Catcher In The Rye

Why be the Catcher in the Rye if He Can't Catch Himself?

People who grasps important moments in their lives, and remember them, would want those moments to last forever. However, things would gradually change, so those moments would not last forever, similarly, to the character Holden in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Holden's dilemma is that he wants things to stay the way they are forever and also save the innocent people around him; he realized that it's not possible.

Near the end of the novel, Holden progresses in his resolutions, for all his earlier dilemmas in the story with people, mostly the innocent people. He resolves it by being the "catcher in the rye". He says, "...I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all [...] nobody's around--nobody big [...] except me [...] what I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff [...] I have to come out from somewhere and catch them"(173). Holden has encountered the death of innocent people like his brother Allie and the guy who jumps out the window (Castle). Being the "catcher in the rye" is his resolution in saving the innocent people. In this case, it is children who are playing near a cliff and have no reason to die, so he wants to "catch" all the kids who "start to go over the cliff." They are innocent and Holden believes that is his way of saving the innocent people because before he wasn't able to do anything regarding his brother's death or the boy who jumped out of the window. The only thing he could do was hurt him self physically and feel depressed about it all. Hence, later in the novel he realizes that the kindness he has to save the innocent people is impossible.

Holden wanted reality to be a peaceful place but he realized when he's in that actual reality, it is not what he expected. Therefore, he resides and sees things for what it really is. For Holden, looking for a peaceful place, "That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'Fuck You' right under your nose"(204). Holden undergoes self-realization that the thing he wants to see of his reality is nothing but a fallacy. Because reality is, "you can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful." This is where Holden sees the world for what it actually is and that his desires of a peaceful place will never be found. Just like his impossible desires of being the "catcher in the rye". And he comprehends that things will never be the same forever because, "when you're not looking,