Theme Of The Catcher In The Rye

The theme of the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger is that everyone needs to face reality and grow up along with the painfulness of growing up. Within this theme are other aspects, like immaturity, maturity, youth, innocence, and death. The main character faces all these aspects and struggles with the reality of growing up.

The novel is about a seventeen year old boy named Holden Caulfield. Holden attends, and gets kicked out of, a prep school called Pencey Prep located in Pennsylvania. Before Holden’s parents are informed of his expulsion from the school he leaves several days earlier, wanting to get out of the school, and heads to New York city. The story revolves around his several days in the city. The reader also becomes aware that Holden is telling his story to a therapist at a mental hospital. It’s not known how he got there or whether or not he admitted himself there but Holden does explain that when he was younger his parents wanted to admit him into a hospital after breaking all of the

Not by a whole lot, but he does change. Holden goes to the zoo with Phoebe, “ “Do you want to take a walk down to the zoo?” “(208). There, his younger sister climbs atop a carousel. While on the carousel all the children try to grab for a gold ring, including Phoebe and she almost fell off. This is when Holden gets a smack in the face, and yet he doesn't even seem to realise it himself. He says that he didn't help his sister when she almost fell off because you have to let children grab the gold ring and if they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them. So possibly, Holden has realized that he doesn't need to be the Catcher in the Rye. Children should have to face their challenges themselves and enter adulthood with knowledge of struggles and pain. It might be too late for Holden himself but maybe the younger generation will do adulthood better than