The symbol The Catcher in the Rye helps illustrate the theme of the pain of growing up. When Holden was walking down the street he heard a little boy singing “... if a body catch a body comin through the rye. He had a pretty little voice too. It made me feel not so depressed anymore” (115). Holden finds enjoyment in watching the little boy sing. Holden likes to see that because he sees the child is still innocent and not corrupted. Holden was later walking with his sister Phoebe when she asked him what he wanted to be and he told her “ I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I'd do all day. I’d be the catcher in the rye and …show more content…
Salinger’s coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye that help convey the theme of the painfulness of growing up. This book helps to give a new outlook to the transition from teenager to adulthood. Holden experiences the pains and difficulties of this journey even though he doesn’t want to enter adulthood. The symbols in this book help to emphasize what Holden goes through by giving them each different meanings and connotations. The quote “Growth is a process. You gain, you lose, you cry, you grow, you learn, you try, you fail, but you keep trying. That is the real luxury” rings to be true with the journey that Holden goes