Innocence
In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses the title of the novel to show the innocence of children and Holden’s need to preserve it. The author does this by showing us a song which relates to the title. It is brought up first when a child is singing on the edge of a busy street which, shows the innocence of the child. When Holden becomes aware of the child it makes him happier. When it is first spoken of with Phoebe he thinks of him saving kids from falling off of a rye field. This is showing him preserving the innocence of the children. Them running around is him is their childhood with innocence and Holden is making sure they don't fall off or grow up. The title of the novel represents Holden’s need to preserve the …show more content…
“Thousands of little kids, and nobody around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they are going…. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (191). When Holden thinks this he is saying that the children are carefree because “they’re running and they don’t look where they are going” (191). Which connects the child in the street because of their innocence and carefreeness. If they fall off, then they would lose this innocence because the cliff represents adulthood and growing up which, would then cause a lack of innocence. In this passage, it also says that he has to “catch everybody” which refers to them preserving their innocence because if they were off they would lose it. But, the reason Holden isn’t like the children running around is because he is not completely innocent. He is also not off the cliff because he does not fully identify as an adult. So, he is on the edge because he has and can see both sides of the story and he wants to preserve the children. The Catcher in the Rye is Holden’s way of preserving innocence in children and showing to the reader’s clues of his mentality and innocence. This is like Holden’s view on the first child since the children make him understand his innocence in both passages and with this, it shows his
In his novel The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses the title of the novel to show the innocence of children and Holden’s need to preserve it. The author does this by showing us a song which relates to the title. It is brought up first when a child is singing on the edge of a busy street which, shows the innocence of the child. When Holden becomes aware of the child it makes him happier. When it is first spoken of with Phoebe he thinks of him saving kids from falling off of a rye field. This is showing him preserving the innocence of the children. Them running around is him is their childhood with innocence and Holden is making sure they don't fall off or grow up. The title of the novel represents Holden’s need to preserve the …show more content…
“Thousands of little kids, and nobody around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they are going…. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (191). When Holden thinks this he is saying that the children are carefree because “they’re running and they don’t look where they are going” (191). Which connects the child in the street because of their innocence and carefreeness. If they fall off, then they would lose this innocence because the cliff represents adulthood and growing up which, would then cause a lack of innocence. In this passage, it also says that he has to “catch everybody” which refers to them preserving their innocence because if they were off they would lose it. But, the reason Holden isn’t like the children running around is because he is not completely innocent. He is also not off the cliff because he does not fully identify as an adult. So, he is on the edge because he has and can see both sides of the story and he wants to preserve the children. The Catcher in the Rye is Holden’s way of preserving innocence in children and showing to the reader’s clues of his mentality and innocence. This is like Holden’s view on the first child since the children make him understand his innocence in both passages and with this, it shows his