The Catcher in the Rye: Catcher in the Rye

In chapter twenty-two, the source for the book’s title is revealed when Holden returns to his family’s apartment one late night to visit and speak with Phoebe before he “runs away.” Phoebe asks him a series of difficult questions for him to answer. His response to the question of what he wants to do with is life is, “. . . 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’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.” He says that he wants to be the protector of child innocence essentially. Well actually, he does not literally say that at all. His ridiculous notion of simply standing in a field of rye catching kids all day is obviously a large metaphor for Holden’s internal conflicts. He feels as if he must stand on the edge of civilization separating the adult and child world and protect the youth from the supposed hypocrisy and corruption of the adults. The fact of the matter is, Holden is teetering on the edge of this metaphorical cliff which serves as the basis of the story. This is not just another one of those cut and dry books with a man versus man conflict. It deals with the deep teenage angst of Holden. I think this quote is interesting because Holden is just blankly assuming that all children are sweet and innocent as compared to every adult while he is talking to Phoebe who is anything and everything but simple minded and innocent. Holden should be more upset that he has nothing but a crazy and rough sketch of his future, but he cannot think of anything else. Phoebe may be the only thing that directs Holden to even have a future.