Holden Caulfield Innocence

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tells the story of a lost teenage boy looking for his place in the world. Holden Caulfield sees a world full of phonies and does not understand where he fits in. During Holden’s childhood, his parents loved him, but did not support him emotionally. On the outside, the family seems like any normal family. But on the inside, Mr. Caulfield lives at work and Mrs. Caulfield only exists as a mother in the physical sense. She does not share her emotions with her children. The parents rarely express their love and protection towards Holden. Because of the absence of protection, Holden wants to protect everyone. Holden faces a lack of shelter in his life which causes him to want to protect the innocence of those around him. Holden explains to Phoebe what he wants to do when he goes into the working field. Standing in a field of rye with thousands of little children, Holden feels he needs to defend all the children. Holden describes to Phoebe that he stands at the edge of a steep cliff and his job consists of catching the children who start to fall off the edge. Holden takes the inclinations of his subconscious and uses them in his life. As Holden waits for Phoebe at her school and at the …show more content…
He does not understand that a person has to go through life without relying on the help of others. Holden sees the children reaching out to grab a ring and instead of letting them do it he feels he should tell them to stop. Holden says, “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddamn horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them”. (211) Holden realizes at this moment that protection is not important, in order to become successful a person has to take risks and put themselves out in the