The Catcher in the Rye

Overview

Holden Caulfield is a sixteen-year-old boy who feels increasingly out of place in the world around him. After being expelled from yet another school, he leaves without telling his family and spends several days wandering through New York, meeting strangers and struggling to understand both himself and the people around him. He is quick to notice what he sees as hypocrisy and dishonesty in others, yet beneath his sarcasm and apparent indifference lies a deep sense of loneliness. He longs for genuine connection but often finds it difficult to let people get close to him. More than anything, Holden is troubled by the thought of growing up and losing the innocence he associates with childhood. His wish to protect children from falling into a rye field's unseen abyss reflects his desire to preserve that innocence in a world he finds confusing and disappointing.

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