Questioning Major Themes in Catcher Eng. 11 – Devine PROTECTION OF INNOCENCE Holden is obsessed with saving children from the dirty (“crumby”) things he sees in the adult world. The novel deals with innocence in many forms, but focuses often on the sexual. Because the narrator sees sex in any form as dirty, he feels the need to protect children (and himself, somewhat) from it, instead of easing into it as a natural step to becoming an adult.
Guiding Questions: 1. Why is Holden so obsessed with innocence? 2. Is Holden's desire to protect children from the "crumby" things of the adult world an impossible one? 3. Is Holden innocent?
Choose a side and defend it: A. Although Holden is obsessed with topics like sex, he betrays a childlike innocence in the way he looks at the world. B. Holden is actually wise beyond his years; this makes his desire to protect the ignorance of youth an ironic one.
YOUNG PEOPLE VS. ADULTS The Catcher in the Rye presents a clear distinction between the world of children and that of adults. Children are genuine, caring, and kindhearted, whereas adults are "phony," self-centered, and generally "bastards." Because the story is told from the point of view of a disillusioned seventeen-year-old, readers of course have to challenge the bias of this perspective. The novel examines the grey area between these two worlds – namely adolescence – and the painful process of transitioning from one to the other.
Guiding Questions:
1. What is it about children that Holden finds so much more appealing than adults? 2. What defines these categories in The Catcher in the Rye? 3. Is Holden more of a kid, or more of an adult? 4. Is he as different from the teenagers around him – Ackley, Stradlater, Sally, etc.- as he thinks he is?
Choose a side and defend it: A. Holden's need to protect children from the harsh realities of the adult world is a noble one and should be celebrated, especially in today’s too-sexy-too-soon culture. B. What Holden thinks he likes about youth is just his idealized notion of what children are like. He's not in love with childhood; he's in love with a fantasy.
ISOLATION AND LONELINESS Isolation in The Catcher in the Rye refers to the personal, social, and mental isolation of Holden from the rest of the world. The novel explores the tension between the desire to observe, judge, and alienate and the need to meet, converse, and connect. We constantly see the desire to reach out mitigated by hesitation and passivity, resulting in loneliness.
Guiding Questions:
1. Is Holden lonely because others alienate him, or because he alienates others? 2. What prevents Holden from alleviating his loneliness? 3. Holden interacts with a lot of people in the novel. Does he forge a real, genuine connection with anyone other than Phoebe? 4. Holden and Phoebe have a real, personal connection. What makes their relationship different from the relationships Holden has with others in the novel?
Choose a side and defend it: A. Although Holden feels alienated from the entire world throughout the book, the last line of the novel indicates that the very act of speaking his story connects him to his audience – and saves him from isolation. B. Although Holden would blame other people and their "phoniness" for his loneliness, it is clear that the fault is entirely his own
SEXUALITY AND SEXUAL IDENTITY Sexuality is a big concern for Holden. He presents the point of view that sexuality is inherently degrading for a woman, and therefore he cannot reconcile acting sexually toward a woman that he respects. The Catcher in the Rye also includes mention of possible childhood molestation, and examines the way in which such events affect young adults as they try to understand their own sexuality.
Guiding Questions 1. Why does Holden sabotage it every time he has the opportunity to have sex? 2. What does Holden consider "perverty" behavior? Is this a reasonable definition? 3. Is Holden able to distinguish between love and lust?
Choose a side and defend it: A. Although Holden is obsessed with sex, he wants to preserve innocence more than he wants to gain carnal knowledge. This is why he never has sex in The Catcher in the Rye. B. Holden's view of any sexual act as "crumby" and degrading is the result of his experiences with sexual abuse.
SADNESS AND DEPRESSION Sadness permeates The Catcher in the Rye. Holden finds many things depressing, from receiving gifts to hearing people say "please." The conclusion drawn, however, is that isolation and alienation from others is the greatest source of unhappiness. The difficulty comes from the fact that escaping this isolation is a battle in itself – one that can often be, unfortunately, quite depressing because it is so difficult to achieve.
Guiding Questions
1. Check out all those things that make Holden depressed. Do they have anything in common? 2. Holden is most happy at the end of Chapter Twenty-Five, while he watches Phoebe go around on the carousel. In fact, he's so happy that he's "damn near bawling." Why does this, of all things, make him happy? 3. From the tone of his narration, does Holden sound like he's still sad, now that he's seventeen and telling the story? Or is it more of a, "Sure, I was sad then, but I'm OK now" sort of deal?
Choose a side and defend it: A. Isolation is the greatest source of Holden's melancholy in The Catcher in the Rye. B. The more Holden connects to other people in The Catcher in the Rye, the more depressed he becomes.
AUTHENTIC VERSUS ARTIFICIAL Holden's ideas about what is worthy of praise and what is not tell us a good deal about his worldview. He sees much of life as a conflict between the authentic and the artificial, which is directly related to his attitude toward children and his resistance to the adult world.
Guiding Questions
1. Check out those things that Holden likes versus the things he labels as phony. What is it about phoniness that he dislikes? 2. Who are the people Holden labels as “prostitutes” (people who have “sold out,” or compromised their talents to please an audience)? 3. Why do people do phony things? What are they trying to get? 4. What are the qualities in authentic things that Holden admires?
Choose a side and defend it: A. You can’t escape phoniness in life. Even Holden himself does phony things. B. The authentic is what gives your life meaning. Without it, you are just one of the crowd.
LOVE AND ROMANCE Holden says he is at least partly in love several times in the novel with different people.
Guiding Questions
1. With whom does he say he is in love (or partly in love)? 2. Whom is he really in love with? 3. Is Holden in love with Jane Gallagher? How do we know? Choose a side and defend it: A. Holden is too young and inexperienced to really know what love is and the story proves this. B. Holden’s desire to protect the innocent and the hurt show that he has a greater understanding of love than some adults.
Adapted from: http://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/themes.html.