Peter Pan and Holden

Reading Catcher in the Rye, I continually wondered about the title. It’s almost as peculiar as the narrator. I sort of found my answer on page 224 when Holden pictures thousands of little kids running in a rye field. He (being the only one tall enough to see over the rye) must prevent the children from falling off a cliff by catching them. He later clarifies that this (catcher in the rye) is his only aspiration in life. This image perhaps relates more to his life than his aspirations in general. Holden himself says that he has no purpose in life, his family and friends echoing his thoughts. He is the one at the edge of the cliff. If he does not have anyone to catch than he might as well jump himself. In other words Holden needs something to live for. At this moment his life seems unmotivated. He travels from place to place, avoiding certain people, while calling up distant contacts that may or may not remember him. Through this lack of motivation it was called to my attention that perhaps this novel is his purpose or achievement in life - after all English was the only subject he wasn’t failing. Interestingly enough, most English/writing professors will tell you to write what you know - you can only write writ from experience. Holden is getting not only life experience, but material for this novel (if my prediction is correct). His reference to wanting to be the catcher sort of reminds me of Peter Pan and the lost boys, specifically their dreams to never grow up. Similarly, Holden, finds it hard to ‘grow’ up as he doesn’t necessarily find adult ideals to his liking. Furthermore, just as Wendy seems a foil in Peter’s all childhood gang, so too does Sally. Although Holden hasn’t physically met up with her, he continually thinks about her. The closest he’s come to meeting with her is a phone call, but that was when he was drunk. For Holden, Sally represents a tie that he can’t seem to severe. It’s almost to the point of obsession, where he tries to find her or some part of her in every girl he meets up with. For instance, when he ‘buys’ a streetwalker, she makes him feel so uncomfortable that he simply lets her go. The reader is continually trying to identify the maturity and age of Holden, something he himself does when he consistently says he’s twenty-two and people ‘mistake’ him for younger. This makes me wonder whether or not age is a significant sign of Holden’s growing up.