Themes In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye

Register to read the introduction… I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff. 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.” Through the use of figurative language, Salinger highlights Caulfield seeing himself as protector of the children which is a metaphor of him protecting the children from losing their innocence, this metaphor emphasises Caulfield’s obsession of keeping the younger children ‘pure’ and positions the reader to feel positive of his intentions towards the children. The protective feeling Caulfield has of the children demonstrates his own coming of age, that the exploration of the children’s innocence and how much he wants to preserve it indicates that he is growing up and reached a stage of his life where he realises he can make a difference.

Caulfield feels mentally, socially and personally isolated from everyone else. He desires the need to be not …show more content…
Salinger explores the perspective of children being a complete world apart from the adults through Caulfield. ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ examines the theme of youth in conjunction with the process of becoming an adult. Caulfield has an idealized perception of what children are like, he has a fantasy of what children are like, and he hastily makes assumptions of adults, predominately on how they treat children. “There was a lady sitting next to me that cried all through the goddam picture. The phonier it got, the more she cried. You'd have thought she did it because she was kind-hearted as hell. But she had this little kid with her that had to go to the bathroom, but she wouldn't take him. She kept telling him to sit still and behave himself. She was about as kind-hearted as a goddam