Catcher in the Rye Theme Analysis The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger follows Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old boy who was just flunked out of Pencey Prep, around New York City. The reader learns about his deep hatred for adults because they are all phonies and his love of kids because they remind him of innocence and make him “less depressed”. Throughout the book, Holden is secluded and desperate for some kind of connection, and can only seem to connect with little kids. Salinger uses flashbacks, allusions, and idioms to develop the theme of needing to protect the innocence of the youth, so the reader can understand why children are the only people who are not “phonies” in Holden’s eyes. Holden’s strongest connection to another
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The mummies- them dead guys. that get buried in them toons and all.’ Toons. That killed me. He meant toons" (Salinger 203). The boy's comment about "toons" does not literally kill Holden, so it is an idiom. This idiom gives the writing a comical tone and helps convey Holden's delight around children. He finds the boy's comment amusing and the boy says it wrong because he is young and does not know better. The boy's innocence and ignorance is what makes the mistake humorous. Holden wants to protect this humor in the boy; which comes from his innocence. He feels that when the boy grows up and is exposed to the "phoniness" if the adult world he won't have the same genuine humor. Holden rarely finds what adults say funny, so he wants to protect the youth from the melancholy adult world. Later, Holden is watching Phoebe on the carousel and "It began to rain like a bastard. In buckets... I felt so damn happy all of a sudden" (Salinger 212-213). It is not literally raining like a bastard, but it is used to show the reader how hard it is raining. He is happy just watching Phoebe being happy on the carousel that the rain does not bother him. Just before this, he tells Phoebe she cannot come with him when he leaves town, because he want to protect her innocence. He needs to see Phoebe
The mummies- them dead guys. that get buried in them toons and all.’ Toons. That killed me. He meant toons" (Salinger 203). The boy's comment about "toons" does not literally kill Holden, so it is an idiom. This idiom gives the writing a comical tone and helps convey Holden's delight around children. He finds the boy's comment amusing and the boy says it wrong because he is young and does not know better. The boy's innocence and ignorance is what makes the mistake humorous. Holden wants to protect this humor in the boy; which comes from his innocence. He feels that when the boy grows up and is exposed to the "phoniness" if the adult world he won't have the same genuine humor. Holden rarely finds what adults say funny, so he wants to protect the youth from the melancholy adult world. Later, Holden is watching Phoebe on the carousel and "It began to rain like a bastard. In buckets... I felt so damn happy all of a sudden" (Salinger 212-213). It is not literally raining like a bastard, but it is used to show the reader how hard it is raining. He is happy just watching Phoebe being happy on the carousel that the rain does not bother him. Just before this, he tells Phoebe she cannot come with him when he leaves town, because he want to protect her innocence. He needs to see Phoebe