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Catcher in the Rye


He kept picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye 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's all I did all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. Holden wants to stop children from falling into losing their innocence and becoming an adult, and he takes pleasure in the attempted thwarting of maturation. In the beginning of Catcher in the Rye, his initial character is one of a child. Throughout the book, he takes steps and the forces of change take a toll on his childish ways. In the end, he seems to be changed into a man. Holden is definitely extremely immature in the beginning of the book. He characterizes almost every person he meets as a phony. He feels that he is surrounded by hypocrites in a school filled with fakery. Principal Thurmer, the principal of Holden's high school, Pencey, was the leader of the whole charade. During a teacher/parent day, Principal Thurmer would only say hello to the wealthy parents of students. He would not associate himself with those that were not financially stable, because he was a phony. Holden also maintains a lack of responsibility throughout the whole book. He was the equipment manager of the fencing team at Pencey, but he lost the equipment on the subway. He also failed out of two schools for lack of effort and absences from classes. Holden also had a daydream about two children who never grew up, whore main in a perfect world forever. This daydream is a result of his younger brother Allie's death. Allie represents the unchangeable youth of which Holden must let go if he ever expects to maintain sanity.


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