Catcher In the Rye: The Quest

In many novels in J.D. Salinger's library of books, there is a recurring theme of the loss of innocence of children, the falling and the confusions of childhood, and many other ideas that apply to the ideas of adolescence and the life of the average teenager growing up. Many of his themes occur in a short period of time in a child's life that affects him/her in a very profound and significant way. …

…h realizations in theses few days of his life give him a new perspective in his once secure world. He realizes that caring, not catching, is needed in the preservation of innocence. Catching some children in the rye merely saves a select number of individuals, for a little period of time. It is Holden's realization that children are destined to fall from innocence and it is futile for him to try to change it otherwise.