J.D. Salinger’s main theme in Catcher in the Rye is the struggle of growing up and the “phoniness” of the adult world. Holden Caulfield, the narrator of the novel, is struggling with the fact that he is growing up. Holden shows he is struggling in the scene when he and his little sister, Phoebe, go to the zoo. At the zoo Phoebe goes on the carousel, but he says, “Maybe next time” when she asks him to go with her, and he watches from a bench. As he is sitting watching Phoebe go around he thinks to himself , “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the golden ring, you have to let them. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.” When he says this he means that kids are going to be kids, but since he is no
