Catcher in the Rye Truth and Innocence Research Paper

Because Salinger allows him to stay in that world, we can cling to Holden as a pleasant memory.

The Catcher in the Rye is told from Holden's perspective and this aspect of the novel allows it to remain innocent and suspended in time, so to speak. Holden is like Peter Pan in that he does not wantr to grow up but he is facing the glorious future that includes his grownup self. Readers can read this novel and remember feeling this way themselves, reviving their bond with Holden. In reality, we must all grow up and shed some part of the innocent of youth. Holden remains young and forever clinging to that which must eventually fade away. He represents a certain sadness associated with growing up because the truth he must face is not easy. However, there is not much to be done for the innocence that dies with youth. The world survives because people mature and make grownup decisions to keep things running -- from households to entire countries."The Catcher in the Rye" captures a moment, an essence of a boy, perhaps just moments before he surrenders to the ways of the world. Salinger created the perfect character by allowing Holden to remain in a state of innocence to which we call all look back upon and remember fondly as we move through our lives.

Works Cited

Baro, Gene. "J. D. Salinger." Modern American Literature. Dorothy Curley, ed. New York:

Frederick Ungar Publishing Company. 1969..

Baumbach, Jonathon, "J. D. Salinger." Modern American Literature. Dorothy Curley, ed. New

York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company. 1969.

Privitera, Lisa. "Holden's irony in J.D. Salinger's the Catcher in the Rye." The Explicator 66.4

(2008): 203+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 July 2010.

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 1951.

Seng, Peter J. "The Fallen Idol: The Immature World of Holden Caulfield." College English 23.3

(Dec. 1961): 203-209. 1989. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 July 2010.

Spiller, Robert.….....