Symbolism. The title of the book is a symbol in its self. The song by Rober Burns, "Comin' Thro' the Rye" actually is about seeing if it is wrong for two people to have a romantic encounter in a field of rye, away from the public eye. In Chapter 16, when Holden sees the little boy walking in the street and singing that song, Holden mistakes the line " if a body -meet- a body, coming through …showed first 75 words of 465 total…

…showed last 75 words of 465 total…The ducks are symbolic in several ways. They prove that some disappearances are only temporary. They vanish in the winter, but return in the spring. The pond itself becomes a metaphor for the world as Holden sees it. Partially frozen and partially not frozen. Just as Holden is partially frozen in his childhood, but he doesn't know it, and he is trying to be as adult as he can, but is confused with the world.