Catcher in the Rye- Motifs

I think that in the book Catcher in the Rye, one of the big motifs is loneliness. Motifs are reoccurring structures that help develop the books major theme, and I think loneliness does that. Holden is very lonely because he isolates himself from the rest of the world, and he isolates himself because he is afraid of changing and growing up. Any relationship Holden may have had during this book he single handily sabotaged with his rudeness. He purposely destroys any attempts he had to end his loneliness because he wants to keep a certain level of isolation for his own protection. Holden uses isolation as a security blanket, but this also causes him great pain. When Holden tries to end his loneliness by going out on a date with Sally Hayes, he ruins it by behaving badly and by being rude. Holden shows us while he is at the Museum of National History that he would like a world that is never changing, and very predictable. When Holden is presented with new relationships he realizes that people are unpredictable and that scares him right back into his isolation. Holden wishes people were just like the statues of the Indians in the museum and that they would never change and that they would be so predictable, but because they are not Holden continues to isolate himself from everyone in the world. I think deception is another motif from this book that is very important. Holden thinks that deception is represented in the word phoniness and that deception and lying are the most hurtful categories in the word phoniness. Although it is obvious to us that Holden is guilty of being both deceptive and of lying, he still judges other people for being phony. I think motifs are very important in a book because they can help build up and inform the reader about the main theme of the book. I think that the motifs in this book helped me get a better understanding of the theme.

Bibliography

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 2001. Print.