The Theme Of Innocence In Catcher In The Rye

J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye concerns a teenaged boy, Holden Caulfield, journeys and experiences in around his home of New York City after he was expelled from his prep school, Pency Prep. Salinger utilizes and invents the concept of the “Cather in the Rye” to highlight Holden’s yearning and desire to protect and shelter the idea of innocence in younger individuals. The first occurrence of the “Cather in the Rye” in the novel is when Holden is strolling along a street in New York City when he spots a family of three and he witnesses a child, who “was swell” (128). The child was playfully frolicking along the street, singing “‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye’” (128). Holden, after seeing the child says, “It
made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed any more” (129). This glimpse at the symbol of the Cather in the Rye shows that the first instance where Holden recognizes the song, he is watching an innocent child “walking next to the curb and singing ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye’” (129). This encounter shows that Holden associates the song to the innocence and purity of a young child whom is kindly trotting along the immensely busy and dangerous street. Holden’s reaction of joy and content at the sight of the young boy shows that his idea that innocence of children and his need to protect and shelter them is reaffirmed and he his capable to be the protector of the youngsters. Later, Holden is having a discussion with Phoebe when she asks him, “‘Name something you’d like to be’” (190).
Holden retorts back to Phoebe that he’d “‘be the catcher in the rye and all’” (191). Holden explains what he means in that, “‘ I keep picturing all these kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all…nobody’s [big] around… and I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff… 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’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them’”(191). In this description Holden reveals that he would like to be the guardian over those children and he would like to be there to catch them if they go over the cliff. Of course this is symbolically saying that, he would like to be the one to protect children from the world and from ageing, two of which he has unfortunately got his fair share of. Because both the world and ageing intel that loss of innocence and adulteration of innocence is eminent, both ideas that Holden would like to protect from the young, and for himself. Thus, Holden would like to serve as that protector and catcher of all the children that fall into the ways of the world, and to show the right path to life, but it is tough for him to do that because he himself wants to stay innocent
too.