The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by reclusive author J.D. Salinger, which has frequently been required reading for high school students. While criticized for its profane language and constant references to sex, the main character has become a symbol of defiance.

The novel is a fictional account told from the perspective of Holden Caulfield, a teenager that has been expelled from a college preparatory school, and deals with the subjects of growing up, innocence of childhood, and "phoniness," Holden's name for things that are superficial, becoming a label for all things he believes is wrong in the world. He tells his idea of being the "catcher in the rye," a person who stops children playing in a field from falling over a cliff, a symbol of saving the innocence of youth and preventing exposure to things that would ruin their childhood, such as sex. This, ironically, is a mistake of Robert Frost's poem about recreational sex, something Holden intends to keep away from children.