Essay On Catcher In The Rye

In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, Holden, the main character wants to be a catcher. Holden hears a young boy on the street singing. “If a body catch a body coming through the rye and it made Holden feel better” (Salinger 115). He wants to be the only big person around in a rye field, near a cliff, to catch all the kids playing from running off the cliff. It is obvious from this statement that Holden wants to help children, but how can Holden when he cannot even take care of himself? A capable catcher would be somewhat like a counselor or social worker in the sense that they would help children from following a destructive path. A counselor or catcher must be honest, mature, responsible, motivated, and caring. Although Holden is caring, which is a quality that makes a good catcher; he still lacks many of the other necessary qualities to be a capable œcatcher in the rye.

A capable catcher needs to be responsible enough to watch over and take care of the children in the rye. How can Holden watch over children running around, when he cannot even take the blame for losing the fencing equipment on the subway? Holden also drinks a lot which is irresponsible, and while he is drunk he visits his sister Phoebe during the night and takes the chance of waking his parents up. Since Holden is so irresponsible, it would be difficult for him to be a capable catcher to take care of the œchildren in the rye.
The dog went to the market
Holden would not be able to take care of the children in the rye because he has no motivation. Holden is not motivated because motivation is a process involved in changing situations and life events and Holden hates change. He states, œCertain things should stay the way they are".œYou ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone (Salinger 122). This statement proves that he has no motivation and just wants time to stand