Catching and Fielding

I love J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye". As with many other great works of British and American literature, I first read it in Russian. It is such a terrific book that it is almost as enjoyable in translation as in its original language. The title of the Russian version, translated literally back into English, reads "Over the abyss, amidst the rye". The  word "catcher" was "lost in translation", but the title still retains its dream-like imagery and emotional suspense.

In my  mind, the notion of a "catcher" is closely interwoven with Allie's baseball glove. A very American ideal, a catcher is the player on the field who catches the ball and saves the game. Holden imagines himself as a saviour of children who run around in the rye field, dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. Internally, he wishes he had caught and saved his brother Allie, who died as a child. Ironically for someone who constantly frets about entering adulthood, Holden already possesses a real adult experience of losing a loved one, a child, the most senseless tragedy of all.

Holden has a heightened sense of responsibility for himself and other people. People around him are pretty much thoughtless - his jock of a roommate does not think twice before making out with Holden's childhood friend in the back of a car while Holden writes the ingrate's English essay; his icky neighbour completely lacks self-awareness and any sense of boundaries; his old teacher repeats the same platitudes over and over while sipping hot chocolate, hardly an inspirational figure. The weight on Holden's shoulders is excruciating - he suffers for his older brother because of the latter's "sell-out" to Hollywood, he suffers for his little sister Phoebe because of her innocence and her trust in the good of people.

Holden feels compelled to field the hard questions and it often lands him in trouble. He is not a confrontational fellow - he is open with himself and the reader about his fears and considers himself a coward. However, if you are a-fielding, your job is a lot harder than that of a self-absorbed jock or a lowly pimp who use brute force and primitive intimidation. Fielding is acting on the consequences of other people's actions. It is all about reaction. You are not the one who started the trouble, but you have to come in to save the day - the toughest, most ungrateful job ever. No wonder Holden ends up in a mental clinic. The sole fact that he even tries is greatly to his credit.

The Holden Caulfields of this world (note that the first name contains the word "hold" and the last name the word "field") suffer silently, but it is the suffering that separates them from the phonies. They are the ones you want around when you are falling off a cliff.