Holden's Misconception of Catcher in the Rye Lyrics

Holden heard a young boy utter the words “If a body catch a body comin thro the rye” With those words he imagined that he was catching children, before they run off of a cliff. That was incorrect, the poem’s original lyrics said “If a body meet a body comin thro the rye”. The poem was actually about two lovers meeting in a field of rye, Holden’s misconception of these lyrics seemed to best represent the theme of being stuck or never wanting to let go This was seen when Holden confronts the lagoon, the museum, and the feelings he still holds towards his deceased brother Allie, Holden came across a lagoon with fish frozen in the ice this arouse Holden‘s question, “You don’t think them fish just die when it gets to be winter, do ya?”.

It’s easy for Holden to relate to these fish, he is stuck, just like the fish are in the ice by that time he was in New York, all alone with no clear future to rely on his next major life decisions are left at the point of ultimate uncertainty the fish are the same way.

They cannot fly away south, so instead, they manage to live in the winter just as Holden must live in this confusing, insensitive world, Each of their futures are uncertain and left in a neutral state. Holden rejected the thought of moving past his image of the miss spoken lyrics, leaving him stuck with his own misconceptions Holden’s life and thoughts, and the fish are all stuck in their own form of confusion and uncertainty.

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The theme of “never wanting to let go” returned once Holden came upon a museum that he had visited as a child Holden claimed, “the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you”. He realizes that all of the displays in the museum remain unchanged but he the world around him are under constant changes.

Holden wishes that this wasn’t so, the other times Holden was at the museum he still had most of his innocence and Allie was still with him. In Holden’s perception of the poem lyrics he was catching children. These children symbolize Holden’s past memories of happiness and innocence. He wanted to catch those memories and never let go of them. The majority of Holden‘s life and state of mind evolved around one traumatic event. That tragedy was the death of his brother, Allie. He holds onto the memories and time spent with Allie. He even cherishes the baseball mitt in which Allie wrote poems on. When Holden’s sister Phoebe exclaimed that Holden doesn’t like anything, the only thing he could muster were the words “I like Allie”. This scene ultimately revealed that Holden never really moved on or even found a way to cope with Allie’s death, Holden’s undying love forAllie seems to be the thing that draws Holden to the innocence that children still hold. The adult world is guilty and corrupt but a child’s world is not.

That’s why Holden invisions catching children, he want to save them and preserve their innocence so they are not forced to face the world like he himself did. Throughout the novel, the most symbolic moments were found at the lagoon, the museum, and whenever Holden brought up thoughts about Allie. All of those moments resembled the theme of of being stuck or never wanting to let go. This theme also applied directly to the poem lyrics Holden misheard, “If a body catch a body comin thro the rye”. Holden’s grasp on his perception of those lyrics, his unwillingness to let it go, and the idea of catching children represented Holden’s life and all of the things that he is incapable of “letting go”. While many events symbolized this theme, Holden is most incapable of moving on from the death of his brother Allie. His whole live runs on the emotional destruction that Allie’s death caused him Therefor, Holden is a character who for better or for worse, is stuck and lacks the intenLion to move on with his life.