Motifs in Catcher in the Rye

Before I even start to talk about the numerous motifs in Catcher in the Rye, what are motifs in the first place? They are a term that is constantly used in the literary world but often misunderstood. Motifs are, simply put, something that in repeated in the story, and holds some form of symbolism. They can be abstract or literal and can be anything that the reader will recognize. Motifs are especially important in literature because they are the author's way of imparting a symbol and theme to the reader. Motifs are also a creative way for readers to understand the story on a deeper level without the author having to literally state it in the story. Not only can we understand the story better with the use of motifs, in some cases, the characters themselves use motifs which we can interpret as part of their character. This allows us to understand the deeper part of the character that the author wants to display. Overall we study motifs because they are a unique and creative way to reach a deeper understanding of what the author is trying to tell us.

In Catcher in the Rye, motifs of loneliness are quite common. One of these examples is the date with Sally Hayes. On that date, he was having a good time with her and they went to Radio City Hall. While they were there, Holden gets the crazy idea of running away with Sally to some remote place where they can live away from society. Sally rejects and this leads to a fight where the conclusion is Holden being alone and lonely yet again. The motifs of loneliness display the themes of isolation. The example of Holden being rejected by Sally and feeling lonely is because of his isolation to prevent from being hurt. He says, "You give me a royal pain in the ass if you want to know the truth." (Salinger 133) He rebukes her because she had rejected him and instead of feeling the pain of rejection again, he instead decides to isolate himself from her by lying to himself that she is not someone he likes. That way he won't get hurt when he gets rejected on his crazy idea of running away.

There are also motifs of relationships/intimacy/sexual. Holden often encounters different relationships and people who he could become close with, such as Sunny. Sunny is a prostitute that Holden called up to his room in the hotel. He does this impulsively and when she arrives, instead of having sex, he just wants to talk to her. Holden is always seen talking about and imagining sex, however, even after a prostitute comes up to his room, he is too depressed to have sex. The author uses the motif of relationships/intimacy/sexual to once again light up the theme of isolation but also the theme of growing up. The act of Holden rejecting having sex with Sunny is him trying to protect himself from being hurt. He said in a conversation with Luce, "I can never get really sexy with a girl I don't like a lot." (148) He's afraid of having sex with Sunny and then coming to like her which would lead him to be hurt once again. It also lights up the theme of growing up because sex can be seen as a step into adulthood. He is afraid of growing up because it is confusing and Holden prefers things to be simple and unchanging. This is also reflected by his desire to become the catcher in the rye. He wants to save children who fall into adulthood and preserve their innocence.

Lying and deception could be called one of Holden's strong points. He is so good at lying that he himself would not be able to see through them. He lies to deceive both other people and himself for both good and bad reasons. He lies to other people in order to fit in or get people to like him and he lies to himself to protect his self-esteem and his sense of self. For example, he says, "I was sort of crying. I don't know why. I put my red hunting hat on and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, 'Sleep tight, ya morons!'" (52) Salinger uses the motif of lying and deception to show the theme of isolation and phoniness. Holden lies to himself to make it seem like he isn't getting hurt when people leave him or reject him. He even goes to such lengths of lying to himself about what people's characters are so that he wouldn't feel bad when he does rude things to them. Lying and deception are another way of describing phoniness. Holden says that everyone in the adult world is a phony when ironically he is the biggest phony in the story. He changes his personality to fit others and acts in certain ways to make people accept him and like him, like when he did Stradlater's composition in hopes of having Stradlater like him.

This photo represents Holden's aversion from growing up. The photo shows a caterpillar growing and changing into a butterfly and eventually flying away. This is something that Holden wish he could stop for kids. He believes that if children were able to fly away, they would become part of the phony adult society and lose the innocence that they had when they were kids.