Catcher in the Rye

Hello, is Salinger There?

J. D. Salinger’s only published full-length novel, The Catcher in the Rye, has become one of the most enduring classics of American literature. The novel’s story is told in retrospect by the main character, Holden Caulfield, while staying in a psychiatric hospital in California. This is a coming of age tale that is wrought with irony. Holden Caulfield, Mr. Antolini, and Phoebe are the main symbols of irony.

The first and most obvious subject of irony is the novel’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield. His hatred for anything “phony” is ironic because he to is deceitful. He is constantly performing by taking a new identity for each new situation he is in. For example, in the train scene he makes up stories about one of his classmates in order to delight his classmate’s mother. He not only initiates a new identity for himself, but he also spawns a whole new fictional account of life at Pencey Prep. He even admits that he is an impressive liar. Because of his hatred for anything artificial, he searches for something real. In his naпve and desperate way he is searching for anything which is innocent and sincere (Parker 300). He fantasizes about removing himself from society and becoming a reclusive deaf mute. Regardless of his independent personality, he clearly demonstrates how severely he needs companionship. His thoughts are always of his sister, Jane Gallagher, and additional people. Another fantasy of Holden’s is to be the “catcher” of children’s innocence. Holden’s fantasy elaborates his obsession with innocence and his perhaps surprisingly moral code (Walters 1009). However, it is clear that his real desire is to be salvaged from the emptiness of his negativism. This is realized when he telephones Mr. Antolini and when he admits that he almost hopes that his parents will catch him as he sneaks out of the apartment. The Catcher, in fact, wants to be caught, the saviour saved (Engle 45).

Mr. Antolini is the subject of irony because he is actually a “catcher,” even though he is a different kind of catcher from the one Holden imagines. Holden believes that he has already fallen over the cliff into the dissatisfaction that automatically goes together with adulthood. He felt the world has let him slip trough the cracks alone and unassisted. Therefore, one of the reasons he wants to “catch” the children is because no one was there to catch him. However, it is evident that Holden has not yet fallen, but is only beginning his downward spiral, and Antolini is the one playing the role of the catcher. Holden seems to believe that he does not have any innocence left during his journey. In spite of this, he is still much like a child, and it is Antolini that sees this. Mr. Antolini knows that Holden is headed towards a great fall, and warns him about it. “I have a feeling that you’re riding for some kind of terrible, terrible fall. But I don’t honestly know what kind” (Salinger 186). The fact that Mr. Antolini is trying to prevent Holden from “a fall” clearly corresponds with Holden’s image of the “catcher in the rye.” However, the type of fall he describes is different from the one Holden pictures in his fantasy. It is perhaps Antolini, above the several other flawed people he meets, who embodies the moral emptiness and irrelevance of Holden’s world (Rollins 301).

The most significant irony in the novel is the role that Phoebe plays. Holden believes that children are the only ones that are not corrupted by the dishonest society in which they live. The main reason Holden wants to be a protector is to keep children from growing up and becoming phony and fraudulent as he feels most adults have become. Holden's sister, Phoebe, is his connection to children, and he does not want her to change. Holden believes that he could be the one to rescue Phoebe when it is her turn to “fall.” Ironically, she is the one that forces Holden to realize that he must grow up, and that the world is to