Holden himself is neither innocent nor not innocent. He is sexually innocent, but he is emotionally non-innocent. He experienced the death of his brother, which has taken away part of his own innocence. Ever since this event, Holden wants to prevent children from losing their innocence. Holden values purity and wants children to stay innocent their whole lives. He often visualizes himself catching children from falling off a cliff, giving the meaning that he is saving them from experiencing the loss of their innocence.
"I thought it was 'If a body catch a body,'" I said. "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy." (Chapter 22)