Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Catcher in the Rye

18 comments:

Unknown said...

FIRST !!!!!

gershon said...

Holden needs to stop judging people when he hangs with them. He is disgusted by them but he hangs with them anyway. He only does this because he doesn't want to be alone even if it means being with someone that he hates. "He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn't too crazy about him, to tell you the truth"(19). He needs to stop going with people that he hates.

Anonymous said...

On the whole page of page 11 Holden is a slacker. He doesn't apply himself in history class and thinks it is a joke. In this book the author develops Holden as a slacker to represent slackers as a whole. The author wants to show how slacking can really affect your life. Holden is an intelligent kid but he wastes it by slacking off. The authors shows his potential because he wants show show how bad slacking can affect you. This is a lesson that anybody of any age can learn from.

Unknown said...

Catcher in the Rye is such an enigmatic piece of work. It makes the reader frustrated with the narrator/main character, Holden Caulfield, through building his character to a big, self-contradictive, hipocritical, socially indifferent, annoying young male. His speech is atrocious and the grammar and vocabulary with which he literally speaks to the reader, rather than making it seem like a written work, is so simplistic and informal. It hardly even seems like you are reading, as you feel like you are being spoken to thanks to the just barely-enough amount of, generously put, vivid detail that he includes almost seemingly accidentally, or subconciously. The only reason you are completely aware that you are reading and not taken over by the sense that you are being talked to is because of the blatant monotony presented in the tone of the text. If not for the interesting events that he randomly describes along his sporadic trains of thought, the book would be dreadful to read. Filled to the brim with negativity and critical ideas about even the smallest of matters and things, the book is a lugubrious subject of teen-aged living and of socially disregarded teens and the lives and feelings which they go through and endorse.

Unknown said...

So far in the book, I've noticed how Holden is very descriptive about his surroundings and the people he meets. I also found it really strange on how he described his sister Phoebe because he was going into detail on just how amazing she was. To me it's like he's sort of attracted to her, but then maybe it's just him being great friends with their siblings. The descriptions of Phoebe seem a weird to me, "She has nice, pretty little ears. She's quite skinny, like me, but nice skinny" (67). Holden is becoming a strange character to me as we keep reading because of his many contradictions, his actions, and now this. What did you guys think during this passage?

Unknown said...

In Catcher In The Rye, many people may start making the assumption that Holden dislikes formal education based on his negative judgments towards Pencey. However, he actually dislikes the people who run the system. For example, when he chose to watch his school's football game from a distance, he got sidetracked by the headmaster's daughter. Although she seemed unattractive and a bit pathetic since "she wasn't exactly the type that drove you mad with desire" (Salinger 3), she was good enough to Holden because she doesn't get caught up in lavishness like her father. This shows us that even though Holden is a rich kid himself, he looks down on with disdain to the wealthy social class and the people who are under it, which ties back to why people reading this book may think that he hates formal education.

Dougie Fah-Resh said...

I agree with you Daniel, when I was reading that passage I was a little concerned with what he was saying about his little sister, especially when he says, “Roller-skate Skinny. I watched her once from the window when she was crossing over Fifth Avenue to go to the park, and that’s what she is, roller-skate skinny. You’d like her” (67). I began to think he was checking her out, but maybe it is just his personality. Talking about his actions, he really doesn’t seem to care about what he does with his life. He flunks out of school and he drinks and smokes as he tells us when he tested to see if his breath “stank from so many cigarettes and the scotch and sodas” (91) he drank at Ernie’s and he’s only 12!
I also think that some of the people in the book are irresponsible, like the bartender at the bar giving Caulfield Scotch and the prostitute’s parents letting her daughter do such things, because Caulfield said, “she was young as hell. She was around my age” (94) meaning she’s about 12 also! Where do you think his life is at the end of this long story he’s telling us? I doubt he is successfully doing something.

alanah91 said...

This book is considered a classic because of it's universial, controversial ideas that are continuosly being brought up no matter what time period. Holden is at that stage where he's isolating himself away from society. His aspirations are to travel and escape the "phonies", "You should've heard the crowd, though, when he was finished. You would've puked...if I were a piano player or an actor or something and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I'd hate it. I wouldn't even want them to clap for me. People always clap for the wrong things" (84). Salinger is carrying a similiar thene through out, the Catcher in The Rye, which is how decadent society is. The protagonist just wants to escape it all. Holden expresses his frustration later on in the book while conversing with Sally on pg 132, "Here's my idea..I know guy down in Greenwich Village that we can borrow his car for a couple weeks...I could chop all our own wood in the wintertime...Will you do it with me please?! This quote shows how deserate and lonesome Holden is. This just makes me wanna ask the character what put him over the edge? Salinger creates this character who is an outcast in society because of his lack of interest in school, arts, and people but to a certain extent is he really insane? Or is Holden sane enough to realize how sad society is because we are ruled by money. Another point is Holden’s turning point was when he lost his younger brother, Allie and I believe Holden hasn’t moved on and is upset by how others in his family seemed to have forgotten and moved on because that’s how life is.

alanah91 said...

Holden's blunt opinions which makes the reader perceive negative connotation of how society works by telling the reader how peoples priorities are obscured. For instance, Holden is watching a respected piano artist perform on stage his solo piece and he rants on how he was really “stinking it up,” showing off “ripples in the high notes, and a lot of other tricky stuff that gives me a pain in the ass.’ This makes the character seem jealous of his talent but Salinger confuses the reader by making Holden seem more intellectual because behind the pianist greatness, Holden still see the flaws in the pianist personality. As for the crowd, Holden comments, “you should’ve heard the crowd, though, when he was finished. You would’ve puked…” then he goes on developing his thoughts on why he despises the crowd and the performer. Then Holden says, “ I swear to God , if I were a piano player … all those dopes thought I was terrific , I’d hate it. I wouldn’t even want them to clap for me . People always clap for the wrong things.” This quote shows how much of an outcast Holden is. He tries not to play a typical role in society. Furthermore, the reader also learns a little bit about how the author is. When The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951, Salinger didn’t want the fame or the fortune. In conclusion, Salinger writes his thoughts and opinions through Holden’s character to get his message out there to the youth to tell them how they’re not the only ones going through this, everyone is.

Unknown said...

Draft Inquiry Questions

Questions about style:
Why does Salinger use such a plain, monotonous, unadorned style of writing?
What effect does the frequent use of hyperboles and over exaggeration have on the reader’s opinion about both the book and about the narrator, Holden Caulfield?
What does Salinger’s specific word choice and diction, or his use of idioms and sayings relevant to a different period of time say about the time period and culture/pop culture of his time? Do they apply to his manner of speaking or did he include them for effect only and to emphasize points about the characters or the setting?
Why does Salinger make Holden stray in his stories and go off on random tangents away from his main point or story so often?

Anonymous said...

Inquiry Questions:

How does J.D Salinger use flasbacks to develop characters?

How does J.D Salinger use point of view to show the life of a teenager?

Anonymous said...

Inquiry Questions:
How does J.D Salinger use flasbacks to develop characters?
How does J.D Salinger use point of view to show the life of a teenager?

alanah91 said...

Inquiry Questions about Style & Message

1. How does J.D. Salinger’s style of writing accurately show the mind set of how a teenager would think, act, and speak and opening the reader’s eyes and have a critical opinion about society ?

Unknown said...

J.D Salinger uses imagery to show that Holden is very meticulous about his surroundings because he shows strict attention towards Earnie’s way of playing the piano with “show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of tricky stuff” (Salinger 84). He seems to depict every detail , which shows his judgmental aspects as an individual. What makes Holden pay attention to people’s flaws? Does Holden’s unstable teenage life make him insecure?...and as a result decides to judge other people?

Dougie Fah-Resh said...

• Salinger is trying to tell the reader if using the main characters thoughts and actions as metaphors one drops out of school he/she wouldn’t really have a direction to go, to have a happy life?

Dougie Fah-Resh said...

Salinger writes this book in a way that makes the reader feel like they’re being told a quick story about what happened that time I went to New York. Holden is telling the reader what is currently happening and then Holden pauses the story and tells the reader, “I hate saying corny things like ‘traveling incognito.’ But when I’m with somebody that’s corny, I always act corny too” (Salinger 60). Holden tells the reader how he currently feels about a certain something, and it feels like someone is talking to the reader saying everything that’s on the story tellers mind. Salinger makes the book seem realistic, and makes the reader want to keep on reading because you don’t want to ignore want someone is currently telling you.

Unknown said...

Revised: J.D Salinger uses imagery and realistic voice to show that Holden is very meticulous about his surroundings because he shows strict attention towards Earnie’s way of playing the piano with “show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of tricky stuff” (Salinger 84). He seems to depict every detail, which shows his judgmental aspects as an individual. What makes Holden pay attention to people’s flaws? Does Holden’s unstable teenage life make him insecure?...and as a result decides to judge other people? What type of motives should teenagers (like Holden) find in order to circumvent the sneering disbeliefs of life?

alanah91 said...

For me the book ended in an incomplete way. I wanted to know if Holden grew out of that negative, "I HATE THE WORLD," stage. The last couple sentenses show that there is a change in Holden's view of his past friends from school. Salinger ended the book with Holden finally saying something straightforward and for once he isn't contradicting himself. "I think I even miss that goddam Maurice. It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody." We finally see some emotion and understanding behind his rambling thoughts.