William Xu
Dr. Meyer
English 101
11/09/2014
                                                               The Catcher in the Rye
     "The catcher in the rye", a famous book written by J.D. Salinger, has impacted several generations since 1950s. The book shows the "artificial formula" of New York after America won the World War Two. Most people were Utilitarianism in that time. The only thing that remained in their spirits is a vast wasteland, and no one even cared about others. The most impacted part for most readers is when Holden told Phoebe what he wants to be. He wants to be a catcher in the rye without any adult, and just for the children. What a moral reprobate society that can make a teenage be despaired to it. Although Holden spoke dirty words a lot, contrast to the adults in society, the way he acts is much more innocent and pure. There are 3 scenes that reflect the reprobate of the society. First, Holden found out the fake side of the teachers in the school. Second, Holden broke up with his girlfriend who is a sham girl. Last scene is when he talks to Phoebe.
     First and foremost, in "The catcher in the rye", Holden is written as a "bad" boy in school. He speaks bad works a lot; he got expelled four times; he drinks, and he smokes. He is an absolute terrible student or a teenage in everyone's eyes, except his sister Phoebe. As we can see from the story, the reason Holden is a complete 'bad' student in the school is he hates the teachers and principal of the school. Many people may have the same experience. Your grade would be very good if you liked the teacher of this subject. The environment around Holden influences his character be twisted. His teachers will only talk nicely to those parents who have a car. The principal even behaves more affectedly: preparing steaks for students only on Saturday when is the day before students' parents pick them up. He disgusts the ethos in the school. That is why Holden does not want to be in the school, and why he does not want to study in that environment. The innocence of Holden is resisting the sham of the school. He cannot win to this big group, that is why he chose to 'escape' from the school. The scene in the school shows how fake the teachers in 1950s are, and how those teachers value are.
     Second, after Holden got expelled by Pencey Pre which is the last school he went according to the book, he went to see a play with his girlfriend Sally. The reaction of Sally to the play made Holden feel disgusting. She praise how good is the play, but she was not even watching the play. She was looking around and pretending she is very attractive. After watching the play, they went to ice skating. The idea to ice skating is from Sally, but what she really wanted to do is wearing the super sexy dress from the ice skating place. During all those process, Holden started disliking Sally. He thinks she is an untruthful girl, and last, after he told what he wanted to do to another place. Sally thinks that was stupid, and they had a big argument. Finally, they broke up. After all, we can see that Holden does not feel sad about breaking up with Sally. He even feels relaxed after broke up with her. Actually, from very beginning, Holden just disliked the way Sally talks and the untruth she behaves. They are not the same kind of people. Sally is just like the hypocritical teachers, and Holden, is still trying to keep away from the corrupting like the adults in the society. The scene that Holden broke up with his girlfriend expresses the fake relationship among people, and he tries to be an honest guy.
      Last but not least, the most important scene which Holden talks to his innocent sister about his dream. "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy." (charpt25).A crazy idea even for him. What makes him want to be a catcher in the rye? His hopelessness to the "fake formulas" society made him want to protect the spirit of those innocent children who are like Phoebe. Holden wants to save every child who is going to be polluted by this society; he wants to keep the truthfulness and the innocence in every child's heart. To be a catcher in the rye is to guard or we can seem he is to evade the problem he cannot solve. The conversation with Phoebe is perfect as the main scene in the book. Though the whole story, Phoebe is different from everyone. She is innocent; she isn't assimilated by the society; she is always supporting Holden even when Holden plans to go to the west. For Holden, she is the only sweet light in the darkness. Therefore, Holden only tells his true thoughts to Phoebe.
     All in all, the ending of the story is undetermined. Holden may be assimilated by the society, or he may insist to be a catcher in the rye but be alone. A catcher in the rye can be a savior for the piece.
