4 Compelling Catcher in the Rye Essay Topics for Students

When I asked ChatGPT why I should read The Catcher in the Rye, it said because the book portrays “adolescent alienation and identity.” ChatGPT also told me that the book is a “critique of society” and that it has some “symbolism.” Sadly, none of this is helpful if you actually want to engage with Salinger’s text. This blog aims to provide concrete discussion questions, relevant quotes, and substantive analysis, both for educators and for students.  

1) Holden, D.B., and “The Secret Goldfish”

Discussion Question / Essay Prompt

Though Holden sets out to tell the reader about “the madman stuff that happened to [him] around last Christmas,” he first talks about his brother, D.B. (1). Specifically, he talks a great deal about the collection of short stories that D.B. wrote called The Secret Goldfish. What does Holden’s discussion of this book say about his relationship to D.B.? What does it say about the text as a whole?  

Response

In the first chapter, Holden says that his brother, D.B. “used to be just a regular writer” (1). However, now that D.B. has left to write for the movies, “he’s out in Hollywood…being a prostitute” (2). D.B.’s “prostitution” is connected to the fact that he wrote a “terrific book of short stories” called The Secret Goldfish (1). We can see that Holden’s low opinion of D.B. results from the latter’s betrayal of his real talent. 

It’s also worth examining the plot of Holden’s favorite story in D.B.’s The Secret Goldfish. As the title story, it’s about “this little kid that wouldn’t let anybody look at his goldfish because he’s bought it with his own money” (1-2). Now, anytime a narrator talks approvingly of another book, an attentive reader should pay attention. (Holden says on the same page, “It killed me.”) 

We have to ask ourselves – Why does Holden connect so deeply with this story? I would assert that “The Secret Goldfish” is a distillation of Holden’s central anxiety – the inability of children to control the world around them. In the story, the kid manages to fend off a world that wants to see what the boy holds most precious. If there’s a hero to Holden, it might well be this kid, who just wants to have something to himself. 

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2) Holden and/or Burns – Who’s Catching Whom?

Discussion Question / Essay Prompt

It’s no secret that the title of the book comes from Robert Burns’ “Comin’ thro’ the rye.” How does Holden understand himself in relation to this poem? In other words, what does it mean to him as a character? 

Response

I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the source of the book’s title – Robert Burns’ “Comin’ thro’ the Rye.” Holden brings up the poem when he’s talking to his sister Phoebe late in the book (he’s snuck back home to see her.) Phoebe has just asked him what he wants to do with his life and here’s what Holden says, 

“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.” (186)

There’s so much here to unpack. First, as Phoebe notes (and Holden acknowledges), the line is not “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye” – the line is actually, “If a body meet a body coming through the rye” (italics added). We’ll come back to Holden’s misreading a bit later. First, let’s look at what Holden makes of (his misreading of) the poem.

At the heart of Holden’s (mis)reading is a desire to protect children. Think back to the protagonist of “The Secret Goldfish,” who manages to protect what is precious from the outside world. In Holden’s reimagining of Burns’ poem, the adults have all disappeared – there’s no one to stop these kids from accidentally running off the cliff. I would argue that Holden wants to take care of these kids precisely because there was no one to catch him as he ran off the cliff. In The Catcher in the Rye, adults have collectively abdicated responsibility for their children. 

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3) If a body _____ a body?!?!

Discussion Question / Essay Prompt

Sex and sexuality are prevalent in The Cather in the Rye. How does Holden navigate sexual relationships in the book? What moments and experiences have formed his understanding of sex? 

Response #1 

Let’s return to Holden’s misreading of Burns’ “Comin’ thro’ the Rye.” Though the poem allows Holden to explain his desire to protect children, the way he misremembers the content of the poem is significant as well. As Luther Luedtke points out, Burns’ poem has nothing to do with innocence and childhood. It is, in fact, a poem about “seduction and sexual dalliance” (Luedtke, 200). As this is the case, Holden’s misreading becomes symptomatically significant. While Holden uses the content of Burns’ poem to explain his desire to protect children, his misreading functions to protect himself from the adult world of sexuality and violence. 

The threat of sexuality is everywhere in the book. Two moments stand out in particular – Holden’s feelings toward Jane Gallagher and his “perverty” experience with Mr Antolini. The reader meets Jane Gallagher indirectly via Holden’s roommate Stradlater. Early in the novel, Stradlater mentions to Holden that he’s going out on a date with “Jean Gallagher” (he can’t be bothered to get her name right). Holden knows how Stradlater operates with women (i.e., rapey – see chapter 7) and can’t stand the thought of him “giving the time” to Jane. Holden gets into a fight with Stradlater when the latter gets back from his date, an event that makes Holden leave Pencey early. 

It’s not until chapter 11 that we learn the backstory of Jane and Holden. The way Holden tells it, Holden and Jane were playing checkers on her front patio when her “boozehound” stepfather comes out onto the porch. He asks Jane some questions but she refuses to answer. When he leaves, she starts to cry. Though Jane denies it, Holden suspects that Jane’s stepfather might have “tried to get wise with her” (86). 

Response #2

The second explicit moment of sexual inappropriateness occurs when Holden spends the night at Mr Antolini’s house. Recall that Holden, kicked out of Pencey Prep, has been staying in a hotel in New York until he’s due home for Christmas break. Short on cash, he calls his old English teacher from Elkton Hills, Mr Antolini, and asks if he can crash at his place. Mr Antolini says Holden can come right over. 

It’s late when Holden arrives at Mr Antolini’s apartment. Mr and Mrs Antolini were entertaining some friends before Holden’s arrival, so when Mr Antolini answers the door, Holden can tell that “he was a little oiled up” (196). Mrs Antolini brings them coffee and cakes, then goes to bed. Once she’s left, Holden and Mr. Antolini have a wide-ranging conversation about Holden’s present problems and future struggles. 

Here’s the thing – Mr. Antolini gives Holden some pretty good advice. While he fears that Holden is “riding for some kind of terrible fall,” it’s a fall that will occur only if Holden “give[s] it up before [he] ever really even got started” (202). He then offers Holden a quote that (he believes) is from Wilhelm Stekel – “The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” (203). And finally, don’t forget that Mr Antolini is the teacher who covers the body of James Castle and carries it to the infirmary.     

All this is to say that up until this moment in the book, Mr Antolini is represented as a stand-up guy. But then – Holden wakes up to Mr. Antolini petting his head. The details are unimportant (as is whether Mr. Antolini is gay or not), but Holden freaks out and leaves, telling the reader that “That kind of [perverty] stuff’s happened to me about twenty times since I was a kid” (208). The importance of this moment is that Mr Antolini’s heretofore upstanding character is undermined. Now he’s just another adult who can’t get it together enough to protect a child. 

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4) “Around and Around” – Protection and/or Disempowerment in The Catcher in the Rye

Discussion Question / Essay Prompt

The last image of the book – Holden watching Phoebe as she goes “around and around” on the carousel – is striking. What do you make of this image? What does it say about Holden’s relationship with Phoebe? Lastly, what does it say about him? 

Response

It’s only appropriate that I end this article with a discussion of the final image of the book – Phoebe on the carousel. It’s worth quoting at length: 

I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around…I don’t know why. It was just so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God I wish you couldve been there.” (229) 

“I don’t know about you, but I can totally imagine this as a poignant Wes Anderson set-piece. The precocious teen, with his twee red hunting cap, sitting on a New York park bench in the rain, finally realizes the simple joys of family. 

At the same time, I can’t help thinking that there’s something more significant about this moment. Recall the context – Holden had written a note to Phoebe telling her to meet him by the museum to say goodbye (he’d decided to hitchhike out west). Phoebe shows up, suitcase in hand, ready to go with him. This enrages Holden, who comes close to hitting her. When Holden calms down, he assures Phoebe that he’s not going anywhere and he lets her skip school this afternoon and go with him to the zoo.         

If we return to the quote above, the first thing we notice is the repetition of “around and around” (229). (This is actually the third time Holden has mentioned Phoebe going “around and around” on the carousel – he uses the same phrase two pages before (227).) Anytime you see this kind of repetition, you have to wonder what’s going on. Why is it so important for Holden that Phoebe is going “around and around” on the carousel? Let’s try to put this scene into the larger context of the book. As we’ve seen, The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden’s tentative forays into the adult world. In other words, understood as Bildungsroman, Holden’s story is about progress – his moving forward toward adulthood. 

If we return to the final image of the book, we realize that the image of the carousel is antithetical to forward movement. While it might seem like she’s moving, progress is disallowed for Phoebe – she can only ever go “around and around.” (Recall too that when they first see the carousel, Phoebe tells Holden she’s too big to ride – he tells her she’s not.) Understood in this way, Holden’s happiness at the end of the book, though touching, is a result of his infantilizing (and disempowering) Phoebe. Though Holden genuinely wants to protect children (and himself), he can only do it by denying them their own progress toward adulthood.    

The Catcher in the Rye – Final Thoughts

ChatGPT might eventually be able to engage in a genuine way with literature, but until then, we meat-suits still have the advantage. What’s more, reading and analyzing literature isn’t about finding definite answers; rather, it’s a process of self-exploration which, done well, can lead to greater empathy and insight. 

If you’ve found this article useful or interesting, you can also check out my summaries and analyses of 1984, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Hamlet, The Crucible, Beloved, Brave New World, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, Of Mice and Men, and Romeo and Juliet.