Catcher in the Rye

Through out the novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” written by J.D. Salinger, it is revealed that the protagonist, Holden Caulfield’s essential problem is his fear of growing up and his desire to preserve the innocence of children. This is shown in the book, especially in the final chapters because he revisits his younger sister Phoebe, he visits a museum that he used to visits when he was a child and he has a fantasy about a catcher in the rye.

Holden has a fear of growing up and believes that the adult world is full of superficiality and “phoniness,” while childhood is a world of innocence and honesty. Holden proves this when he decides to go back to his family’s apartment in New York, just to visit his little sister Phoebe. He sneaks into Phoebe’s room but finds that she isn’t in there, so he goes into D.B.’s room because he knows that Phoebe likes to sleep in there when D.B.’s in Hollywood. He finds Phoebe sleeping and remarks how children look innocent and peaceful when they sleep by saying that, “adults look lousy” when sleeping but kids “look alright.” While Phoebe is sleeping, Holden goes through her notebooks and her notes to her friends. He feels comforted that his sister’s problems are trivial and not like those of the adult world. When Holden is reading through her books, it shows that there is hope away from the cruelty of the outside world and that young children are free from the sins that adults create.

The next day, Holden meets Phoebe at The Museum of Art so that he can return the money he borrowed from her. Before Phoebe arrives he remembers how he himself used to visit this museum years ago, when he was once innocent. He wanders around the museum and even helps out some lost kids. Eventually, Holden looks upon the museum wall and finds the words “fuck you” written on it. He is greatly offended by this because many kids everyday probably look at that message, wonder what it means, and then use it themselves, thus taking away their purity. When Phoebe arrives, they get into a fight because Holden tells her that he is moving away for good. She storms off and Holden follows her down the street. After walking for some amount of time, they pass by a mover’s truck with men unloading furniture and using vulgar language for no reason at all. Holden is disgusted by this profanity and thinks to himself how adults