a phony, he is completely selfless in this role because he wanted to be a child his whole life. Holden doesnt know if he wants to take the next step to becoming an adult or if he wants to stay an adolescent where it is secure and innocent. Holdens main problem is that he is very smart and he thinks, reacts, and talks like an adult would, he is trying so hard to stay young, but he cannot accept the fact that he going to become an adult, and this is the main reason why so many people get mad at him. He goes off on these tangents about life and how people are stupid for being the way they are. In actuality, Holden Caulfield is an ass-hole, he makes comments about people in every aspect of their life, he judges people to the highest degree and he doesnt realize that people are trying to help him. A lot of people care for him, but he so wrapped up in his own world that he thinks that everyone is out to annoy him.

Holden feels the need to save children from the worlds evils because he thinks that if he saves children then he will be doing society a huge favor. He realizes that he cant do this alone, so he accepts failing, just like in school where he is getting kicked out. He ends up rejecting the role of catcher and is going to move on in life to adulthood. He doesnt know what he is going to do, but he will end up doing something in life.