An important theme of The Catcher In The Rye is Holden's elusive quest for happiness, and this means for him, his past. He is always in a state of discontent in the present so he thinks that what he has already done wasnt too bad compared to how he feels all the time. There are different opinions as to whether he wasnt always depressed, and just became that way after the death of his younger brother Allie. This is hinted through several subtleties, and also through several obvious examples. The theme is brought to attention by the fact that Holden pines for the past, he rarely enjoys anything in the present tense, but a few weeks, months, or years later he finds himself wishing to be back in that position, and this must make him feel like he is going constantly downhill into almost a state of limbo because of his emptiness. My favorite quote from the book is "Don't ever tell anyone anything. If you do, you start to miss everybody". This is at the end of the book when Holden seems to be working out some of his problems, he knows that nothing can ever be as beautiful as it might seem.