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During Holden's journey he visits an old friend and spends a night in his apartment. There he's confronted in the middle of the night by his friend who is patting his head.

Theme

Holden Caulfield makes it clear that throughout the book he is dealing with a lot of problems. These problems can also be seen as the many themes in the book. The major themes of the novel include: alienation to separate him from the rest of the world at which he expresses anger towards, failure in pursuit of attention, and the common issue of teenage rebellion. 
	Holden�s obvious alienation from the rest of the world is seen in his actions as well as in his angry tone; Holden has a way of pushing his associate�s buttons to the point of them no longer being able to stand him any longer- and thus: pushing him away. A few examples of this would be his acquaintances Stradlater and Sally Hayes. In Stradlater�s case Holden finds a word (diction) that he cannot stand and continually uses it until they get into a brawl. And in Sally�s situation he uses his childish dreams of running away from society and its norm�s to get under Sally�s skin, and even though she clearly opposes his ideas he continues anyway to the point of leaving him. Holden seems to make goals out of pushing people away. Holden also uses language that in this time period formal adults would not use. Such an example would be the word �goddam�, Holden uses this throughout the whole piece, which is another sign of anger and his �issues� with the world and its people. This word also ties into his feelings of almost everybody being a �phony�. This constant thought of phoniness is a way of Holden showing that he does not trust nor wants to be close to anyone around him. (This is otherwise known as: separation from the rest of the world.)
	Another major theme seen in the book is the theme of failure. It can be noted that Holden constantly sets himself up for failure. He does this through failing school, failing to keep friends, failing in his family life as a son, and failing to become a normal adult. He fails all of these things but prides on them all as accomplishments as if they were trophies. One can noticeably see this at a few points in the novel, ��I believe you also had some difficulty at the Whooton School and at Elkton Hills.� � �I didn�t have too much difficulty at Elkton Hills,� I told him. �I didn�t exactly flunk out or anything. I just quit, sort of.� In this passage the reader can see that Holden�s tone shows that he is not flunking out of these schools out of stupidity, but more so because he wants to. Holden sets himself up for failure most likely because he wants love. Holden feels that he has separated himself from society so long that he has lost touch with what was once important to him � everything except for Phoebe, who is persistent in her love for him as well as her belief that Holden can do better.
	The last major theme in The Catcher in the Rye is his adolescent rebellion. Holden, unlike a normal youth, distrusts teachers, adults, as well as everyone he does not identify with. He does not trust these people because (as stated before) he does not understand why they are wise, skilled, or smart.  A textual example of this is when Holden talks about Ernie�s skill as a piano player, ��old Ernie turned around on his stool and gave this very phony, humble bow. Like as if he was a helluva humble guy, besides being a terrific piano player. It was very phony- I mean him being such a big snob and all.� In this piece Holden uses detailed diction to emphasize Ernie�s to the point of them being �bad�. He puts down Ernie not only because he is a skilled piano player but also because he is seemingly humble. Which Holden cannot seem to grasp the concept of because he cannot let go of all of the bad things that have happened to him in his lifetime. This is a sign of his rebellion towards any superior of his. This is not the typical way that teenagers go about their rebellion. 
	Furthermore, the themes of The Catcher in the Rye are a tale of how one boy�s insecurity and problems are put together by his ton, diction, detail, emotions, and actions.

"He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron."
-Holden Caulfield

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