erched on a cliff full of children romping and playing. He says he wants to save the kids from falling off the cliff. Holden continuously sings the song from Robert Burns where he says "Catch a body through the rye". Holden misinterprets the song because the real lyrics are "If a body meets a body coming through the rye". Holden says," 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."(Salinger, 22) The hidden symbolism is that Holden wants to save these children from growing up too fast; the children can't see what there life is going to be like because of the rye (all the petty things). Holden wants to save them because he was never saved from falling off the cliff as a little kid and now he wants to play that role. Also the song "Comin thro' the rye" asks if its for two people to have romantic encounter out in the fields, away from the public eye, even if they don't have any kind of commitment to one another. It is ironic in the song because "meet: refers to an encounter that leads to recreational sex, because the word Holden uses is "catch" takes on the exact opposite in his mind. Holden wants to be able to catch the kids from running into the bad
             temptations of growing up. He wants to catch them before they fall out of innocence into the adult world, including knowledge of sex, drugs, and other bad things.
             Another symbol is Holden's red hunting hat that he is so attached to. The infamous red hunting hat represents Holden's uniqueness and individuality. He says," It shows like hell it is." I took it off
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