Catcher in the Rye Argument
Leap of Misguided Faith
Ever experienced what you had always believed in turned out to be opposite? Most people were aware of it, yet chose not to apprehend reality when they grew up. They had made too many decisions based on their misguided beliefs that it involved too much losses or changes if they were to convert. Holden Caulfield is a perfect example. Even though growing up was imperative, he had a difficult time adjusting to it. Instead, Holden preferred that things stayed as it was.
Even after Phoebe corrected the lyrics for Holden, he refused to change his interpretation. The actual words were, “If a body meet a body coming through the rye” (chapter 22). He took no regard to it, because of his fear of confronting another person, especially with adults. He lied to gain respect from them. During the train ride in New York with Ernest Morrow’s mother, Holden praised him, “When I first met him, I thought he was kind of a snobbish person... But he isn’t” (chapter 8). In the next paragraph, Holden then admitted, “ You take somebody’s mother, all they want to hear about is what a hot-shot their son is”. Holden preferred his own interpretation, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye”, because the concept of being a catcher attracted him.
Being a catcher in the rye is an unrealistic job to begin with, nor it should even be categorized as a job. A job is a means of earning a living. In the book, Holden imagined himself standing at the edge of the cliff to prevent children from falling over (chapter 22). Throughout the description, there were no mention of him working under someone or earning a profit as a catcher. He had yet to consider money as a prime motivation to work due to his immaturity, and also being least important compared to growing up. A possible boss-of-catcher would be the writer of the poem, Robert Burns, and provided he was not a phony if Holden ever met him. Being a catcher meant Holden could harness the power of choosing who to
Ever experienced what you had always believed in turned out to be opposite? Most people were aware of it, yet chose not to apprehend reality when they grew up. They had made too many decisions based on their misguided beliefs that it involved too much losses or changes if they were to convert. Holden Caulfield is a perfect example. Even though growing up was imperative, he had a difficult time adjusting to it. Instead, Holden preferred that things stayed as it was.
Even after Phoebe corrected the lyrics for Holden, he refused to change his interpretation. The actual words were, “If a body meet a body coming through the rye” (chapter 22). He took no regard to it, because of his fear of confronting another person, especially with adults. He lied to gain respect from them. During the train ride in New York with Ernest Morrow’s mother, Holden praised him, “When I first met him, I thought he was kind of a snobbish person... But he isn’t” (chapter 8). In the next paragraph, Holden then admitted, “ You take somebody’s mother, all they want to hear about is what a hot-shot their son is”. Holden preferred his own interpretation, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye”, because the concept of being a catcher attracted him.
Being a catcher in the rye is an unrealistic job to begin with, nor it should even be categorized as a job. A job is a means of earning a living. In the book, Holden imagined himself standing at the edge of the cliff to prevent children from falling over (chapter 22). Throughout the description, there were no mention of him working under someone or earning a profit as a catcher. He had yet to consider money as a prime motivation to work due to his immaturity, and also being least important compared to growing up. A possible boss-of-catcher would be the writer of the poem, Robert Burns, and provided he was not a phony if Holden ever met him. Being a catcher meant Holden could harness the power of choosing who to