What is the theme of Catcher in the rye?

Question

I did read the book.. but all i can come up with is individuality , isolation , fakeness of society.. I cant seem to put it into a sentence

Answer 1

Catcher in the Rye is about Houlden Caulfield's struggle with his obsession with preserving the innocence of children. For example, he is disgusted by the spray-painted profanity in the elementary school (however, he himself goes out drinking and what not, showing his own lack of innocence).

The idea of the Catcher in the Rye is Houlden being someone who "catches" kids playing in a field of "rye" before they fall off a cliff, or someone who stops kids from losing their innocence.

Houlden's character changes, however, when he sees a group of kids on a merry-go-round reaching for golden rings on the center of the carouself. None of the children can reach the rings yet, but they all keep reaching out for it - like young kids try and try to act older. Houlden then realizes that kids have to learn about loss of innocence for themselves, and that one shouldn't be there to "protect" them. It then begins to rain, symbolizing Houlden's rebirth.


Other big theme is Houlden's identity moratorium. He is unsure what to do with himself and his life, and he compares himself to ducks in a pond. He keeps asking people what do ducks do at wintertime, does a big truck come and take them away (do I wait for someone to show me what to do with my life?), do the ducks stay at the pond (do I keep doing what I'm doing now?) or do the ducks fly south for the winter (should I change what I'm doing now?).


Hope that helps, I'm little fuzzy at some parts, it's been a few years since I read the book.

Answer 2

It's been a year almost since I read this awesome book, but here it is.

The themes are:

1) Alienation as a form of self-protection
2) The painfulness of growing up
3) The phoniness of the adult world

Hope that's a help for you

Answer 3

its realy about a young man struggling to find himself. he starts off at a private school isnt makin the grades and gets booted tries 2 come home without tellin his parents and a bunch of other stuff, its mostly filled with random events, but its a good book, over all theme is my 1st sentence

Answer 4

An alienated male teenager facing the fact that he lives in an emotionally dishonest society (American), yet he is torn between rejecting that reality or trying to participate in it which creates such turmoil in him that he winds up in a psychiatric hostpital.

Answer 5

Will whistle in agreement with two people that answered person struggling with adolescents. One answer and you- feelings of isolation, struggle to find identify, and untarnished view of society.

Answer 6

You could say "Adolescents have a hard time growing up" or "Humans inherently avoid change and prefer stagnancy" or "The adult world is corrupt" or "Commitment is the most important requirement for human relationships".. it all depends on how you interpret the novel.