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Abstract：
《The Catcher in the Rye》published in 1951 was the only river novel written by J.D.Salinger， this novel mainly narrates a sixteen-year-old Junior High school student Holden Caulfield’s three-day wander after leaving school in New York. It borrows the powerful and unstrained writing style from the stream of consciousness to fully explore a lad’s inward world and represents the distinctive characteristics of an era. This paper is designed to analyze the potential meaning of the title of the novel to further dig the protagonist’s spiritual world.
Key Words： catcher， rye， purity， hypocrisy， innocence
【中圖分类号】 I712 【文献标识码】 A 【文章编号】 2236-1879（2018）06-0136-01
《The Catcher in the Rye》meticulously discoursed that a sixteen-year-old student Holden Caulfield saw through the hypocrisy of the society at that era， but he couldn’t find confidant to share his frustrations and pain， which accompanys with him all the time is just the loneliness. Therefore， he anxiously yearns for spiritual consolation. In the last period of the novel， Caulfield tells his sister that he wants to be the catcher in the rye， just as the novel described：
" 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.
1， general analysis
The “rye” and “catcher” first appears when Caulfield saw a six-year-old boy walking in the street and keeping singing that “if a body catch a body coming through the rye” which makes Caulfield feel not so depressed any more. Why a little kid’s singing relax him？
For Caulfield， two worlds exist， the hypocritical world and the pure world. The hypocritical world is crowded with sanctimonious hypocrites， such as the snobbish headmaster and the vain Sally. While the pure world consists of innocent children， such as lively sister Phoebe， clever brother Ali， the innocent little boy singing songs and those kind people （such as the nuns）. However， the fact is that the ugly world overthrows the disappearing pure world with an irresistible trend. Drafting with the current， Caulfield lies， smokes， drinks and dawdles his hours away in the nightclub， but he isn’t indulged in the hypocritical world and endeavor to protect the kindness， purity and innocence. He never lost himself. So， a paradise-the rye-is made on earth of the existing world， where kind people are self-sufficient and the innocent children are carefree to run in the rye. As what mentioned above， the little kid singing songs stands for the purity and innocence which Caulfield spares no efforts to protect， he prefers to the purity rather than the hypocrisy. That’s why Caulfield want to be the catcher in the rye， he intends to protect the purity in spirit.
2， careful analysis
（1） Rye
Carrying the analysis one step further， when it comes to the rye sung by the little kid， a scene will come to our mind that a vast expanse of golden field of wheat rises and falls in the breeze， as if it were a holy land which leaves a happy and pure impression on everyone， shining with golden holiness， without deception，hypocrisy and darkness ， only kindness ， sincerity and innocence. Everyone can set themselves free without hesitation.
The rye is an ideal world in Holden Caulfield’s heart， which stands in sharp contrast with the false deception and disgusting reality. It is the spiritual holy land he pursues and dreams for. The rye symbolizes that he wants to protect himself， resist the hypocritical adult world， and keep his purity. He abhorres all things， and regards them as false， corrupt， and decadent. The rye is his spiritual sustenance， his spiritual comfort， his refuge， his self-consolation after seeking help and hope for relief from hopelessness. He fights against this society just with material greed rather than spiritual pursuit.
（2） Catcher
As for the catcher， it represents Caulfield’s belief or expectation to guard the purity， kindness and innocence. In this novel， although he drinks， smokes and sits around， but when facing to the children， he is considerate and sympathy. When seeing "fuck you” appearing on the wall of his sister’s school， indignant feeling sweeps through his heart. Caulfield takes the risk of being misled into who wrote it to clean it up， because he doesn't want to these children see it. In his mind， they are pure and innocent， he intends to protect them from being contaminated. Compared with the deception and hypocrisy of the social reality， these pure children belong to his spiritual holy land， which is the same with the field of wheat， he wants to guard them forever.
3， Conclusion
In conclusion， Caulfield wants to be a catcher to protect the children from the dangerous cliff. On one side of the cliff is the rye. The rye symbolizes the simple， clean and pure world， while the other side symbolizes the hypocritical and dirty adult society. He wanted to be a catcher in the rye and catch children who would fall into the hypocritical adult society. Such pure life ideal reflects Holden's pursuit. He would rather choose to simply be a "catcher in the rye"， rather than the rich but hypocritical people in the world of adult， because in the real world， hundreds of things displeases him ， he had no way to escape and had to bend desperately to choose this way to protect himself and save others.
Reference：
[1] 《麥田里的守望者中守望者的内涵分析》沈国荣
[2] 《麦田里的守望者的象征意义分析》郭云飞
[3] 《麦田里的守望者纪念版》施咸荣译
[4] 《The Catcher in the Rye》J.D. Salinger
《The Catcher in the Rye》published in 1951 was the only river novel written by J.D.Salinger， this novel mainly narrates a sixteen-year-old Junior High school student Holden Caulfield’s three-day wander after leaving school in New York. It borrows the powerful and unstrained writing style from the stream of consciousness to fully explore a lad’s inward world and represents the distinctive characteristics of an era. This paper is designed to analyze the potential meaning of the title of the novel to further dig the protagonist’s spiritual world.
Key Words： catcher， rye， purity， hypocrisy， innocence
【中圖分类号】 I712 【文献标识码】 A 【文章编号】 2236-1879（2018）06-0136-01
《The Catcher in the Rye》meticulously discoursed that a sixteen-year-old student Holden Caulfield saw through the hypocrisy of the society at that era， but he couldn’t find confidant to share his frustrations and pain， which accompanys with him all the time is just the loneliness. Therefore， he anxiously yearns for spiritual consolation. In the last period of the novel， Caulfield tells his sister that he wants to be the catcher in the rye， just as the novel described：
" 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.
1， general analysis
The “rye” and “catcher” first appears when Caulfield saw a six-year-old boy walking in the street and keeping singing that “if a body catch a body coming through the rye” which makes Caulfield feel not so depressed any more. Why a little kid’s singing relax him？
For Caulfield， two worlds exist， the hypocritical world and the pure world. The hypocritical world is crowded with sanctimonious hypocrites， such as the snobbish headmaster and the vain Sally. While the pure world consists of innocent children， such as lively sister Phoebe， clever brother Ali， the innocent little boy singing songs and those kind people （such as the nuns）. However， the fact is that the ugly world overthrows the disappearing pure world with an irresistible trend. Drafting with the current， Caulfield lies， smokes， drinks and dawdles his hours away in the nightclub， but he isn’t indulged in the hypocritical world and endeavor to protect the kindness， purity and innocence. He never lost himself. So， a paradise-the rye-is made on earth of the existing world， where kind people are self-sufficient and the innocent children are carefree to run in the rye. As what mentioned above， the little kid singing songs stands for the purity and innocence which Caulfield spares no efforts to protect， he prefers to the purity rather than the hypocrisy. That’s why Caulfield want to be the catcher in the rye， he intends to protect the purity in spirit.
2， careful analysis
（1） Rye
Carrying the analysis one step further， when it comes to the rye sung by the little kid， a scene will come to our mind that a vast expanse of golden field of wheat rises and falls in the breeze， as if it were a holy land which leaves a happy and pure impression on everyone， shining with golden holiness， without deception，hypocrisy and darkness ， only kindness ， sincerity and innocence. Everyone can set themselves free without hesitation.
The rye is an ideal world in Holden Caulfield’s heart， which stands in sharp contrast with the false deception and disgusting reality. It is the spiritual holy land he pursues and dreams for. The rye symbolizes that he wants to protect himself， resist the hypocritical adult world， and keep his purity. He abhorres all things， and regards them as false， corrupt， and decadent. The rye is his spiritual sustenance， his spiritual comfort， his refuge， his self-consolation after seeking help and hope for relief from hopelessness. He fights against this society just with material greed rather than spiritual pursuit.
（2） Catcher
As for the catcher， it represents Caulfield’s belief or expectation to guard the purity， kindness and innocence. In this novel， although he drinks， smokes and sits around， but when facing to the children， he is considerate and sympathy. When seeing "fuck you” appearing on the wall of his sister’s school， indignant feeling sweeps through his heart. Caulfield takes the risk of being misled into who wrote it to clean it up， because he doesn't want to these children see it. In his mind， they are pure and innocent， he intends to protect them from being contaminated. Compared with the deception and hypocrisy of the social reality， these pure children belong to his spiritual holy land， which is the same with the field of wheat， he wants to guard them forever.
3， Conclusion
In conclusion， Caulfield wants to be a catcher to protect the children from the dangerous cliff. On one side of the cliff is the rye. The rye symbolizes the simple， clean and pure world， while the other side symbolizes the hypocritical and dirty adult society. He wanted to be a catcher in the rye and catch children who would fall into the hypocritical adult society. Such pure life ideal reflects Holden's pursuit. He would rather choose to simply be a "catcher in the rye"， rather than the rich but hypocritical people in the world of adult， because in the real world， hundreds of things displeases him ， he had no way to escape and had to bend desperately to choose this way to protect himself and save others.
Reference：
[1] 《麥田里的守望者中守望者的内涵分析》沈国荣
[2] 《麦田里的守望者的象征意义分析》郭云飞
[3] 《麦田里的守望者纪念版》施咸荣译
[4] 《The Catcher in the Rye》J.D. Salinger