In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden, the main character wants to be a œcatcher. Holden hears a young boy on the street singing œIf a body catch a body coming through the rye and it made Holden feel better (Salinger 115).
He wants to be the only big person around in a rye field, near a cliff, to catch all the kids playing from running off the cliff. It is obvious from this statement that Holden wants to help children, but how can Holden when he cannot even take care of himself? A capable catcher would be somewhat like a counselor or social worker in the sense that they would help children from following a destructive path. A counselor or œcatcher must be honest, mature, responsible, motivated, and caring. Although Holden is caring, which is a quality that makes a good catcher; he still lacks many of the other necessary qualities to be a capable œcatcher in the rye.
One quality that Holden lacks to be a capable œcatcher is honesty and Holden even says, œI™m the most terrific liar you ever say in your life (Salinger 16).
He lies quite often, even when it comes to simple things like going to the store to buy a magazine, but instead says he is going to the opera. To leave an annoying conversation faster, he lies to Mr. Spencer, one of his teachers, and tells him he has to leave for the gym to get the fencing equipment, when in fact Holden left the equipment on the subway (Salinger 15).
The Term Paper on The Catcher Holden Innocence Salinger
It is a fact of life that no one can remain young forever. Some teenagers cannot wait to grow up and get out on their own away from childish rules and parental limitations. For other teenagers the thought of the adult world conjures images of negativity and responsibilities such as going to work everyday, dealing with undesirable people, and being part of a stiff society. However, mediums do exist ...
Holden also lies when he is on the train and tells Mrs. Marrow nothing but falsehoods about her son, who attends Pencey with Holden, by stating that he œadapts himself very well to things (Salinger 55).
It would not be right for Holden to be a dishonest catcher. It is important to teach a child to tell the truth, so how could he be a capable catcher when he constantly lies?
Another quality that Holden lacks to be a capable œcatcher is maturity. He even justifies his immaturity by stating that he is just going through a phase. A mature person would be able to handle difficult, tough situations reasonably and Holden cannot. Not able to control himself, Holden reacts on Stradlater because Holden thinks he is sleeping with Jane Gallagher. He may look mature with his premature gray hair and tall physique, but he still has to mature a lot before he could ever become a œcatcher. Since Holden is as immature as a child, he would not be able to help children with their problems and might instead make them worse.
Along with being immature, Holden is also irresponsible. A capable catcher needs to be responsible enough to watch over and take care of the children in the rye. How can Holden watch over children running around, when he cannot even take the blame for losing the fencing equipment on the subway? Holden also drinks a lot which is irresponsible, and while he is drunk he visits his sister Phoebe during the night and takes the chance of waking his parents up. Since Holden is so irresponsible, it would be difficult for him to be a capable catcher to take care of the œchildren in the rye.
Holden would not be able to take care of the œchildren in the rye because he has no motivation. Holden is not motivated because motivation is a process involved in changing situations and life events and Holden hates change. He states, œCertain things should stay the way they are”. œYou ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone (Salinger 122).
This statement proves that he has no motivation and just wants time to stand still.
The novel also shows that Holden is not motivated by showing us that he was expelled from Pencey Prep, a school he attended in Agerstown, Pennsylvania on the account of failing everything but his composition class. With no sense of direction, Holden goes from boarding school to boarding school. Underneath Holden unmotivated side, Holden is a great writer who just does not apply himself. The only thing he thinks about applying himself towards and is motivated to do is catch children in a rye field from falling off a cliff. He has a long conversation with his sister Pheobe and states that he keeps œpicturing all these little kids playing some game in a big field of rye and all¦I have to catch everybody as they start to go over the cliff¦I just want to be the catcher in the rye and all and I know it crazy (Salinger 173).
The Essay on Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care or children’s and young people’s setting
1.2 All practitioners have a duty of care all the children the setting, this also includes the staff. A duty of care is where a practitioner has to take care of them and not let them get harmed in any way. This will involve the children attention, watching out for hazards and preventing mistakes or accidents. If a practitioner has not met the duty of care required then they can be held accountable ...
Since Holden wants to catch the children, it is obvious that he is caring. Even though he talks about most of the characters in the book as being phony, he still feels sorry for them, which is a sign that deep inside he does care. While in the park, Holden is caring enough to tighten a little girl skates up. He also cares a lot about his sister Phoebe and this is known because he talks a great amount about her by stating that she is a perfect speller, neat dresser, is very imaginative, and creative. Holden also shows that he is caring when he gives money to the nuns he saw at breakfast and then feels horrible for accidentally blowing smoke in their face. If he was not caring, why would he care if he blew smoke in their face? If he were not caring, why would he feel the need to give them money?
It is obvious that Holden is caring, but still lacks many of the qualities to be a capable catcher. He is immature like many children and maybe that is why he wants to be a catcher, because he so easily relates to them. He would be able to be the biggest person and not have to deal with authority. Or, maybe Holden knows that he is on the path for destruction and sees himself going off the cliff, which is a crude ending, possibly like a suicide. It is possible that if he views being the catcher in the rye this way that he wants to help the children not make the same mistakes he did, so he wants to catch them before they go too far. Whatever the reason may be for him wanting to be a catcher in the rye, we do know one thing: that he still has a lot of growing as a person to do before he can be a capable œcatcher in the rye.
The Essay on Catcher in the Rye Fall of Innocence
... to them"(Miller 17-18)When Holden says this his dreams of being catcher in the rye vanish. He realizes that all children must fall, like ... this he starts to think about committing suicide because he feels like living is just a waste. During this time he ... own well-being. At this point, Holden may see a side in himself that is care-free and this lightens his depression.
