The Title Mentioned

I am on page one hundred and seventy three. I now realize where the title of the book came from. I’ve been wondering about this for awhile, and the answer interests me. I will start with a passage spoken by Holden:

“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and al. 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 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” (Salinger 173).

How absurd! When I read this, I had to reread it about five times. It is interesting, but it is also senseless. This job, I mean. Who even thinks of something like this? And why would that be the only job someone would want for themselves? I just do not understand.

The only thing Phoebe replied to Holden was with the same phrase she has been using all night, “Daddy’s gonna kill you.” Obviously she was done listening to him ramble on about nonsense. I know I needed a break. I feel like I am like Phoebe and that I can relate to her. Her actions seem to match my thoughts while reading this story. It is kind of fun to have a character relate to you.

After he left the room, this topic never came back. I find it weird that Holden can rant on and on about nothing, and then when something matters, he does not want to talk about it. It is weird. Once again, Holden never ceases to entertain and confuse me. I do not know if that is good or bad yet. Hopefully the title of the book’s explanation comes up later on as well.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.