Themes

1. Adult world phoniness

1.1. Holden likes to express that he thinks people are not genuine by calling them phonies.

1.2. He wears his red hat to be an individual and stand out, yet he mostly does so to avoid conversation with adults because he gets confused by their conversations and finds them fake. He likes to stand out and be his own person, he doesn't want to end up like those adults.

1.3. Holden also loves to claim he is very genuine and not a phony, yet goes out with girls he doesn't like and tells lies just so he can fit in.

2. Independence

2.1. Thinks he is very capable of fending for himself( and is in many cases) but then has to borrow money from his sister.

2.2. Realizes at the end of the story he needs to return home to his parents because he needs their support.

3. Loneliness

3.1. Holden feels alone in the world, especially after running away from Pency.

3.2. The boys at Pency don't help much with the loneliness because most of them are only looking out for themselves, or are too strange in holdens opinion to be friends with.

4. Innocence

4.1. His fight between wanting to still be a kid but being interested in girls.

4.2. Holden thinks that it is wrong to sleep with anyone you truly love because he sees that as wrong to do to them.

5. Relationships & Sexuality

5.1. Dealing with creeps

5.2. The title is a metaphor, basically talking about casual sex.

5.3. showing he doesn't want to be sexual with someone he wants to marry shows a bit aabout his idea on sex so far in his life.