I wonder about The Catcher in the Rye. Why does Holden want to be the catcher in the rye? What are the positive and negative aspects of his fantasy?

In a misinterpretation of Robert Burns's poem--he thinks it reads, "If a body catch, instead of meet, a body comin' through the rye" Holden Caulfield imagines himself in a field of rye where he is the "catcher in the rye"; that is, he grabs all hundreds of gleefully running children if they start to run off the cliff. In this fantasy, Holden protects the innocence of these children. However, if he so protects them from the "phoniness" of adulthood, these children can never mature into adulthood.

Holden returns home to talk with his little sister Phoebe, whom he considers his friend and confidant. In fact Phoebe actually offers Holden stability because he trusts her and finds her genuine. Holden tells her about the innocent James Castle and his death. James's loss of life is symbolic, just as the death of his brother Allie is symbolic of the death of innocence. Holden finds others in his world to be tainted such as Stradlater or perverted such as Mr. Antolini, or they are "phonies" such as the girls in the bar. So, because the only genuine people Holden knows are young, and because he finds adults very corrupt and "phony," Holden wants to be able to keep them from growing up as the "catcher in the rye." But, of course, this is not possible, as all children mature and become adults.