The Catcher in the Rye

Camille Franchine
May 3, 2009
English 3
Mr. Fiorini
The Catcher in the Rye

“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.S. Salinger is about a boy who tells his story. This boy, Holden, flunks out of every school he goes to and seems to move on rather quickly. When he flunks out of his most recent boarding school, he doesn’t want to go home right away because he knows his parents will be disappointed. To avoid facing them, he goes on a little adventure in New York for a few days. He stays at a hotel, dances with girls and really starts to enjoy this way of life. He sneaks in one night to talk to his sister, Phoebe. He then decides to run away for good and never return home. Phoebe wishes to join him, but he tells her that she can’t and then spends one last day with her.
I think in Holden’s mind he was too mature to go to school and didn’t think it was necessary. He feels that with one of his brothers dying and another being so successful, he was ignored as a child. Since he feels this way, he probably developed and attitude that made him just not care about anything or take anything too seriously. He’s flunked put so many times that he’s gotten used to it and just goes with the flow wherever life takes him.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked the way that it was written so that it felt like Holden was actually speaking to me. It was also amazing to think that Holden was only sixteen years old. I enjoyed reading about his adventures and listening to what he had to say about certain people. This book is very different than the type of books that I normally read, but I enjoyed it just as much. Reading this book made me want to travel the streets of New York, but I wouldn’t be able to do it because I don’t have a mind as nonchalant as Holden’s.
The title of this book refers to when Holden says that he wants to be The Catcher in the Rye”. He means that he wants to catch everybody who is running away from something, people who run so far that they fall off of the cliff and into the rye. People may think that Holden is one of these people because he is running from the fear of disapproval from his parents and from the pressure to do well. However, I don’t think that Holden is one of those people. Holden isn’t exactly running, he just enjoys his life better on his own; also because Holden doesn’t need to be caught, or helped. He is experienced at running from things and feels that he can help those who aren’t.