We learn a lot about Holden, our narrator, from the first few chapters of Catcher in the Rye. Respond to the book so far by doing the following:
Take note of one particular thing that Holden says, thinks, or likes. What does does this small observation, comment, or thought reveal about Holden as a character? Explain in detail your thoughts, reactions, and/or responses to this one small moment. Please put thought and time into your response.
There is one thing in Catcher and the Rye that caught my eye about one trait of Holden's personality. In chapter 4, Holden has a conversation with this Stradlater where he starts talking about his date to the Annex or wherever he is going. The name Jane Gallagher seemed to have rung Holden's bell. Holden tries to get more indepth info on what Stradlater is doing with her. This shows that Holden must have liked this girl too and shows he has a jealous behavior. He got all pissed off just by when Stradlater says they played checkers. This conversation between them means that Holden's jealous behavior will get him into deep trouble in the future.
ReplyDelete"I got up from the bed then. Boy, I couldn't've say there another ten minuets to save my life." This part is when Holden is getting confronted by his teacher, Mr.Spencer, about getting kicked out of Pencey . Through out this part, Holden became more and more uncomfortable with his teacher. This is because Mr.Spencer wanted to know the reason that he kept getting kicked out/leaving schools. This says to the reader that Holden doesn't like confrontation or maybe has had this conversation with many other people every time he leaves a school and perhaps doesn't know the answer.
ReplyDelete"They gave me the wrong book, and I didn't notice it till I got back to my room." (18) This quote reveals that Holden doesn't dislike everything. Normally Holden would complain that he is mad at the people who gave him the wrong book. This time however, Holden just goes along with it. This also reveals that Holden loves to read because he just got a random book and loved it. This quote reveals that Holden doesn't just hate everything in the world, and it also shows that Holden loves to read.
ReplyDeleteHolden seems to think that once he has left, people will move on with their lives as if he was never gone. As if he was a visitor into their lives. Like a tourist that shall not be guided or missed. Holden also has strong liking and disliking of certain people, although, he tries to contain his emotions and thoughts. He seems to like people that are friendly and reliable.
ReplyDeleteWell my first thought about this book is that Holden is not your average teen, there is something off about him that I can't quite figure out. Holden also seems to have two sides to him. One that doesn't really care about anything, and an other that cares. I know that they are opposites but that's what I see. He cares about people forgetting him, but he doesn't care to much that he is leaving only that he will be forgotten.
ReplyDelete"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful." In the beginning of chapter 3, Holden says that he is a terrific liar, and this is something that he's not particularly proud of. It shows a lot about his character because he knows that being a "terrific" liar isn't a good quality to have. It also displays the fact that he doesn't like how easily he can deceive people, he knows that honesty is the better alternative. Someone who is a good liar, and is proud of it too, is probably someone who can not be trusted because they are constantly deceiving people. That would be a red flag to the reader that the character is probably not an admirable person. These very few sentences in the beginning of the chapter reveal that Holden, although very negative, is not a bad person in the slightest.
ReplyDeleteWhen Holden was talking to his teacher he was constantly criticizing what Mr. Spencer was saying. After Mr. Spencer repeats his last sentence, Holden thinks "that's something that drives me crazy. When people say something twice that way" after he already critiqued all of his actions. Holden cannot sit through a conversation with someone without stating the negatives and judging the person based on the conversation. With every conversation so far in the book, Holden has said a negative trait about the person he is speaking with. This small piece from the book shows how Holden, as a whole, is a very criticizing person. He only thinks about the negatives and is very quick to judge someone based on appearance.
ReplyDeleteWell, so far in this book Holden will always say something but then think a completely different thing. To me it seems that he is afraid to express his real feelings and ideas. When Mr. Spencer will ask him a question, Holden will always say something cleaver, but then trash Mr. Spencer in his mind. Holden wouldn't have to do that if he just voiced his thoughts, other that just keeping them boxed up. As a person he seems like he's a "phony"(the word he uses so much). So far in this book he hasn't voiced his real opinion just the one prescribed to him by society, and doing so, he is the real phony.
ReplyDeleteHolden thinks that everything is going to work out for himself and that he won't really need to apply himself or do any hard work. This shows that Holden think that school is just a big waste of time and that his opinions of teachers is probably the same thing. He even says at the start of the book that he pretty much hates phonies. Which perfectly reflects his attitude to his life
ReplyDeleteHolden explains how he is " the most terrific liar you have ever saw in your life." He says how its awful that he is such a great liar, but he really doesn't seem to care. He explains how he feels liable to lie, in almost every situation. If someone asks him where he is going he has to lie just because he feels like he has to. Although everyone does lie occasionally and some people lie more than others, I think many people don't feel obligated to lie, like Holden. The way he describes himself as feeling liable to lie seems to show that he enjoys lying and might even get some thrill out of it for whatever reason that might be. I find this to be weird because of the fact that he says he seems like he's liable to lie. It almost seems like he can't help himself from doing it, it just happens.
ReplyDeleteAckley is over with holden and ackley starts clipping his nails in Holden's room. Holden becomes mad and tells ackley multiple times to clip his nails over the table. I chose this moment because that reminded that of me of myself because I get annoyed by those types of things.
ReplyDeleteThe point in the book where Mr. Spencer is talking to Holden about his paper he wrote in history class. When he's trying to give Holden simple directions that could help him in the long run, Holden refuses to listen because he thinks its all a joke. This tells me that Holden doesn't really care what people have to say. He only seems to care about himself and what he thinks is right maybe this is why he failed out of school.
ReplyDeleteIn the book "The Catcher in the Rye", Holden has a boring life. When his room mate (Stradlater) mentions that a girl knows him he starts getting really excited. Also when he gets his knew hunting hat "he gets a bang out of it". Holden gets really excited over these small things because nothing else is happening in his life.
ReplyDeleteThe part in the book when Holden is talking to Mr. Spencer, he starts thinking about his old schools head master. He remembers when the head master would socialize with the students parents and his attitude was very "phony". This really irritated Holden because he is not a fan of people trying to play a common facade. I completely understand what he means because I too feel irritated when people are trying to be someone else. To me it shows that these people think that you will believe that they really are an open, or nice kind of person.
ReplyDeleteHolden's attitude towards school really bothers me, he acts like he doesn't care about school at all. Holden goes to a nice school and doesn't take advantage of it. He fails four out of his five classes, doesn't put in any effort and is constantly making excuses about why he doesn't do work. Because of this, I dislike Holden. He goes to a nice prep school where boys are expected to do well and he blows it off. While talking to Mr. spencer, Holden admits that the only reason he passed english was because he did all the work at his other school. He doesn't care enough to try in school. Over all what I've learned about Holden so far has only made me dislike him.
ReplyDeleteWhen Holden goes to talk to Mr. Spencer, the topic of past schools comes up. Mr. Spencer says how he "had difficulty at the Whooton School and at Elkton Hills." Holden gives a short reply saying "it's a long story." He thinks about this topic much more that he really says to Mr. Spencer, going on for a paragraph talking about why he left. While he was thinking these things, he didn't seem very concerned about flunking out of two schools, Whooton and now Pencey. I also thought it was strange that Holden didn't want to talk to Mr. Spencer about his reasons why he left Elkton Hills because took the time to think about it.
ReplyDelete"I left Pencey Prep. You probably heard of it. They advertise in about a thousand magazines". This quote tells me that Holden is spoiled because he dropped out of probably one of the best schools
ReplyDeleteAn observation I noticed from Holden so far in Catcher in the Rye is how he has the tendency to lie quite a bit. In the beginning he lies to old Spencer saying how he has to get his equipment. Those were precious moments he was spending with a friend that obviously wasnt feeling well. He tells a flat out lie to Spencer, when many people would cherish their few last minutes together before Holden leaves. Holden only thinks of himself when leaving because he simple didn't want to have anymore lectures from Spencer. On page 55 we see Holden lie to someone's mother about who he is and his thoughts on the women's son. This to me shows how self centered Holden is about respecting Spencer and taking advantage of precious time. This made me pretty upset about how much he lies and how two faced he was towards someone's mother.
ReplyDeleteWhen Holden explains people's characteristics, he mostly describes only the negative characteristics of them. He says how people are boring or jerks. He never really says anything nice about anyone. I think this shows how Holden is much more a pessimistic person, a glass half-empty kind of guy.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that Holden likes is his hat. He seems to wear it as a protection from any anxiety he might have. He doesn't wear it at Spencer's or the football game, he waits until he's home alone. He really enjoys the hat and says he's doesn't care what people think of his hat, but I think he cares and might be self conscious. We learn some new info about Holden in this small moment we read about.
ReplyDeleteHolden seems to have unusual love hate relationships with peoplein this book. For example Spencer is a person who Holden has know for many years, and clearly likes because he keeps visiting him, but the majority of his last visit with Spencer was spent arguing. Also Holden is constantly annoyed with Akley, from the way he looks, to his bothersome behavior, Holden has nothing good to say about Akley, but when Holden goes to the movies with Mal, he begs him to let Akley go with them. This shows that Holden has problems when it comes to friendships.
ReplyDeleteLuke Harrison
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 2 of Catcher In The Rye, Holden gets really mad at his history teacher, Old Spencer, for reading his essay paper and note on it to him. I think Holden was mad not at the teacher but mad at himself. I think this way because when Holden heard his essay, I think deep he realized that he could do better than that but refused to be disappointed in himself. So he decide to get angry at teacher for reading it out loud instead of being angry at himself. This show that Holden will try to find ways to avoid doing his best.
"Yeah, she wouldn't move any of her kings. What she'd do, when she'd get a king, she wouldn't move it. She'd just leave it in the back. She'd get them all lined up in the back row. Then she'd never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were all lined up in the back row."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is significant to me because it shows that Holdenis like everybody else. He notices things that most people wouldn't and that makes him more of a caring person. This quote also makes me feel like there is some foreshadowing of Holden and Jane having something in the future.
When Holden says, "Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad" (52) we learn that he's kind of sensitive. I can relate to this quote because I dont like to ask for a lot of things. If I'm about to go shopping I feel like I need to use my own money to buy stuff instead of asking my parents for money. When Holden says he feels sad whenever he's given a present he might feel guilty because the people giving the present to him spent money on something he might end up not using.
ReplyDelete"Then we shook hands. And all that crap. It made me feel sad as hell though" (15). This reveals that Holden is emotional. Before, Holden acted like he didn't care about leaving and it wasn't a big deal because he didn't have friends that he had to say goodbye to. Now, while Holden is saying goodbye to Mr. Spencer he is getting upset that he has to leave him. I thought that this quote was very depressing because it seemed that Mr. Spencer really liked Holden and enjoyed having him around. They seemed like they got along well even though Holden was flunking Mr. Spencer's class. Mr. Spencer seemed upset that Holden was leaving.
ReplyDeleteOne of Holden's thoughts that stuck out to me was when Stradlater mentions that he is taking Jane Gallagher on a date. Holden mentions how Jane plays checkers a specific way and he we can tell that he has strong feelings for her. Obviously, Holden is pretty upset that Stradlater is taking her on a date especially since he calls her "Jean" instead of Jane. He takes this as a sign that he clearly doesn't care about her. These thoughts from Holden clearly show he is jealous but we also learn he is shy when he decides not to say hi to Jane while she waits for Stradlater.
ReplyDeleteWhen times get rough Holden just runs away. He needs to understand responsibility and own up to his parents that he got kicked out yet another school. His explanation for leaving was that he needed a vacation, even though he was clearly having one at school while he was flunking out of classes. Holden seems responsible at the beginning of the book but now he seems like an over-privileged teenage boy.
ReplyDeleteOn page 16, Holden says that "[He's] the most horrific liar you ever saw in your life". This quote is significant to me because so far through out the story Holden has been fairly honest about the people around him, and when he says this it seems like he's also honest with himself. He dosn't hide the fact he is judgmental or blunt. It makes it easier to understand him to know that he isn't just noticing small details in other people.
ReplyDeleteI like Holden, it seems kind of funny, like the way he thinks and how he makes funny comments about people inside his head. I thought his response to Ackley when Ackley asked "what the hellya reading?" he says "goddam book". I thought it was just a funny response. The way he narrates the book I really don't like sometimes, it confuses me sometimes and I find myself goin. Back and re-reading a lot of things. But all in all I like the book so far.
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