As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- I took two readings of The Catcher in the Rye to understand the whole point of it. At first, I thought all that went on was Holden saying "sonuvabitch" and whining about phonies. Only upon reading it again that I learned that it was a tale of Holden stuck between childhood and adulthood.
- Another popular theme is that Holden suffers from PTSD from his brother's death, and the end is him finally realizing he needs help.
- In the beginning of the book, Holden says that he is a liar and he frequently lies to people who hold authority over him. In the ending of the book, Holden reveals that he is in a mental institution and is revealing his story in a position of authority. With this in mind, how much of the story can be interpreted as the truth of what happened to Holden?
- Salinger refused to let the book be turned into a movie. Holden himself said he hates the movies, and he likely wouldn't want some "phony actor" pretending to be him.
