Blog #5 I believe that the theme of the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, is multisided. The one main topic of the book is the issue of maturing and growth. Also, another theme is Holden, the main character of the novel, thinking everyone around him is a phoney, as well as, Holden distancing himself from everyone. The theme of maturing and growing is what I will relate to the title but I do think that the theme of Holden distancing himself has to do with the title as well. This is because he’s talking about a catcher in the rye, and a rye is a kind of secluded place where again he can be alone. The theme of maturing and growing relates to the title because of the way Holden describes what he wants to be. The only career he is interested in having would be a catcher in the rye, and this is what the title of the novel is based upon. To be a catcher in the rye Holden describes himself as running around a field, catching playing kids before the fell over a cliff. The title relates to this because Holden doesn’t seem to want to grow up. The thought of him running after little kids like he is one, shows that he would rather stay young then face the idea of getting older. All in all, Holden seems to be weary of maturing, and the title, The Catcher In The Rye, very accurately portrays this.
There are many themes present in The Catcher in the Rye. The most prominent one that appeared to me was that growing up is a long and hard process. Holden experiences many things as he tells his story. He encounters sexual relations, intoxication from alcohol, and the phoniness of the world surrounding him. All of these incidents are ones that every person experiments with normally during their teenage years. Holden always tries to exude the maturity of an adult but fails because he still has the mind of a young adult. His failures are seen each time he is denied the right to order an alcoholic beverage. He also tries to speed up the process of growing up by getting a hooker or trying to order alcohol at a club, but when all attempts fail, it’s evident that those tasks aren’t accomplished easily. The title and the theme of growing up are easily connected. Holden explains to his sister in chapter 22 that he would protect children playing in the rye fields by catching them if they fall off the edge of the cliff the fields are on. Falling off the cliff symbolizes children falling out of childhood and becoming adults. Holden just wants to shelter their innocence by being the catcher in the rye.
Many opinions can be based from ones monologue. Throughtout The Catcher and the Rye, Holden is able to create a vision inwhich us as the reader is able to feel depressed, livid and sympathize with him. By being quite blunt and ignorate Holden expresses the theme of phonies. Irony takes place with this theme though because throughtout the story Holden appears to always be changing his persona towards others he has met along his journey. To continue on with his journey, you would expect to learn a great deal, but in this case it seemed to be his demise. By not having a sense of direction and stablity, Holden stinks deeper and deeper into a dark hole. This brings up the main point of irony relating back towards the title. In the final pages Holden states that he wants to be the catcher in the rye saving all the children from falling off the cliff when really he was the one who needed to be saved. Overall Holden was a compelling, depressed, compassionate and quite unusual character to have experienced. The irony displayed throught out makes the reader think at a higher level and exerts ourselfs from typical rebel like characters.
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Blog #5
I believe that the theme of the novel, The Catcher In The Rye, is multisided. The one main topic of the book is the issue of maturing and growth. Also, another theme is Holden, the main character of the novel, thinking everyone around him is a phoney, as well as, Holden distancing himself from everyone. The theme of maturing and growing is what I will relate to the title but I do think that the theme of Holden distancing himself has to do with the title as well. This is because he’s talking about a catcher in the rye, and a rye is a kind of secluded place where again he can be alone. The theme of maturing and growing relates to the title because of the way Holden describes what he wants to be.
The only career he is interested in having would be a catcher in the rye, and this is what the title of the novel is based upon. To be a catcher in the rye Holden describes himself as running around a field, catching playing kids before the fell over a cliff. The title relates to this because Holden doesn’t seem to want to grow up. The thought of him running after little kids like he is one, shows that he would rather stay young then face the idea of getting older. All in all, Holden seems to be weary of maturing, and the title, The Catcher In The Rye, very accurately portrays this.
There are many themes present in The Catcher in the Rye. The most prominent one that appeared to me was that growing up is a long and hard process. Holden experiences many things as he tells his story. He encounters sexual relations, intoxication from alcohol, and the phoniness of the world surrounding him. All of these incidents are ones that every person experiments with normally during their teenage years. Holden always tries to exude the maturity of an adult but fails because he still has the mind of a young adult. His failures are seen each time he is denied the right to order an alcoholic beverage. He also tries to speed up the process of growing up by getting a hooker or trying to order alcohol at a club, but when all attempts fail, it’s evident that those tasks aren’t accomplished easily. The title and the theme of growing up are easily connected. Holden explains to his sister in chapter 22 that he would protect children playing in the rye fields by catching them if they fall off the edge of the cliff the fields are on. Falling off the cliff symbolizes children falling out of childhood and becoming adults. Holden just wants to shelter their innocence by being the catcher in the rye.
Many opinions can be based from ones monologue. Throughtout The Catcher and the Rye, Holden is able to create a vision inwhich us as the reader is able to feel depressed, livid and sympathize with him. By being quite blunt and ignorate Holden expresses the theme of phonies. Irony takes place with this theme though because throughtout the story Holden appears to always be changing his persona towards others he has met along his journey. To continue on with his journey, you would expect to learn a great deal, but in this case it seemed to be his demise. By not having a sense of direction and stablity, Holden stinks deeper and deeper into a dark hole. This brings up the main point of irony relating back towards the title. In the final pages Holden states that he wants to be the catcher in the rye saving all the children from falling off the cliff when really he was the one who needed to be saved. Overall Holden was a compelling, depressed, compassionate and quite unusual character to have experienced. The irony displayed throught out makes the reader think at a higher level and exerts ourselfs from typical rebel like characters.
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