Catcher In The Rye

Unreachable Dreams in The Catcher in The Rye

Many people find that their dreams are unreachable. Holden

Caulfield realizes this in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. As

Holden tells his story, he recounts the events since leaving the Pencey

School to his psychiatrist. At first, Holden sounds like a typical,

misguided teenager, rebellious towards his parents, angry with his teachers,

and flunking out of school. However, as his story progresses, it becomes

clear that Holden is indeed motivated, just not academically. He has a

purpose: to protect the young and innocent minds of young children from the

"horrors" of adult society. He hopes to freeze the children in time, as

wax figures are frozen in a museum. After interacting with Phoebe, his

younger sister, Holden realizes that this goal is quite unachievable.

Holden wants to be the Catcher in the Rye, then realizes it is an

unreachable ideal.

Holden begins his story misguided and without direction. After

flunking out of the Pencey Schoo...

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...her Casebook. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1963.

Pinsker, Sanford. The Catcher In The Rye: Innocence Under Pressure. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.

Roemer, Danielle M. "The Personal Narrative and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye". Western Folklore 51 (1992): 5-10.

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher In The Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

Wildermuth, April. "Nonconformism in the Works of J.D. Salinger." 1997 Brighton High School. 24 November 1999.