Catcher In the Rye: Holden's Love FOr Children Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, is a complex novel with many themes interwoven in the story. One important theme is Holden Caulfield’s relationship with children. He has a fixation on childhood, which shows itself in his glorifying of children. He has a great love for children. Holden often feels that he must protect children and keep them innocence. He demonstrates this when he gets very upset because he sees that someone had written a curse word on the stairs in Phoebe’s school. He can’t imagine that