Holden's Isolation - his own worst enemy?

1. 

- When Holden goes to New York when he is expelled, he is isolated from everyone. This is because he has no friends that he can stay with, and he does not want to go home to his family. This was done by his own actions, because he could have chosen to go home. 

- When Holden has a date with Sally, he was not isolated. Yet because his thoughts started to wander to running away from home with Sally coming with him and spending the rest of their life together, Holden scared Sally away. This left him dateless and alone. 

- When Holden visits Phoebe at home, he could have chosen to stay home, which would have ended his isolation period. But he decided to go back to being 'homeless' until he was 'ready to go back home'. This situation resulted in Holden ending up isolated once again. You think he would have learnt his lesson.

2. 

His behaviour in these instances are the result of his immaturity. In all three cases, he could have easily chosen the 'right choice' to return home in cases 1 and 3. or in case 2, he could have kept his opinions to himself. Holden is immature as he is not able to chose the correct decision for the himself. 

Holden Caulfield's Goddam War

- Puring, prayer, and enlightenmennt

- experience of war gave his writing a depth and maturity it had previously lacked 

- Salinger was not naive about war 

- Meeting Ernest Hemisway was important for Salinger because Salinger looked up to Hemisway

- he thought that war was a bloody, inglorious affair - perhaps that is where Holden gets his problems from?

- Catcher in the Rye was a spiritually autobiography

- Salinger wrote the first chapter in by 1941

- Salinger wrote Catcher in the Rye as a series of short stories that might eventually be strung together. There were 9 stories altogether. 

-1945 - Salinger wondered what it would feel like if he were to fire the 45 caliber pistol through his left palm. However he recognised his state of mind and checked himself uto a hospital in Nuremberg for treatment. Could this be Holden's state of mind?

- Sometimes Salinger's attitude is pleading

- 1949, Salinger started to string the short stories of Holden together. 

- Before the war, Holden was pointedly selfish and confused. In the novel he is less selfish, and seems to be speaking a larger truth

- A textbook editor's report was negative. Two editors from The New Yorker was also negative 

- They thought the characters were unbelievable, and the Caulfield children were to precocious. 

- Catcher in the Re published July 16 1951

- He got great reviews from everyone

- Some of he reviews said that the novels language and idiosm were at fault. 

- Holden's meandering thoughts, emotions and memories populate the most completety stream of consciousness experience yet offered by American literature at the time

- Writing Catcher in the rye was an act of liberation. 

- The war bruised Salinger's faith. It was reflected in Holden's loss of faith caused by the death of his brother Allie. The memory of dead friends haunted Holden for many years. 

-Salinger has shattered innocence - attitude shown by adult phonies and compromise

- Salingers reaction was personal despondency through darker forces of human nature 

- What ever happened to Sainger would also happen to Holden. Salinger and Holden eventually came to terms with the burdens they carried. Their epiphanies were the same. 

- Holden comes to realise he can enter adulthood without becoming false and sacrificing his values. 

- Salinger came to accept that knowledge of evil did not ensure damnation. 

- The experience of war gave a voice to Salinger, and in turn to Holden 

Catcher in the Rye - First Impressions

1.       What are your first impressions of Holden from the early chapters you have read? Do you find him an appealing character or not? Give reasons for your answer. Use specific examples from the novel to support your response.

My first impression of Holden is that I do not like him. He is very whiney and seems like he is not ‘totally with it’. He seems like he does not really care about anything. He even says himself that he does not act his age, ‘One side foo my head - the right side - is full of millions of gray hairs. I’ve had them ever since  was a kid. And yet I still act sometime like I was only about twelve’.For example, he doesn’t care that he is getting kicked out of another school for failing classes, and he does not care that he left the expensive fencing equipment on the subway resulting in the team being unable to compete. 

1.       If you were to meet him today, would you be able to relate to him? Why/why not?

I do not think that if I were to meet Holden today, I would be able to relate to him. He does not care about his health and his life, which is something that I do not find very appealing in a friend. Even  though he keeps talking about people being Phonies, my impression of him is that he is the biggest phonie out of all of them.

1.       What is it about Holden that would or would not make him easy to relate to?  Use specific examples from the novel to support your response.

The language he uses would make it not easy to relate to him. Words he uses such as ‘bastard, goddamn, and his bad language and words is not easily relatable for me. I think it would be very silly for someone to forget the fencing equipment on the subway if that was the only job that person had. I am very organized and it would relay frustrate me if one of my friends did that.