Holden Holding On

In The Catcher In the Rye by J.D Salinger, the main character Holden Caulfield is, at first, unsure about his surroundings and his future. This is perhaps the result of curiosity or attempt to gain comfort as a teenager in a materialistic world. For example, he asks many strangers where ducks in Central Park go in the winter when the ice is frozen. Also, he hesitates when thinking about his future after getting expelled from Pencey Prep School. The author, to highlight the character’s uncertainty, uses verbal irony and demonstrates a general indecisiveness of a teenager’s transformation into adulthood through the main character. On the other hand, though, Salinger uses symbolism towards the end of the novel to signal Caulfield’s change in character.

To begin, Salinger provides an example of faulty logic in Caulfield’s conversation with his History teacher Mr. Spencer: "One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies" (p. 13). This excuse, if examined, backfires on Caulfield later on. Although he hates others for being “phonies”, Caulfield himself is a phony as well (p. 13). For example, he tells his friend’s mother that his name is Rudolph Schmidt, when the next sentence reads “Rudolph Schmidt was the name of the janitor of our dorm” (p. 55). The irony lies in that Caulfield is unknowingly criticizing himself, even though he is often very proud of himself. In fact, he arrogantly blames headmasters or students for his expulsion, but never himself. This quote not only shows that Caulfield is a phony, but also highlights a sense of instability and aimless wandering—how his comment earlier in the novel does not match with the later ones. The lack of logic relates to Caulfield’s confusion about his future: he first considers the possibility of going to a ranch in Colorado but then deciding to stay after his sister’s persuasion. The author utilizes Caulfield’s verbal irony to imply that teenagers as a whole are often lost in their entrance into society. Teens don’t know their goals and plans for the future, much like Caulfield not knowing his remark’s ability to backfire on him.

In addition to verbal irony, J.D Salinger further suggests teenagers’ confusion about entering the real world through vague references and the voice of an authoritative figure. On one night, Caulfield visits his old English teacher, Mr. Antolini, for advice on to succeed in school. The teacher warns “[some people] were looking for something they thought their own environment couldn’t supply them with. So they gave up looking. They gave it up before they ever really even got started” (p. 187). The fact that the words ‘they’ and ‘something’, like characters in “Hills like White Elephants”, are never specified shows Salinger’s desire to comment on teenager as an entirety or leave interpretations up to the readers (p. 187). One possible interpretation of ‘something’ is safety (p. 187). In the 1950’s, the decade when this novel was published, World War II had finished a few years earlier. Parents were searching for jobs after the war so they often ignored their children. Children as a result thought safety couldn’t be provided at home so they joined gangs for a sense of belonging, as evident in “The Destructors”. Unfortunately, activities in gangs affected and destroyed the communities. Vandalizing, stealing, doing drugs are some examples of destructive behaviour. In relation to the 50’s social trend, Mr. Antolini’s warning of a “special kind of fall—a horrible kind” evidently refers to the fall into criminal activities (p. 187). Through the teacher, the author suggests that, if Caulfield does not change, he too will end down that path, having dropped out of school after all.

While often affiliating Caulfield with the ‘teeanger’s group’, Salinger at times using symbolism separates him from that classification. This is best exemplified when Caulfield describes his future goal: “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff...I’d just be the catcher in the rye...I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be” (p. 173). The cliff represents ‘the special kind of fall’ that Mr. Antolini mentions (p. 187). Meanwhile, the rye symbolizes a type of protection. If someone falls over the cliff and left unattended, he/she would break many bones and most likely die. However, landing on a stack of rye, he/she wouldn’t be injured, much less dead. Caulfield would then be a hero and a maturing man by saving these people. In other words, Caulfield is separated from the teenage group because he is certain of his future. The symbolism serves as Caulfield’s transition from a phony boy into an altruistic man and author’s way to indicate Caulfield’s round and dynamic characteristics.

In conclusion, the three quotes above not only show Caulfield as a phony but also as an adult. More specifically, the quotes support Salinger’s message that Caulfield, as a teenager uncertain about his future, develops into an altruistic adult hovering over other teens, protecting them as they fall onto a stack of rye. Thus, he becomes the ‘catcher in the rye’.