The Catcher in the Rye January 13, FR

The main character Holden Caulfield presented many opinions about life that I had never thought of before. The attitude that Holden has and his personality is different from one I have ever seen before. I understand that this book has played a role in different shootings in history. I can not see how this happened at all. I got nothing from the book that would encourage someone to shoot another person. Maybe I might have missed something, but I do not get that out of the novel at all. In some of my research on the novel I found the various shootings the novel was involved in, especially John Lennon’s. I see The Catcher in the Rye as a story of a boy who is figuring out who he is and what he wants. Holden obviously knows everything that he does not want. The feeling I get from Holden is that he is almost afraid of becoming an adult. Possibly the reason that he keeps failing out of schools is that he does not want to group up. Holden is confused about who he is. The novel has brought up different topics about life that I did not think about before. J.D. Salinger’s characters were a great complement to Holden’s personality. Allowing the reader to meet new characters from Holden’s perspective made Holden more relatable to the reader. Also, Salinger’s writing style makes the reader feel closer to Holden. The entire book is written from Holden’s point of view, so it is written in the language that he would use.

The Catcher in the Rye
http://www.sparknotes.com/sparknotes/video/catcher

The Catcher in the Rye January 7, page 214 Q10

“D.B. asked me what I thought about all this stuff I just finished telling you about. I didn't know what the hell to say. If you want to know the truth, I don't know what I think about it. I'm sorry I told so many people about it. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told about. Even old Stradlater and Ackley, for instance. I think I even miss that goddam Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”

This quote is the ending to the novel and tells about Holden’s personality as well as the writing style of Salinger. Having Holden speak to the reader directly creates a more personally feeling to the novel, and this ending makes the reader feel as if Holden is telling only you the story. When Holden says this, he goes back on some of the feelings he expressed earlier in the book. He says he begins to miss some of the people he came into contact with throughout his journey. The reader can tell that Holden thinks a lot about his life by many of the things he says during the novel.

The Catcher in the Rye January 7, page 173 Q9

“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."

This quote is very significant to the story, not only because it is the source of the title, but because it is the perfect example of Holden’s fascination with childhood. Holden says this while talking with his sister. Phoebe asks him if there is anything that he really likes because all he talks about is the things that he does not like. It is very interesting that the one thing that Holden can come up with that he would like to do is play with and watch over children. Of all the other options Holden could have picked, it speaks volumes that he likes this ideas over all the others.

Coming Through the Rye
http://www.archive.org/details/ComingThroughTheRye

The Catcher in the Rye January 6, page 172 Q8

“I'm not too sure old Phoebe knew what the hell I was talking about. I mean she's only a little child and all. But she was listening, at least. If somebody at least listens, it's not too bad.”

Holden says this about his little sister Phoebe. This quote fits in well with the idea that Holden has a closer relationship with children than adults. This is apparent in his family where he is more judgmental toward his parents and older brother than his deceased younger brother and younger sister Phoebe. He enjoys Phoebe’s company more than anyone else he encounters in the book. The relationship he has with Phoebe exhibits Holden’s love of childhood. Holden would normally say something negative in this situation, but because it is his younger sister, he doesn't seem to mind.

The Catcher in the Rye January 6, page 155 Q7

“Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.”

Many of the things that Holden says remind of something that a child would say. I find it interesting how Holden disagrees with so many things that are widely accepted in society. This quotes gives even more insight into Holden’s complex personality. You would think that Holden says things like this to be funny, but he really is serious. This quote and others like it in the book add to Holden’s personality and sheds some light on why he does some of the things he does. He does not like to be part of the majority.

The Catcher in the Rye January 6, page 131 Q6

“It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques.”

Holden says this referring to boys schools. It seems like he disagrees with anything that the majority thinks. He is very pessimistic about anything related to other people his age or older. This opinion he has about school may be why he has failed out of so many. With this attitude Holden has he would have no reason to try to stay in school. This statement helps me to understand why Holden has failed out of so many schools, even though I do not think that he knows why.

The Catcher in the Rye January 5, page 126 Q5

“If you do something too good, then, after a while, if you don’t watch it, you start showing off. And then you’re not as good any more.”

I agree with this statement that Holden makes. The meaning behind it makes a lot of sense to Holden’s personality. If a person stops being humble about a talent that they have that when they do it, it won’t be as impressive anymore. Holden is judgmental of people and has problems with a lot of things they do. This also fits in with Holden’s dislike of adults. It is quotes like this that lead me to believe Holden enjoys children so much because of how innocent they are.

The Catcher in the Rye January 5, page 121 Q4

“The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers and their pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving that same blanket. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.”

This quote fits with the theme of Holden’s enjoyment of childhood. It is obvious that Holden likes children more than he does adults. When Holden says this, he shows that he misses his childhood. He focuses on the fact that no matter how much he or anyone else changes, they can go back to that museum time after time and everything will stay the same. It is interesting how Holden seems to have this obsession with childhood. While he is looking for his sister he strikes up a conversation with a girl her age.

Museum of Natural History

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegUg-y2vAUQI0hCUwwX22XeAfY7uic5eJt776VOXZTEJDz23J5W81Cne6eDvT7dzkXM2bD8Uu5YVzBxLWaLpk2UsXUPih9aXCZm3oRhjHWv5ecivzfKl0BJjthaGreRDr0Y8bWBCxAXp9/s1600/Museum+of+Natural+History+7-10-10+8.jpg

The Catcher in the Rye January 5, page 109 Q3

“The thing is, it's really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs — if yours are really good ones and theirs aren't. You think if they're intelligent and all, the other person, and have a good sense of humor, that they don't give a damn whose suitcases are better, but they do. They really do.”

I think it is very interesting how Holden brings up ideas that I agree with, but in ways that I never thought of. The principle of this quote is that people always care about their belongings and if their things are better than everyone else’s. No matter how smart or attractive anyone else they will still care if you have something that is better than them. Holden represents this through his and his roommates suitcases. The way Holden explains things like this adds too the quirky personality that he has.

The Catcher in the Rye January 4, page 89 Q2

“I never seem to have anything that if I lost it I’d care too much about.”

Holden says this while he is talking about a pair of gloves that were stolen from him at Pencey. He really doesn’t seem to care about many of his belongings. When Holden left Pencey in the middle of the night he sold his type writer for very cheap to a boy who had borrowed it from down the hall. Instead of going to get it he just decided to sell it. Also, this is an example of how Holden is mostly talk and no action. He admits himself that if he caught the guy who had stolen his gloves he probably wouldn’t do anything about it.

The Catcher in the Rye January 4, page 38 Q1

“My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder's mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he'd have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He's dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You'd have liked him.”

This object seems to be very important to Holden. When Stradlater asks him to write his descriptive English paper, Holden decides to write it about this. It is significant that Holden actually brought the mitt with him to school. Judging from this mitt it seems like Allie would be like his brother. The fact that Holden keeps the mitt with him means that he and his brother were very close. This quote adds to the theme of Holden’s relationship with children.

Allie's Mitt
http://extras.berkshireeagle.com/NeBe/artofthegame/full/57.gif

Phoebe's Carousel January 3, pages 196-214 RR12

The ongoing importance of Holden’s relationship with his little sister is again apparent in this section of the story. After spending part of the evening at his house with his sister and one of his past teacher’s houses, Holden makes another impulsive decision and decides to head out west the next day and live on his own. He is very intent on going through with this complex plan he only had made that day. Holden wants to meet his sister during his lunch to tell her he is going, but she says that she is going with him. Because of how upset Phoebe got Holden decided that he wouldn’t go through with his trip and stayed around just to make her happy. She is so important to him that he was willing to forget his prior decision and face his parents. He was content in watching Phoebe ride on the carousel for the rest of the day.

Central Park Carousel
http://images.travelpod.com/users/cyndymerchant/2.1281105543.central-park-carousel.jpg

"The Catcher in the Rye" January 3, pages 176-195 RR11

This section of the book continues from Phoebe and Holden’s conversation about what Holden likes. Phoebe brings up the point because Holden constantly talks about things he doesn’t like or what annoys him. He has trouble at first answering her question, then what he finally says surprises me. He mentions a song that says, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye.” The word is actually meet instead of catch, but he explains to Phoebe that the idea of doing that is something he likes to think about. He thinks about a group of kids running through a field of rye on a cliff, and he stands at the edge and catches them if they run toward him and are about to fall off. This goes back to another section of the story when I got the feeling that Holden enjoys kids more than adults.

Robert Burns
http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/coming_through_the_rye.htm

Sneaking Home January 3, pages 158-175 RR10

Instead of going home and facing his parents early, Holden goes through so much to hide from them. He has been spending a lot of money going on dates, staying in the hotel, and going out to eat that I am surprised he hasn’t just gone home. After his drinks with Luce, Holden stays in the bar and becomes pretty drunk. He wanders around in central park, wet and cold, sobers up and decides to sneak into his house to talk to his sister. I think it is weird that after going to so much trouble and spending all that money that he would risk getting caught by his parents to wake his sister up in the middle of the night to be able to talk to her a couple days early. During their conversation Phoebe brings up a very good point. She asks Holden what he really likes, since he talks about all the things he doesn’t like, and he can’t give her a real answer.

Holden Caulfield, Piebald
http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Piebald:Holden+Caulfield:4424922:s69221230.15875300.782883.0.2.148%2Cstd_702edb77ca114617a6bb8cd2dab622e8

Date with Sally January 3, pages 142-157 RR9

I enjoy the way that new characters are introduced through the story. Since the entire book is told by Holden himself we only get to see what he thinks of people. Even though he will say something bad about a person he always treats them differently then you would expect. He is a lot of talk and no action most of the time. Holden goes on a date with Sally Hayes and describes as a big phony. He takes her to a pla with the Lunts. Having said this, at one point during their date he tells her he loves her and wants to run away and get married. The most interesting thing is that he actually meant it at the time. Also, when Holden meets up with Luce, a guy he knew from a passed school, their conversation is very odd. Luce spends most of the conversation telling olden to change the subject or he was leaving. Holden describes Luce to be intellectual, but he mostly seems self-centered and rude.

The Lunts Article
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E9cNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QWoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2018,647347

Love of Childhood January 2, pages 124-141 RR8

After reading this section I realize that Holden enjoys the company of children more than he does adults or anyone his age. He complains somewhat about his older brother D.B., but the way talks about and describes his younger siblings Allie and Phoebe, it seems like he worships them. Also, when he is looking for his sister in the park he talks to a girl her age and enjoys the conversation. He gets a kick out of a lot of things that younger kids say and he likes to talk to them. On his search for his sister in the park he ends up at the museum of natural history. Holden reminisces about when he went to that museum when he was younger. One thing I found very interesting was that he said he liked the museum so much because it would always be the same.

Holden and Phoebe January 2, pages 106-123 RR7

I find it interesting how close Holden is to his sister Phoebe. He does not seem to get that close with anyone else, even any of his friends. He thinks about Phoebe a lot and while he is in New York he wants to buy a record for her. Holden complains about many things. He is pretty pessimistic in my opinion. He sees a lot of things in a bad light, but one of the few things he talks about positively is his little sister Phoebe. He is the same way about his deceased brother, Allie. He brags about Phoebe and while he is in New York he decides that he wants to talk to her. When he first got to New York he wanted to call her that night, but he was too afraid that one of his parents would answer the phone and know that it was him. Holden is closer to his siblings than he is his parents.

Impulsive Holden January 2, pages 89-105 RR6

In this section of the story it is evident again how impulsive Holden is. We saw it first when Holden decided to leave Pencey in the middle of the night and head to New York. Now, when Holden returns to his hotel there is a pimp in the elevator who asks him if he wants a girl. Without really thinking, Holden says yes because he is in the mood for that kind of thing. Holden has never done anything like that before and then decides to have a prostitute sent to his room. At first he acts like the situation doesn’t bother him, but when the girl gets there, he tells her he only wants to talk. He makes up a story about him having a surgery and that he would just like to have some company. Things turn sour when the girl goes to leave and increases the price. Holden refuses to pay the five extra dollars, so she comes back to the room with her pimp. Even in the face of the large man who threatens to beat him up Holden will not pay the extra money, so the girl takes it out of his wallet while Maurice, the pimp, roughs him up.

Leaving Pencey January 2, pages 71-88 RR5

Holden is a very complex character. I like the way that Salinger develops Holden. Once you think you know what he is going to do, he does something unexpected. It is almost like Holden is constantly changing. Holden seems nervous about leaving Pencey, but then decides to leave at the last minute. You would expect Holden to be slightly nervous in New York by himself, but he is not at all. He goes to clubs late at night and meets new people and talks to girls. Even though he complains about how annoying the girls are, he still talks to them, buys them drinks, and dances with them. While at one club, he criticizes the piano player that everyone loves, but he thinks he shows off too much. Holden is very judgmental of other people’s character, especially anyone popular or famous.

Lying For No Reason December 30, pages 53-70 RR4

Holden is very impulsive, once he gets an idea to do something he does it. After his fight with Stradlater over Jane Gallagher, Holden decides he is going to leave. In the middle of the night he packs his bags to go to New York City instead of staying for the rest of his classes, since he was going to be kicked out that week anyway. More off Holden’s off beat personality is shown on the train on his way to New York City. He meets the mother of a boy he knows from Pencey. He lies to her for no reason at all, giving her a false name and telling her lies about her son. Holden made her son out to be a modest, nice guy, when he really wasn’t at all. The only explanation he gave for what he did was that he was in the mood to lie to the woman.