"Before One Can Save Others, They Must Save Themselves First"
             The story of "the catcher in the rye" is a metaphor for death. The catcher in this story saves children from falling off the cliff and dying. In J.D. Salinger's novel titled The Catcher in the Rye, Holden who is the main character, wants to be a "catcher in the rye" so that he can prevent his sister and other innocent children from falling off the hypothetical cliff. In the novel, this falling from a cliff represents a child's fall from innocence; and where they land is where they will be as an adult. Holden himself fears adulthood because he fears having to come face to face with real problems which occur when one takes the leap from childhood to adulthood. These fears drive him to attempt to save his sister and all children from falling from innocence into adulthood. In this novel, we see Holden using his own experiences to protect children from adulthood and we see others trying to protect Holden from experiencing a great fall himself.
             Holden has a dream of becoming a catcher in a rye. He wants to save children from losing their
             innocence. In reality, if one falls off a cliff, they will die; yet in Holden's world a loss of innocence and death are related. Which is why he feels it is his responsibility to be the catcher that saves the children from death. He says to Phoebe, "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 are 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.(Salinger, 173)" When he says this, he is explaining to Phoebe what he wants to do with his life. This reveals his fantasy to be the protector of innocence. He does not want children to be exposed to ...