Main Theme of Catcher in The Rye
The novel takes place most in New York City as the main character, Holden Caulfield, navigates growing up and leaving behind his childhood innocence. The story takes place in post-WWII American as the nation experienced great prosperity. Holden interprets the resulting lifestyles as creating “phonies” and hypocrites. As he engages in several social activities, he is disappointed time and time again by the contrast between the prosperity of the late 1940s or early 1950s and the darker aspects of human nature.
The novel has several motifs that speak to the novel’s broader themes. Motifs such as loneliness, intimacy issues, and deception speak to issues that Holden has as he navigates how to gracefully exist as an adult, having lost his childhood innocence. Holden desperately wishes to cling to his childhood and as a result, he has a hard time connecting with other people his age and older. This makes for a very cynical and unhappy narrator who shares his view of the world around him unabashedly.
Themes in Catcher in the Rye
Here’s a list of major themes in Catcher in the Rye.
- Self-alienating for the purpose of self-protection
- Growing pains and loss of innocence
- Adulthood is “Phony”
- Inability to take action
- Maintaining appearances and performing happiness
Self-Alienation
Self-alienating for the purpose of self-protection – Holden clearly does not want to grow up. In order to protect himself from the harsh realities of the world, he consistently sets up challenges for himself without realizing that he is the culprit of much of his own despair. This serves to create a rift between himself and world around him so that he can blame his unhappiness on unsatisfactory settings, companions, and life events rather than having to acknowledge that he himself is also a part of the problem he so desperately despises—adults hurt one another and often act hypocritically.
Growing Pains, Loss of Innocence
Growing pains and loss of innocence – Unlike most coming of age stories, Holden is desperately fighting the necessity of the coming of age process. He thinks about everything he does and everyone he interacts with as opponents to his happiness because he psychologically cannot accept that there is darkness in the world and that human beings are often dark creatures. Holden desperately wishes that things could stay the same and that everything could be easily understood. This is reflected in his narrative about what museums mean to him and how unsettling it is that they can stay the same, but every time he goes back, he is a different person. Even though it is obvious to the readers that Holden is resisting his coming of age process, Holden cannot see that himself. Instead, he creates a fantasy that there is a world free of “phonies” but he just has not found it yet and instead is unfairly stuck in a cynical and dishonest world.
Adulthood
Adulthood is “Phony” – Holden mentions the concept of “phoniness” often throughout the novel. He believes that adults are hypocritical and out to hurt everyone they meet. He notices that adults are shallow, hypocritical, superficial, and deceptive. He wishes that he could be protected from him and dreams that there could be a scenario in which he can protect other children from having to realize the dark nature of adults as well. To Holden, the idea of “phoniness” symbolizes everything that is wrong with the world and everything he wishes that he could hide from. His inability to hide from the “phonies” makes him an extremely cynical narrator.
Inability to Take Action
Inability to take action – As a result of his unwillingness to blossom into adulthood, Holden becomes the kind of person who cannot take meaningful action towards improving his life. He refuses to let go of past traumas, such as the death of his little brother; because of this, he stays rooted in pain and misery instead of working to accept things and move on. He also in unable to take actions to create a happy and prosperous future for himself. His little sister, Phoebe, becomes angry when she finds out that Holden has failed out of school yet again. Her words help to show that Holden is very much rooted in his cynicism and unwilling to accept that he needs to change in order to find happiness and a sense of belonging in the world. His desire to hold out for something better ultimately only causes him to become stuck in unhealthy thought patterns.
Maintaining Appearances
Maintaining appearances and performing happiness – Holden holds great disdain for people who behave in a way that seems to be just for appearances, wondering why people cannot just be genuine instead. The people he interacts with throughout the course of the novel who have social status annoy Holden because he sees the darker side to their personalities which they, of course, do not show to the rest of the world. Holden hates this and describes it as “phony.” As a result of this, he sees adults as figures who are performing happiness and contentment but not actually living. This leads Holden to conclude that people choose to perform a certain level of success, whether or not they have actually achieved it. Again, this speaks to the “phoniness” that Holden sees in the world around him and reveals how desperately he just wants to feel that things are authentic, unique, and good-natured instead of the other way around.
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