... right next to the curb. He was making out like he was walking a very straight line, the way kids do, and the whole time he kept singing and humming." Holden notes that the child's parents pay no attention to him. The little boy is in the road singing and his parents pay no attention to him? To Holden this child represents ... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't loo...

• Word Count: 658
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Devotion to the Protection of innocence Innocence, Compassion, and some Crazy' Cliff A novel, which has gained literary recognition worldwide, scrutiny to the point of censorship and has established a following among adolescents, The Catcher ... and squalor in the grasps of society. The bridge that lies between these contrasting themes are personified through the novel's protagonist, Holden Caulfield and his visualization of a cliff, which depicts a dividing point between the evident beginning and end. The connection, which binds this gap in reality, was made clear through a new found compass...

• Word Count: 1050
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... catching a body in the rye. Later when Holden sneaks into his parent's apartment to speak to Phoebe, he defines his desire to "catch" children from falling off a metaphorical cliff into the corruption of adulthood. At the conclusion of the novel, Holden realizes the true nature of innocence while watching Phoebe reach for the golden ring on the carousel. Walking ... rye and all. Thousand of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff...I ha...

• Word Count: 987
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , and it symbolizes how he would save kids from growing up and becoming fake sanctimonious adults. He would be "standing on the edge of some crazy cliff [catching] everybody if they [started] to go over the cliff That's all [he'd] do all day. [He'd] just be the catcher in the rye. "(Salinger, 224-225). Holden would stop the kids from falling over ... the cliff into adulthood. To Holden, becoming an adult is the ultimate downfall (no pun intended), and his idealistic view of stopping the innocent kids from falling off ... the cliff is displaying of his oversimplified perception of the wo...

• Word Count: 982
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... one of those scraggy guys that come up to you on the street and ask for a dime for coffee- (103). Maurice is a bully, having fallen of a cliff at an early age with many other phony adult symptoms. When discussing Stradlater, his roommate, he makes sure to include that he is secretly a slob because his toilets ... of finding a pure and innocent adolescence drives him to dreaming of being a "catcher in the rye-. This dream is of saving children who are falling off a cliff of rye field. In other words, this symbolizes the innocent children playing in the childhood and saving them before th...

• Word Count: 1770
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big, I mean except me. And I"m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff"(173). The cliff symbolizes the fall from childhood into adulthood. Holden wants to be the person who stops the children from becoming adults. He wants ... ...

• Word Count: 1784
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That ... Holden divulges that he wishes to be the catcher in the rye, he is unveiling his desire to protect childhood innocence. Holden wants to save the pure children from the "cliff of adulthood- where phoniness is often copious. Furthermore, Holden is a...

• Word Count: 1405
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... grown up is a phony because their behavior and advice are all false. The title of this book is based on an old game where someone catches children from falling off a cliff. This symbolizes that Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye because he wants to protect the vulnerable, especially to prevent small children from losing their innocence and becoming ... and all. Thousands of little kids, nobodys around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And Im standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if theyre ru...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... a body comin" through the rye". Holden says he imagines a gigantic filed full of rye with children playing right next to a cliff. As the children come closer to the cliff he wants to catch tem and stop them from falling off the cliff. This statement has a deeper meaning, it is this. Children start out pure and honest, as they grow into adults society pollutes ... ...

• Word Count: 1551
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they"re running and don't look where they"re going I have to come out of somewhere and catch them." (p. 224) The rye is a symbol of childhood because children ... grows so high that small children cannot see over it, just as children are unable to see over the borders of childhood. Holden stands on the cliff that separates the field of youth from the cliff of adulthood. Trapped in his own conscience and with his innocence in...

• Word Count: 925
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That ... the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be" (173). He wishes to save the children from falling off the cliff into adulthood. Therefore, he wants very badly to rescue them from the harsh world of ma...

• Word Count: 1209
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... , "field", has to do with the title's theme (Downey). The catcher in the rye has to do with a childhood fable in which the catcher catches children from falling off the cliff. Since the rye in the field is so high, the children cannot see over it. This elucidates the novel's metaphoric title, as the children cannot see beyond the boundaries of ... childhood and out of innocence. "Standing on the precipice that separates the rye field of childhood from the cliff of adulthood, Holden wants to protect childhood innocence from the fall into disillusionment that necessarily accompanies childh...

• Word Count: 1079
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big, I mean except me. And I"m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they"re running and they don't look where they"re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That ... ...

• Word Count: 1843
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That ... ...

• Word Count: 1374
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I"m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they"re running and they don't look where they"re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That ... ...

• Word Count: 1143
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... -up with "all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all." He'll stand on the edge of a cliff and catch anybody who starts to fall off the edge of the cliff. He got this image from his misinterpretation of a line from the Robert Burns poem, " if a body catch a body comin' through the rye." When situations ... ...

• Word Count: 791
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . Haden replies that he wants to be the "catcher" in the rye. Thinking that the poem by Robert Burns was about a person on a cliff that caught children that were playing in a rye field before they fell of the cliff. Which was a completely wrong interpretation. Coming Through The Rye by, Robert Burns was actually about meeting a girl and if he should kiss her ... ...

• Word Count: 628
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... novel he told Phoebe that he wants to be the catcher in the rye, he would stand at the edge of a cliff as children play around with him, and he would catch them before they ran too close to the cliff. Holden does not wan to see children go through what he has been through, or what he will come across, he ... ...

• Word Count: 277
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... destroy Phoebe's innocence, and that his erratic behavior would prove harmful to her. He makes the decision to stay to comfort Phoebe and to keep her from falling over the cliff by the rye field before her time. Phoebe is the light countering Holden's overwhelming dark depression. Her name is a species of bird known for flicking its tail and hopping about ... else possibly can. As the moon orbits the earth, Phoebe is always in Holden's thoughts, affecting his decisions for the better, subconsciously holding him back from blindly stumbling off the cliff of the rye field. From the etymolo...

• Word Count: 646
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , the drinking, etc.. This in turn forces Holden's character to be protective of children and innocence. "I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the ... ...

• Word Count: 1143
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... adults and he as the only "big" person. His job is to stand at the end of this great field of rye at the edge of a cliff keeping little children from falling off. The cliff represents the adulthood that he is so disillusioned with and wants to avoid. He is also trying to stop everyone else from going on without him. Ironically ... ...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... "the catcher in the rye", and protect the innocent children. In on of Holden's dreams he sees himself standing at the edge of a cliff watching little children running around care free. As the children run towards the cliff they are so involved in their running around, that they don't even see it, so Holden picks up the kids and turns them in ... ...

• Word Count: 612
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... why Holden would live to be the catcher of the rye in some sense. The quote, "I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff "I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch ... ...

• Word Count: 1410
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff- I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That ... ...

• Word Count: 1291
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... "all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye"(173), and he would be "standing on the edge of some crazy cliff"(173) and "catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff"(173). Holden just wants to be the protector of children or innocence from the cruel adult world, a place everyone has to face. Holden believes ... ...

• Word Count: 575
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School