The book: "The Catcher in the Rye" is narrated by a cynical, and somewhat bitter teen named Holden. With every person he meets, he never forgets to bring up the flaws of the person he is describing.
Holden described his life with such a hatred passion, he can make you hate everyone he thinks about. Such as his ex-professor, Mr. Spencer. Holden describes how he thoroughly dislikes talking to him. "The minute I went in, I was sort of sorry I came." (7) Mr. Spencer seems to be a pretty nice professor, because he is always trying to get Holden to do his homework and care about his classes. You can tell because he asks Holden: "'Do you blame me for flunking you, my boy?'" (12)
Not only is Holden over-emphasizing his elders, but he is also very critical of his fellow peers, especially Ackley. "...he was one of those very, very tall round shouldered guys-... [Ackley's teeth] always looked mossy and awful..." (19) Holden also describes his roommate, Stradlater as very conceited and likes to take care of his body, but not all his belongings. "Stradlater was more of a secret slob. He always looked alright, Stradlater, for instance, you should have seen the razor he shaved himself with. It was always rusty as hell and full of lather and hairs and crap." (27)
The way Holden thinks about his mood nearly screams negative, and I think he should attempt to look for the better parts of people and their personalities.
Works Cited:
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Massachusettes: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.
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(posted by maddy kemme)
ReplyDeleteThis is excatly what is going on with Holden. I think he needs to understand that not all people are bad people and that Whenever someone is offering to help you that you should show gratitude towards them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you're saying. But I also think that Holden has tendancy to make you love anybody, as well as hate. It's ironic that Holden only surrounds himself by people who he dislikes. Such as Ackley and Stradlater. Throughout the book there aren't very many positive things said about those two books, but yet, they're his only friends. I'd say thats pretty ironic. Almost makes me feel bad for Holden, but admire him for his independence at the same time.
ReplyDelete-Aleia Amaya