In this quote from “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden Caulfield expresses a fantasy where he stands on the edge of a cliff overlooking a field of rye. He imagines himself as the “catcher in the rye,” with the responsibility of preventing children playing in the field from falling off the metaphorical cliff that represents the loss of innocence associated with growing up. This reflects Holden’s desire to protect the purity of childhood in a world he sees as phony and corrupt, showcasing his yearning for a simpler and more authentic existence for children.
“Anyway, I 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 have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going, I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be.”
In this quote J.D. Stalinger actually mentions the name of the book in a conversation Holden had.