Saturday, May 12, 2012
Catcher in the Rye: Holden's Job
So at the end of the book, or near the end, during Holden's big talk with Phoebe, we hear bout the job Holden would love to have. He wants to stand at the edge of this crazy cliff and catch kids before they go off over the edge. This is obviously an important metaphor of summat because it's the title of the book. I think the whole cliff deal is like the transition beween childhood and adulthood. Once you fall off the edge, there's no climbing back to the top. Holden's standing there, or maybe near the end of the book he's hanging there, and he can see that at some point, these kids are going to blunder out of the rye and out off the cliff. I think what really seperates Holden from the rest of kids his age, or maybe he thinks it does, is that he can see the cliff, and for now at least, he can stop himself from going over. He wants to show the others how to stay at the top too. But eventually, eventually he's going to have to take the fall himself in some way. Maybe he thinks he won't have to, but he will.
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I agree entirely. I however envisioned Holden having already gone over the cliff and seeing the "horrors" of the adult world and what awaits these children, and having some how miraculously been able to return to the rye and become the catcher. But, I think it's interesting how you made the point of how he's also in some way sort of protecting himself. I never thought about it that way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sami, I never actually thought of Holden as the catcher in the rye not just protecting the children from adulthood but himself as well. I aslo never realized the connection between Holden being in the middle of adulthood and childhood and him being on the edge of the cliff of adulthood. He is sort of like a connection between the two worlds, but its not fun for him he feels like it is his duty.
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