Who's in the Rye?

The catcher, of course.

As in The Catcher in the Rye.

J.D. Salinger's novel gets its name from the Robert Burns poem, "Comin' Thro' the Rye," but if you read the poem, you'll see that there is, in fact, no mention of a "catcher" of any sort. At all. Keep that in mind as you read, because as it turns out, a huge (H-U-G-E) clue to a major theme of the novel hinges on the fact that our protagonist, Holden Caulfield, has misheard a key line of the poem.

You (and Holden) will get more on that in Chapter 22, and you can ponder Holden's interpretation of the poem then. Of course, you can also choose not to ponder the poem, it's meaning, or Holden's interpretation of it while you're reading if it's all too darned confusing, but rest assured we'll certainly be discussing the poem and its relevance to the novel when we meet on October 23rd. So... you might want to at least give it a quick read through in advance.

You can also listen to a few musical versions of the poem, which run the gamut from this traditional version courtesy of Education Scotland, to a family sing-a-long version (with cartoon animals!) by Muffin Tunes and this Celtic punk version by The Real McKenzies'.

The Burns poem aside, we'll also be discussing the various themes and symbols of The Catcher in the Rye, so I'm basing this month's assignment options around those two literary devices.

This Month's Assignment Options
As you get ready for our next discussion, I'd like to tackle either a symbol or a theme from The Catcher in the Rye, either #1 or #2 below--you don't need to do both.

1. SYMBOLS
A symbol is, simply put, something that stands for something else. That's pretty vague, I know, but if you think back to The Odyssey, an excellent example of symbolism is the bed of Penelope and Odysseus.

Carved from an olive tree, around which their bedroom was constructed, this huge, magnificent piece of furniture has roots--literal roots--that extend into the earth. It cannot be moved, and thus it's symbolic of Penelope and Odysseus's enduring, unwavering relationship.

With that in mind, and this further definition of symbols, see if you can spot a symbol in The Catcher in the Rye. When you think you have one, do one of the following:

• Create a visual representation of the symbol (a drawing, sculpture, painting, photograph, or illustration of any kind in any medium) and write a brief sentence or two describing its significance.
• Make a piece of word art to convey the significance of the symbol. You can use a program like Wordle or just cut and paste words from magazines, newspapers, and the like. 
• Write a paragraph (or two, or three) that identifies the symbol and explains its significance. Try to use quotes from the book to support your ideas.

2. THEMES

A theme is a central idea in a piece of literature. If you're reading a book, and you notice that it seems to have a lot to say about love, death, or family, then those are probably themes of the book. In fact, love, death, and family are super common themes in literature, as are things like wealth, class, power, and loyalty.  

When it comes to identifying a theme in a novel, however (and most novels have multiple themes--not just one), you need to be prepared to go a little further than just throwing out key words like love, death, family, and the like. Why? Because that's way too easy. 

Most books have something to say about one or more of those themes, but what we want to know is what is this particular book trying to communicate about this idea? 

So, let's go back to The Odyssey again for a minute, and let's consider how it handles the theme of family. First and foremost, from the way characters are introduced all the time (son of Laertes, daughter of Zeus), it's pretty clear that one's lineage matters. Thus, we might describe one theme of The Odyssey as "the importance of family heritage." See how that works? Not just "family," but something about how family is viewed in the book. 

With that in mind, try to spot a theme in The Catcher in the Rye and express it in a phrase or sentence that gives us an idea of the book's take on that theme. Then, go back up to the SYMBOLS section above, and complete one of those three options (visual representation, Word art, or bit of writing) for your theme.

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy reading!