I chose the song “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica. The song has two interpretations that apply to Holden. The first one being how people react to lose and how literally ‘Nothing Else Matters’ to them. Holden can relate to this with the death Allie and how he reacted to it. The other interpretation is how the band only cared about their fans. Holden only cares about Pheobe and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ to him except Pheobe.
Month: September 2013
Chapter 22–Sibling Bonds
In chapter 22, Holden and Phoebe get into a discussion about what Holden likes. This discussion quickly becomes an argument because of how critical Phoebe is being to Holden. During the argument Holden says, “I mean right now. Sitting here with you and just chewing the fat and horsing–” (Page 92) before he gets cut off by Phoebe. He was referring to how he liked spending time with Phoebe. We can clearly see the unique bond siblings share, in which they can argue about what they like doing together. Phoebe also shows how when we get angry with things that we can say things we don’t mean or in a way we would never even consider saying. This excerpt is an example of that:
“I like Allie,” I said. “And I like doing what I’m doing right now. Sitting here with you, and talking, and thinking about stuff, and–”
“Allie’s dead–You always say that! If somebody’s dead and everything, and in
Heaven, then it isn’t really–”
Phoebe would have never said such a cruel thing if she wasn’t so angry. Nobody who truly loved their own form of Allie would say that in that context. Usually we do this for a few main reasons, but in this particular case it is most likely because you want to make the other person feel the way you are feeling.
Do you every say things you know you wouldn’t ever dare say when your arguing with a sibling or parent?
How do you feel when someone acts that way to you?
“Ask Maigler.” : Why do I say mean things? 17 Sept. 2013 <http://askmaigler.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-do-i-say-mean-things.html>.
Chapter 16 Rambling on
In chapter 16 of The Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the main character Holden says something that really caught my eye. He says that he “started walking over towards Broadway, just for the hell of it,” then he states a few lines later that he “wanted to find a record store that was open on Sunday. There was this record that I wanted to get Phoebe,”. These two statements contradict each other because the first thing that he says is that he just started walking over to Broadway for no reason, and he then mentions that he wanted to buy Phoebe a record. This shows the reader that Holden has not really changed since the beginning of the story because he is still giving us this careless person who is not really putting forth any effort even when it involves his own well being. Holden is just rambling through life. When he does anything, its just going through the motions. Holden exhilarates no effort towards anything that he does.
What causes Holden to ramble about his life story?
Why does Holden have this attitude of “I don’t care”?
Mattson, Robert C. “Patents Post Grant Blog.” Patents Post Grant Blog RSS. N.p., 16 June 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
Chapter 9 Curiosity
In chapter 9, when Holden enters his hotel he is struck by curiosity and looks through his window and into his neighbors home. Susan Edelman of California State University describes curiosity as “a need, thirst or desire for knowledge.”
Curiosity revolves around motivation, it is a humans drive for exploration and discovering the undiscovered that causes us to be curious. The study of curiosity goes back ages ago. Scientists today still can’t decide wether the “drive” is boredom or some other type of external variable. Curiosity has led mankind to all discoveries and exploration of the world. Without this feeling of curiosity mankind would be lost in an un-explored “gray” world. Curiosity led Holden to realize about perverted beings, and some of the weird things in society. But also let the reader understand that this first person element is not the most reliable as we would think. While Holden thinks these others are perverted, he is the real pervert, looking through their windows.
Psychoanalysis – Chapter 19 of Catcher in the Rye Summary
At the Whicker Bar, Holden’s asks Luce, an older friend who now attends Columbia University, to join him. In the past at the Whooton School, Luce would always tell Holden and the other younger boys about sex. Once Luce arrives at the bar, Holden pounds him with questions about sex. Luce does not want to have a conversation about sex and suggests to Holden that he needs psychoanalysis. Luce’s dad is a psychoanalyst and Holden asks whether his dad has ever done psychoanalysis on his own son. Luce leaves after Holden’s immature questions. How did psychoanalysis start? An Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud, was the first psychoanalyst. His notes and thoughts about the human mind are learnt by students at schools studying psychoanalysis. Through Freud’s work with his patients, he believed that the past shapes the present. In Holden’s case, the traumas that he has been through, shaped his behavior. The death of his younger brother, Allie, getting kicked out of school, and witnessing the death of a classmate, who was wearing his sweater, are some traumas that he has experienced. Psychoanalysts use their knowledge of the human mind to help their patients to escape from the suffering and improve human relations. Using Freud’s ideals, psychoanalysis has become a theory of mental health functioning. 
Webster, Harold T. “The Psychoanalysis Treatment.” The Psychoanalysis Treatment. N.p., 9 Jan. 1948. Web. 15 Sept. 2013.
Open-Ended Questions
– Once Holden has experienced the psychoanalysis treatment, how do you think his behavior would change? and what aspects of him would change?
– What do you think is the reason for Holden pestering Luce with questions about sex? do you think psychoanalysis is the solution for this? why?
– Do you think that Holden’s past experiences has shaped the way he has become now? explain.
Chapter 18: Anger
In chapter 18 of Catcher in the Rye, Holden seems angry and annoyed throughout the whole chapter. But, one character in chapter 18 that really gets on Holden’s nerves is the lady that is sitting next to him in the movies. This lady is not given a name in the book because Holden never says anything to her, but she cries constantly throughout the movie. Holden, of course, did not like the movie at all, he said about the movie and the lady, “The phonier it got, the more she cried.” One other thing that she did that put Holden in a bad mood was she a little kid with her, and the little kid was very bored by the movie and had to go to the bathroom. But, the lady did not take the kid to the bathroom no matter how much the child cried. Someone crying in a movie could bother anyone, but Holden seems very bothered about her and her child, more than the average person would be bothered. Holden also said, “You take somebody that cries their goddamn eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they’re mean bastards at heart. I’m not kidding.” Although this quote could be true, at least about this lady, because she won’t take her young child to the bathroom, Holden seems to only look at the bad side of everything, throughout the whole chapter and most of the book. In other words, he looks at things from a glass half empty perspective, not a glass half full one. Holden is in a horrible mood throughout the whole chapter, and the lady and child sitting next to him at the movies is just one example of Holden always being angry. Why do you think Holden is almost always angry and hates so many more things than he likes? What are some things that Holden does like, besides his siblings, Allie and Phoebe?
“Patient Analysis-Holden Caulfield.” Patient Analysis-Holden Caulfield. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013. <http://patientcaulfield.blogspot.com/>.
http://www.shmo…
http://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/sunny.html
In chapter 13 Holden is approached by a man that asks Holden if he wants a prostitute. Holden says yes and the prostitute meets Holden at his room. In the room, the prostitute wants to do want she has to do and leave. All Holden wants to do is sit there and talk with her. The lady thinks that Holden is a little weird. I think that this is interesting because Holden orders this prostitute and all he wants to do is talk with her. This part of the chapter shows that Holden has been very lonely in New York and just wants someone to talk with. It also shows that Holden is so desperate to just talk with someone he has to pay that person. Holden is a very lonely boy in a very big city.
1. Why is Holden so lonely?
2. Why didn’t Holden want to do anything with the the prostitute?
“Holden Caufield.” ENG4UFRASER. Ed. Eric Ablett. Tangient LLC, 2005. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.
Chapter 16: I Know My Love
In Chapter 16 of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Holden is getting ready for his date with Sally. He buys two orchestra seats for I Know My Love on Broadway. Holden said he “didn’t much want to see it, but [he] knew old Sally, the queen of phonies, would start drooling all over the place.” I Know My Love was a Broadway play that opened November 2, 1949 in the Shubert Theatre. The play was about a married couple who lived in Boston, the story went through the years of their relationship while celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. While I was researching the play something interesting I noticed was that the actress to play the part of Nicola Ballard was Betty Caulfield. In the novel Holden’s last name is Caulfield. Also Holden talks about not wanting to see it, because he thinks it’s phony. According to Peter G. Beidler, Holden would’ve most likely identified with the younger brother character. The brother has just gotten kicked out of Harvard and is now wanting to run off to Italy to become an artist.
http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/10515/I-Know-My-Love
Is it just a coincident that Holden and Betty had the same last name?
Do you think Holden would’ve actually ended up enjoying the show or do you think he would agree with his original statement that it is for ‘phonies?’
Sources:
Beidler, Peter G. A Readers Companion to J.D. Sailinger’s the Catcher in the Rye. Yardley: Coffeetown, 2011. Print.
“PLAYBILL.” The Largest Internet Database of Broadway Information. Playbill, Inc., 2013. Web. 16 Sept. 2013. <www.playbillvault.com>
Chapter 25: Don’t Grow Up
In chapter 25 Holden realizes that he cannot keep kids from growing up. Throughout the book he tries to keep kids away from the phony adult world that he lives in. This is mentioned when they allude to the poem about the catcher in the rye which symbolizes him trying to not let kids grow up. He tries to do the same with Phoebe too but he realizes at the end of the book that he cannot. He realizes this when they are at the carousel. When she gets on it by herself it just clicks that no matter how hard he tries he won’t be able to
keep her as a child forever. Another time when he realizes this is when he sees all the F*** you’s on the walls. He realizes that he cannot hide everything in the real world from her.
Was Holden able to keep her from the adult world?
Why does he not want to expose her to the world?
How did this impact hi when he was younger?
Chapter 14: How Holden Shows his Depression
In chapter 14, Holden demonstrates many signs of depression as shown in an article about what are the symptoms of depression . At the beginning of the chapter, Holden speaks about his great sorrow and depression and how he deals with it. He talks to his deceased brother named Allie since he never dealt with his death properly. Holden buried his sadness of his brother’s, who was also his best friend, death causing him to feel like he can talk to his brother. He has not accepted that his brother is truly gone. He demonstrates hopelessness when he reveals that he is sort of an atheist and doesn’t believe in God. He has no hope that there could be a higher power. He also claims to hate the Disciples from the Bible because in his mind they keep messing things up for Jesus. This is probably a reflection on himself demonstrating the constant pressures he puts on himself not to mess up. This means that Holden is constantly worrying about messing up and this causes a lot of anxiety and tension for him. At one point, Maurice, the elevator operator, picks a fight with Holden over a deal that they had made causing Holden to cry spontaneously, yet another sign of depression. Holden says that after Maurice left, he seriously considered suicide and he claims he would have killed himself, but he doubted that he would be covered up and he didn’t want “rubbernecks” to look at his mangled body. This does not change the fact that Holden still had thoughts of harming himself. He had a hard time getting to sleep that night showing his final sign of depression. I think that when J.D. Salinger was writing the Catcher in the Rye, he intended for Holden to be depressed which rooted from the fact that Holden never dealt with his brother’s death.
1.What do you think is the root problem of Holden’s depression or if there are more than one, which ones?
2. Do these signs really mean that Holden is depressed or is he just a rebellious, hormonal teenager?
Mental Health of Refugees. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1996. N. pag. Print.
Forster English 