In Preserving Innocence: A Deconstructionist View of The Catcher in the Rye
             Upon reading J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye many readers identify binary oppositions such as nice/phony, writer/reader, life/death, catchercaught and savior/saved. The binary that I found to best express Holden Caulfield's world view is young/ old. All of the other binaries seem to fall under these headings with young innocence being held up as supreme to adult phoniness.
             Holden has such a great respect for his siblings, namely Allie and Phoebe, and also Jane Gallagher because they are innocent in his eyes. Ultimately, his intent is to protect that innocence, to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults. This intent is made clear in a conversation with Phoebe.
             Anyway, I just keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I'd have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff-I mean if they're running and don't look where they're going I'd have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.
             I feel that this statement embodies Holden's thoughts about growing up. The cliff he speaks of seems to be a metaphor. The metaphor of the cliff and that of falling is the same, in Holden's eyes, as becoming an adult.
             Holden fears a change in maturity. The museum showed Holden's thoughts about growing up. The museum was the only place that he actually liked to be. He found that museum was a place where there is no change and brings back childhood memories. He liked the fact that it doesn't change
             They were always showing Columbus, nobody gave a damn about old Columbus, but you always has a lot of...