Kyle S. answered • 03/09/21
Certified Teacher: Illustrator, Animate, Photoshop, and Premiere
This is one of my favorite books because it connected with me when I was a teenager transitioning to college. The theme that was most prominent to me is Holden's struggle with growing up. Phoebe is the person he connects with the most because she is young and innocent. But he can't seem to connect or get along with anyone else because he is starting to see through everything. In many ways I feel that Holden hit a point in his life where he didn't want to buy what the world was selling. But it also causes depression and conflict because he is realizing that nothing can stay that innocent and protected. It's as if he wants to protect other children from knowledge and life experience. If they gain knowledge and life experience, they will find reality. And reality is very depressing to him. Everyone is a phony to Holden. And that's because he's realizing that after your childhood, you are asked to become a bit of a spoke in a wheel. He does everything he can to not be that smaller part of a bigger thing. No matter what Holden does, he eventually has to accept age and let others around him fall. Like he is the catcher in the rye, trying to keep children from finding out what he did.
