The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
I decided to spend my last blog for ap lite ranting because it's more fun. First of all, what happens to Jane and Sally? From the first few chapters, I really liked Jane because she and Holden had had a thing, and I think that he still likes her. After Stradlater had taken her out, Holden grew very upset and jumped on him. Jealousy?--I think so. Possibly, Holden wanted to figure himself and his mind out before contacting her, or maybe he actually didn't like her. We won't find out because the novel only takes place over the course of a long weekend.
And what problem, exactly, does Holden have? That was also annoying to the reader--that he never explicitly states his mental condition. I think that in the present, he may still be struggling and in denial of a problem since he still won't openly talk about. Since we are privy to only Holden's thoughts and recollections, we see only a biased perspective, and maybe he hasn't admitted the problem to himself yet. However, he does mention several times that he's crazy or "a madman" (Salinger, page 199), but I don't think he's seriously diagnosing himself then. [My mind= Hello Holden! you are a madman] Although this novel takes place within like four days, it's classified as a Bildungsroman (Yay German class!) because Holden really does mature, well sort of, and obviously realized that he needs some help. That is why he decided to go to a mental institution to "take it easy" (Salinger, waaaay back on page 1).
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The Catcher in the Rye 7
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
So my WTH!? moment in this section was Holden's visit with Mr. Antolini. He mentioned him before going over to his house and claimed he really admired him. However, once he started petting Holden's head, Holden flipped. That was amazing to the audience because it seemed innocent enough, and he completely over reacted. When I first glanced at this passage, I thought that his touchings must have been somewhere inappropriate. But seriously, it was on his head. Echoing my opinion, Mr. Antolini asked Holden "what's the matter with you?" (Salinger, page 192). As he later recounts the day's events, he changes his mind yet again and starts to see the innocence of the petting/patting. Seriously?!?! At least try to stick to your mind...
On a more serious note, Holden includes some passages where he behaves as an adult in generalizing children and their behaviors. However, more often than not, he is the child-like one in the situation. Holden tries to fit in with both children and adults to get the best of both worlds, but he tries to find a balance between both. But we see with an outside perspective that one can only have all the benefits and less favorable consequences of being a child or of an adult: there is no middle ground for Holden Caulfield.
J.D. Salinger
So my WTH!? moment in this section was Holden's visit with Mr. Antolini. He mentioned him before going over to his house and claimed he really admired him. However, once he started petting Holden's head, Holden flipped. That was amazing to the audience because it seemed innocent enough, and he completely over reacted. When I first glanced at this passage, I thought that his touchings must have been somewhere inappropriate. But seriously, it was on his head. Echoing my opinion, Mr. Antolini asked Holden "what's the matter with you?" (Salinger, page 192). As he later recounts the day's events, he changes his mind yet again and starts to see the innocence of the petting/patting. Seriously?!?! At least try to stick to your mind...
On a more serious note, Holden includes some passages where he behaves as an adult in generalizing children and their behaviors. However, more often than not, he is the child-like one in the situation. Holden tries to fit in with both children and adults to get the best of both worlds, but he tries to find a balance between both. But we see with an outside perspective that one can only have all the benefits and less favorable consequences of being a child or of an adult: there is no middle ground for Holden Caulfield.
The Catcher in the Rye 6
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
Holden Caulfield's growing depression is also an important aspect int he novel that depicts his life in just a few days. From what he's telling the audience through the story, everything makes him sad. Even things that would normally make people happy or excited upset him and mature his depression. At several points throughout the work, Holden claims to hate movies, yet he goes to see about three of them just within a few days. This inconsistency is slightly annoying to the audience because it seems more difficult to characterize him. However, his hypocracy may in fact offer more details about his character because we are starting to think he has a mental illness. At one point, he considered killing himself and just cast that aside as if life were trivial. I think that he made that claim just to frighten people and because he's a bit crazy.
I don't really understand why Holden seemed to like Mr. Spencer in the beginning of the novel and hates him in the fourth section. On page 16, he calls him "phony," yet he seemed to respect him when he went over there for a visit. We talked about his wishy-washyness a little in class, and our group thinks that he constantly changes his mind because he desires to be a child, yet also an adult simultaneously.
J.D. Salinger
Holden Caulfield's growing depression is also an important aspect int he novel that depicts his life in just a few days. From what he's telling the audience through the story, everything makes him sad. Even things that would normally make people happy or excited upset him and mature his depression. At several points throughout the work, Holden claims to hate movies, yet he goes to see about three of them just within a few days. This inconsistency is slightly annoying to the audience because it seems more difficult to characterize him. However, his hypocracy may in fact offer more details about his character because we are starting to think he has a mental illness. At one point, he considered killing himself and just cast that aside as if life were trivial. I think that he made that claim just to frighten people and because he's a bit crazy.
I don't really understand why Holden seemed to like Mr. Spencer in the beginning of the novel and hates him in the fourth section. On page 16, he calls him "phony," yet he seemed to respect him when he went over there for a visit. We talked about his wishy-washyness a little in class, and our group thinks that he constantly changes his mind because he desires to be a child, yet also an adult simultaneously.
The Catcher in the Rye 5
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
In the fourth section, Holden's diction remains important to the purpose of this novel. He still uses words that promote his story telling to some audience, and the informal language remains consistent. Holden also curses a bit less as the story progresses, and Laura had a theory about this in our small group. She thought that Holden uses certain words ("goddam" and "sonuvabitch") when he's around his peers to connect with their immaturity. His informal speech also includes using second person as if directing the conversation toward a third party.
Another major aspect of Holden's diction is all his exaggerating and assumptions and generalizations. On pages 159-162, Holden uses phrases such as "a mile long bed," "three cartons of cigarettes," and "two seconds." He also uses "ten million garbage pails" on page 180. These exaggerations show a little bit into Holden's mind and demonstrate his mental instability. Although Holden has not yet identified what his mental state is, we can see that there is something a bit off in his mind. Holden also often generalizes people and events to distance himself away from them.
J.D. Salinger
In the fourth section, Holden's diction remains important to the purpose of this novel. He still uses words that promote his story telling to some audience, and the informal language remains consistent. Holden also curses a bit less as the story progresses, and Laura had a theory about this in our small group. She thought that Holden uses certain words ("goddam" and "sonuvabitch") when he's around his peers to connect with their immaturity. His informal speech also includes using second person as if directing the conversation toward a third party.
Another major aspect of Holden's diction is all his exaggerating and assumptions and generalizations. On pages 159-162, Holden uses phrases such as "a mile long bed," "three cartons of cigarettes," and "two seconds." He also uses "ten million garbage pails" on page 180. These exaggerations show a little bit into Holden's mind and demonstrate his mental instability. Although Holden has not yet identified what his mental state is, we can see that there is something a bit off in his mind. Holden also often generalizes people and events to distance himself away from them.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
So, I finished this book over a week ago, so I'll have to focus this post on only ideas from the second section. Holden has to have some kind of mental illness or problem. An important idea in this section was his indecisiveness. He seems to enjoy people one minute, and then the next he dislikes them and begins telling lies. This was annoying to the audience, yet I believe it has significance to the overall point of the novel. Several times, he chooses to do one thing, then does a 360 and changes his mind. In chapter 8, he claims "he didn't feel like it" (Salinger, page 54) when talking to Mrs. Morrow. At one point, he says he wants to pray, but then he doesn't because he changes his mind. Another specific point in this section was when he called on the prostitute then didn't use her [ahem] services because he changed his mind yet again. I think this all contributes to his mental issue as he cannot maintain a stable mindset when making decisions.
J.D. Salinger
So, I finished this book over a week ago, so I'll have to focus this post on only ideas from the second section. Holden has to have some kind of mental illness or problem. An important idea in this section was his indecisiveness. He seems to enjoy people one minute, and then the next he dislikes them and begins telling lies. This was annoying to the audience, yet I believe it has significance to the overall point of the novel. Several times, he chooses to do one thing, then does a 360 and changes his mind. In chapter 8, he claims "he didn't feel like it" (Salinger, page 54) when talking to Mrs. Morrow. At one point, he says he wants to pray, but then he doesn't because he changes his mind. Another specific point in this section was when he called on the prostitute then didn't use her [ahem] services because he changed his mind yet again. I think this all contributes to his mental issue as he cannot maintain a stable mindset when making decisions.
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
Also prevalent in section two is his interactions with others. He first meets Mrs. Morrow who he claims to like, yet he still lies to her and offers her a fake name. This doesn't really make sense, but maybe it has something to do with his mental problems. Chapter ten also includes the first real description of Phoebe, Holden's younger sister. Holden really seems to like her, which is a nice treat for the audience who has to constantly listen to his complaining about other people who he changes his mind about liking. He also goes on to meet the three women at the bar who are all stupid to New York City. He is also very immature when talking to these women--"I"m big for my age" (Salinger, page 72). He wants to prove himself to them as well because he is after-all only seventeen and can dance well for his age.
Don't even get me started on the prostitute! I just could not follow his thought process in this situation because he seems to want her in the elevator, but then when she comes, he changes his mind. That was annoying, and then he actually paid for her when nothing happened. That was just weird--the whole chapter.
J.D. Salinger
Also prevalent in section two is his interactions with others. He first meets Mrs. Morrow who he claims to like, yet he still lies to her and offers her a fake name. This doesn't really make sense, but maybe it has something to do with his mental problems. Chapter ten also includes the first real description of Phoebe, Holden's younger sister. Holden really seems to like her, which is a nice treat for the audience who has to constantly listen to his complaining about other people who he changes his mind about liking. He also goes on to meet the three women at the bar who are all stupid to New York City. He is also very immature when talking to these women--"I"m big for my age" (Salinger, page 72). He wants to prove himself to them as well because he is after-all only seventeen and can dance well for his age.
Don't even get me started on the prostitute! I just could not follow his thought process in this situation because he seems to want her in the elevator, but then when she comes, he changes his mind. That was annoying, and then he actually paid for her when nothing happened. That was just weird--the whole chapter.
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
The character of Holden Caulfield really develops further in this chapter as we see him interact with more people, importantly people who are older. In the beginning of section 2, he meets Mrs. Morrow and starts "shooting the old crap around" (Salinger, page 55) with her. That was one of my favorite phrases in the book because its funny and not heard in our time. He appears to like her, yet he continues to lie to her and make up stories about her son. That was weird, but it begins to explain his relationships with others, which is continually weird throughout the rest of the novel.
An interesting part of chapter 9 was his constantly talking about sex, even though he had never "given the time" to anyone (lol). Several times, he describes himself as sexy and a sex maniac, which we see as extremely weird, but I think that it contributes to his mental problem, whatever that may turn out to be. He also says a few times that he doesn't really understand sex, which is the opposite of what he says other times. Maybe, he is trying to mature himself with talking about sex, almost as if he's trying to prove himself to whomever he's telling the story to. We still don't know exactly who that is, but I do have a few theories.
His repeating himself constantly may also add to his problem because he feels the need to reiterate what he has already stated.
J.D. Salinger
The character of Holden Caulfield really develops further in this chapter as we see him interact with more people, importantly people who are older. In the beginning of section 2, he meets Mrs. Morrow and starts "shooting the old crap around" (Salinger, page 55) with her. That was one of my favorite phrases in the book because its funny and not heard in our time. He appears to like her, yet he continues to lie to her and make up stories about her son. That was weird, but it begins to explain his relationships with others, which is continually weird throughout the rest of the novel.
An interesting part of chapter 9 was his constantly talking about sex, even though he had never "given the time" to anyone (lol). Several times, he describes himself as sexy and a sex maniac, which we see as extremely weird, but I think that it contributes to his mental problem, whatever that may turn out to be. He also says a few times that he doesn't really understand sex, which is the opposite of what he says other times. Maybe, he is trying to mature himself with talking about sex, almost as if he's trying to prove himself to whomever he's telling the story to. We still don't know exactly who that is, but I do have a few theories.
His repeating himself constantly may also add to his problem because he feels the need to reiterate what he has already stated.
The Catcher in the Rye Section 2
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
The diction in this novel is easily recognizable, and it is one of the first things I noticed when I read it. Most importantly, the diction promotes an informal tone because Holden often uses simple words and phrases to describe what's going on around him. Practically every other sentence, he says "goddam" (every page...) and calls something or someone "phony." While extremely entertaining to the audience, these words have a larger meaning in the novel. I think that he uses these words to prove himself to the other boys because he is younger than them. However, he does use them still when he is by himself, so perhaps he just uses them subconsciously. Another important aspect of the novel is the way Holden appears to be telling a story. I just don't know yet who he's telling his story to.
Some words are italicized which also add to the story because they show Holden's opinions and how he views other people and certain events. His sarcasm is hilarious, but sometimes he appears mean, like when talking to the three women at the hotel. I think he's a blast, but I still wonder exactly where this book is going. What exactly does the plot contribute?
J.D. Salinger
The diction in this novel is easily recognizable, and it is one of the first things I noticed when I read it. Most importantly, the diction promotes an informal tone because Holden often uses simple words and phrases to describe what's going on around him. Practically every other sentence, he says "goddam" (every page...) and calls something or someone "phony." While extremely entertaining to the audience, these words have a larger meaning in the novel. I think that he uses these words to prove himself to the other boys because he is younger than them. However, he does use them still when he is by himself, so perhaps he just uses them subconsciously. Another important aspect of the novel is the way Holden appears to be telling a story. I just don't know yet who he's telling his story to.
Some words are italicized which also add to the story because they show Holden's opinions and how he views other people and certain events. His sarcasm is hilarious, but sometimes he appears mean, like when talking to the three women at the hotel. I think he's a blast, but I still wonder exactly where this book is going. What exactly does the plot contribute?
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