The Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield, the main character in my book , had no idea where his life was going. After getting kicked out of Pencey, a boys prep school, Holden decides it is time to go back to the city where he had once grew up. Being that Pencey is the Fifth school Holden has been kicked out of, he chose he will wait until Wednesday to tell his parents about the news. In the city, Holden is able to see life for what it really is. While analyzing the city raging about him, Holden's attention is captured by a child walking in the street "singing and humming." Realizing that the child is singing the familiar tune, "If a body meet a body, comin' through the rye," Holden then says that he feels "not so depressed.". During the 24 hour time period in the city Holden realizes that his life so far has been full of phonies. He is able to see that all people of accomplished in this world is creating a better image of themselves, and refuses to live that way. Basically his sister Phoebe is who he cares about most, to him she is one of the few people who is able to see the real Holden inside him. Phoebe once questioned him regarding what he would like to do when he gets older, Holden replies, "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 really wonder what Holden means by this, but somehow I think it must guide him down the line in life.