The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger, is not just the story of a teenager who goes through hardships and complains a lot. It's really a story about growing up, where you as the reader learn more about yourself and how you see others. JD Salinger uses Holden Caulfield, as a sort of bridge that teaches us about human nature, feelings and difficult times. JD Salinger managed to achieve this very well because Holden is a very unique character, but despite this we can all identify with him in some way. In this essay/analysis I will analyze some of the underlying themes of the novel, which make it more than just a story about a kid in New York. Painful Experience vs. Numbness Perhaps the novel's strongest theme concerns the relationship between the physical pain of an actual experience and the painful sensation of one's feelings. After Allie's death, Holden essentially closes its doors. This forces him to lose all connections with people because he never wants to cause pain to anyone again. Repeatedly mention how important it is not to get attached to anyone, as this will lead to missing them once they are gone. By the end of the novel, he has sunk so low with this theory that he is afraid to even talk to anyone. Phoebe is perhaps the only one to remind us that Holden still has the capacity to love. When he looks at her, he can't help but feel the same love he felt for Allie. However, the impulses of these feelings leave him even more desolate. He knows he should leave Phoebe to protect himself and his beliefs, but when she shows up to join him on his journey, he ultimately puts his love for her first and sacrifices his own instinct to escape to return home. graduation is... halfway down the paper... which maybe still has some emotion left. At the same time, Holden takes few steps to mitigate his loneliness. Every time he feels the need to meet someone, to call a girl, to have a social experience, he ends up sabotaging it before anyone can get hurt. In this way you protect yourself so that you can effectively exclude any possibility of alleviating your loneliness. He might want to call Jane, for example, but hangs up before she gets to the phone. He may want to sleep with a prostitute to experience human comfort, but just try to have a conversation with her. He might want to interact with friends at a bar, but ends up saying something offensive and they end up abandoning him. Pushing them away provides an ever-deepening loneliness, but he is able to face this slight loneliness to avoid the ultimate loneliness of another death..