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CATCHER IN THE RYE : i, image, image, image, image, image, image, image,…
CATCHER IN THE RYE : 
SYMBOLS
The Catcher In The Rye
Holden's dream job is to become the catcher in the rye who stand on the edge of a cliff and prevents children from falling down. This shows Holden's desire to save both himself and other children from losing innocence. Holden is afraid of the responsibilities that comes through aging and he seeks to preserve youthfulness.
Holden's Red Hunting Hat
Holden's red hunting cap is the symbol of his self - identification, and his desire to isolate himself from his pears and superiors. This hunting hat makes him feels safe and unique by standing him out from others. The hat brings the idea that he doesn't fit into the rest of the world and feels himself alone inside the populousness of the world.
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THEMES
Phoniness
This word is used a lot in the novel by the main character Holden instead of anything inauthentic, hypocritical and especially fake. Holden thinks that the actions and the personalities of adults are "phony as hell". This shows the reason behind Holden's struggle of not becoming an adult instead preserving the youthfulness inside him. He is skeptic against adults and even his peers which shows that he is not kind of a person who fits anywhere undoubtedly. This situation creates depression and causes anger towards other people. It is i interesting to note that Holden is a phony himself which is quite ironic and indicates that he is struggling to find his identity.
Alienation and Meltdown
Holden generally sequesters himself. For example by not attending to the football match, he separates himself from others and trying to prove that he is not a type of person who can get on well with others to himself. Alienation is probably the result of his brother Allie's unfortunate death. Holden is alienated from other people because he probably thinks that his feelings will be hearth again. Alienation in some situations protect Holden from intense emotional feelings, but on the other hand, makes him depressed and alone which causes him to lose his happiness.
Woman And Sex
In the novel, the readers are experiencing a teenager's way of seeing girls from Holden's perspective. From Holden's perspective, Jane is the representation of the perfect girl for Holden because of that he sees other girls as unintelligent and annoying. This causes Holden to be unhappy in his relationships with girls. Holden symbolizes Jane and makes her an unreal character in his mind who has the perfect features. Holden always hesitate to contact with Jane which may be the consequence of the perfect portrayal of Jane in his mind. He is afraid o f to encounter with the reality and lose the positive thoughts inside of him.
Childhood and Growing Up
The Catcher In The Rye portraits a youngster at the age of 16 who is at the edge of growing up. The process of aging is indicated as a process which is actually is about losing innocence and youthfulness. The Catcher In The Rye,contrary to popular belief, is a novel which is trying to enhance the idea that growing up is not something people should eagerly wait. Holden's desire of staying the same person is because of the filthiness of the adult world. He even acts immature in some conditions as a result of trying to stay as a child.
Madness and Depression
Throughout the novel Holden calls himself as a "madman" and frequently mentions that he is in a deep depression that cause him not to enjoy life. Holden's madness starts when his brother Allie dies. He experiences a mental breakdown which probably left psychological trauma. Holden underestimates his experiences by calling them "madman stuff that happened to him" and this underestimation enhances his level of depression.
CHARACTERS
Holden Caulfield
Holden is the protagonist and the narrator of the novel who has several failures academically. Holden tells his story with a cynical voice and generally tries to reveal the ugliness of the world. He is a teenager who is afraid of growing up and tries to preserve his youthfulness. His biggest goal is to stay innocent and to overcome his problems on the way of growing up.
Ackley
Holden's neighbor at the dorm who is a pimply and unhygienic boy. He often dives into Holden's room and irritates him by acting oblivious.
Stradlater
Holden's roommate at Pencey Prep who is very popular and handsome. Holden calls him a secret slob because even though he seems well groomed, his toiletries are unclean.
Jane Gallagher
When their families were staying in nearby summer cottages in Maine, Holden spent a lot of time with this girl. Jane does not appear in The Catcher in the Rye, but she is significant to Holden since she is one of the few girls he respects and considers attractive.
Phoebe Caulfield
Phoebe is Holden's sister who is very intelligent and who cares a lot about Holden. She is a very mature child for her age. She is one of the few person who Holden cares a lot about. In mos of the times, Phoebe is the reason of Holden's happiness.
Allie Caulfield
Holden's younger sibling. Three years before the tale begins, Allie passes away from leukemia. Holden thought Allie was the smartest of the Caulfields since he was brilliant, kind, and red-headed. Holden is haunted by Allie's death and carries a baseball glove on which she used to write poems in green ink.
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Sally Hayes
Holden has known and dated this really lovely girl for a long time. Even though Sally is a well-read woman, Holden calls her "dumb," though it's hard to know whether this assessment is founded on fact or simply on Holden's ambivalence about being physically attracted to her. Her preferences and demeanor are unmistakably more traditional than Holden's.
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Carl Luce
Holden's student advisor at the Whooton School was a Columbia University student. Luce is three years older than Holden and has a great deal of sexual experience. He was a source of sex information for the younger lads at Whooton, and Holden tries to get him to speak about sex at their gathering.
Mr Antolini
Holden's former English teacher who Holden feels close. He is a young teacher who is also clever from Holden's perspective.
Maurice
The Edmont Hotel's elevator operator, who arranges for Holden to have a prostitute.
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PLOT SUMMARY
The novel begins with the main character Holden Caulfield starting to portray his experience as a student at Pencey Prep before the previous Christmas.
He is telling his story from a rest home where he is recovering from an ailment which is unidentified.
The story begins at Pencey Prep, on the day of the last football game of the season. Holden isn't interested in the game, so instead of attending the game, he goes to his old history teacher Mr. Spencer.
Mr Spencer lectures Holden because he has flunked four classes and is not a student of Pencey Prep anymore just as the few previous schools he had been expelled from.
Holden leaves there by lying at goes to his dorm room where he starts to read a book, and during that he is irritated by his neighbor Ackley.
After a while, Holden's roommate Stradlater comes and tells that he is on a date with a girl called Jane Gallagher who Holden knows and spent a summer with.
Holden accepts to write Stradlater's descriptive writing homework and writes about his dead brother Allie's baseball mitt which has poems on it.
When Stradlater comes back from his date, he doesn't answers Holden's questions instead criticizes The paragraph that Holden wrote, so they have an argument and fight.
Holden decides to leave early after the incident, but doesn't want to turn home back before his parents learn he is out of Pencey Prep, so decides to go New York and unbrace himself for a few days.
On the way to New York, he flirts with a middle aged woman and arrives and rents a room at Edmont Hotel. After that Hoden goes to the hotel's night club and spends time with three women who are uninterested with Holden.
Later, Holden decides to take a taxi cab to the piano bar which he knows and asks about what happens to the ducks in the lagoon at Central Park during winter. His question doesn't interest the driver, who doesn't get the answer he wants. During that time, he wears the red hunting cap that he recently bought.
After the tedious time at the bar, Holden turns back to the hotel, and encounters with Maurice who offers a prostitute tı him for five dollars.
When the prostitute Sally comes, Holden doesn't feel like having sex with her, so tells that he can't have sex because of a recent surgical operation.
Sunny demands ten dollars instead of five, and Holden gets punched by Maurice because of that.
In the morning, Holden decides to meet Sally Hayes. To kill time until the date, he wanders around the town and hears the song "if a body catch a body coming through the rye", and goes to The Museum of natural History to see Phoebe.
He finds himself unable to enter the museum , so decides to go to meet Sally. The date doesn't go well, so they go to ice skating, and after that to a bar. Holden wants her to come with him to a cabin in the woods and live peacefully together, but Sally rejects and Holden gets angry about it.
After spending time with Sally, Holden calls a former college Carl Luce. Holden asks him personal questions about his sex life, so Carl doesn't want to have a typical Holden type conversation.
Holden walks to Central Park to see the ducks in the lagoon, but he can't find them instead imagines his death because of the freezing cold.
Holden decides to go sneak into the home and see Phoebe.They have a chat and Phoebe gives Holden some dough, and Holden giver his hat to Phoebe. Then Holden calls his former teacher Mr Antolini who invites Holden to his home.
After their conversation, Holden lies into the couch. In the midnight, Holden finds his teacher stroking his hand, and because of that he leaves the house. Then, Holden sleeps in Grand Central Station for a couple of hours.
After that Holden goes Phoebe's school and giver her administrator a note which is for Phoebe that states Holden wants to say goodbye. They meet at Museum of Art. Phoebe comes with a suitcase. She wants to go with Holden, but they have an argument and they go to the zoo to spend time together. Holden doesn't want to upset her, so changes his mind.
Finally, Holden's story shifts back to the rest home where he is not sure about his future. The only reality is that Holden has changed a lot.
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