English 3201 The Catcher in the Rye

Transcription

1 Chapter 1 English 3201 The Catcher in the Rye 1/ He wrote this terrific book of short stories now he s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. (1-2) Holden introduces the theme of phoniness through his comment upon his bother, D.B.. He respected his brother when he was a regular writer (1) and called him my favourite writer. (18) However, now that he writes for the movies, he thinks his brother is a sellout and that is why he uses the term, prostitute. He sells something that Holden views as sacred and personal his unique and individual talent to write for a Jaguar that damn near cost him four thousand bucks. 2/ Pencey was full of crooks. Quite a few of these guys came from these very wealthy families, but it was all full of crooks anyway. The more expensive a school is, the more crooks it has (4) Holden s cynicism becomes apparent quite early in the novel. He always speaks in extremes and generalities and his criticisms are just a way of Holden distancing himself from a society he feels no part of and a society he feels no desire to be a part of. Chapter 2 1/ The funny thing is, though, I was sort of thinking of something else while I shot the bull. (13) Holden talks to Professor Spencer, who has just failed him in History, and Spencer is trying to help Holden gain direction in his life. Holden pretends to listen but really thinks of Spencer as a nice old guy who didn t know his ass from his elbow, (8) Holden hates being surrounded by phonies but readily admits he is the most terrific liar you ever saw. (ch.3; 16) 2/ I just couldn t hang around there any longer his sad old bathrobe with his chest showing (15) Holden is disgusted by the lack of physical hygiene of so many characters in the novel - Stradlater, Ackley and Spencer. His disgust with Spencer, Ackley and Stradlater symbolizes his disgust with the world in general. Just as Holden loses his innocence towards the world and the beauty that he saw in it in his youth disappears, so too it is with people. The more you get to know people, the more disillusioned you become by their flaws and imperfections. People, like the society they inhabit, don t hold up well to scrutiny and the dignity we attribute to them often seems misplaced as we grow and lose our child-like naiveté and innocence. Holden is openly disgusted with people and society because he uses self-imposed alienation to distance himself from a world that has let him down and, he finds, is nothing like the world he believed in as a child. As we age, we 1

2 often find our parents, our teachers, our peers, our jobs, our mates to be nothing like the romantic naïve preconceptions we hold on to for so long. 3/ I was wondering where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over. (13) The ducks and the frozen pond are two of the more important symbols or motifs in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Holden s curiosity about the ducks symbolizes his childlike and innocent curiosity about the world in which he lives. It is an innocence that is being rapidly striped away by a cold and frozen world that drives the ducks south and Holden into emotional seclusion. The frozen pond symbolizes this cold, cruel, unfeeling and unforgiving world. However, the fact that the ducks come back every Spring suggests that this alienation does not have to be permanent. It is not impossible for Holden to once again feel a part of the world that has cast him aside and that he, in turn, is pushing aside for his own emotional well-being. Chapter 3 1/ a) Ackley was about six four-with lousy teeth I never even once saw him brush his teeth. They always looked mossy and awful Besides that, he had a lot of pimples. (19) b) [Ackley s] ears were dirty as hell and he was always cleaning his fingernails. (22) Ackley s disgusting physical habits isolate him from the society that assaults him. He and Holden are more alike than Holden would like to admit as is evident by the fact that they are the only boys not at the football game. While Holden s isolation is self-imposed by his cynicism, Ackley s is created by his unattractive exterior. The end result, however, is the same. Both characters are protected from the dangers of intimacy and interaction by their retreat from the world they exist within. Again, Ackley, like Spencer, symbolizes the unattractiveness of a world and the people in it when both are scrutinized too closely. The fact that Holden openly states his disgust of Ackley symbolizes his disgust with the world he has come to find is nothing like the one he envisioned as a naïve innocent child. The fact that he tolerates Ackley and, as can be seen throughout the book, tries his best to include him in activities with others, shows how he recognizes himself in Ackley and recognizes his own desire for some kind of connection to other humans. 2/ Holden put on [his] new hat and sat down and started reading Out of Africa. (19) This is very ironic that Holden puts on this rather unusual red hunting hat indoors but, despite how cold it is outside, does not wear it when he goes near the football field or when he goes out to visit Spencer. This irony highlights the internal conflict in Holden s head. The hat, with its unusual appearance, is a symbol of Holden s desire to be an individual in a world that is all about conformity. When he wears it, he is asserting his individuality and his separateness from a world into which he feels he does not fit. However, when he goes out in public, he does not wear it. This is ironic because one 2

3 would think it would be in public where Holden would most want to assert his individuality. However, the fact that he only wears it when he is alone suggests he is torn between asserting the uniqueness of his identity and his desire for interaction and connection. When he goes out in public, as cynical as he is, what he really wants is to connect to a world and the people in it. He only pushes that world away because he fears the world will push him aside anyway. Chapter 4 1/ You remember what I said before that Ackley was a slob to his personal babits? Well, so was Stradlater, but in a different way. Stradlater was more of a secret slob. He always looked all right, Stradlater, but for instance, you should ve seen the razor he shaved himself with. It was alwys as rusty as hell and full of lathers and hair and crap. He never cleaned it or anything. He always looked good when he finished fixing himself up, but he was a secret slob anyway (27) While Ackley is obvious in his lack of personal hygiene, Stradlater is a secret slob. He is just as unattractive in so many ways as Ackley but, superficially, he is more acceptable to the outside world. Either way, Stradlater is more of a phony than Ackley because of the veneer of attractiveness he presents to the outside world. He is preparing for a date with Jane Gallagher so it is apparent that he is one of the more sexually experienced boys at Pencey and this theme of, the pressure of adolescent sexuality, is beginning to be presented in the novel. This theme implies that being sexually active as an adolescent involves being a fraud and a fake as sex comes not from intimacy in a relationship but from the illusion of being the kind of person who could be intimate or could be decent. This outward facade of attractiveness helps to push this illusion to the forefront. Stradlater s phoniness and lack of depth is obvious when he tells Holden he is going on a date with Jean Gallagher when her name is Jane. (31) He is only thinking of one thing with Jane and it is not emotional intimacy or even sexual intimacy. It is just sex. 2/ 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 row. 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 in the back row. (31-32) Holden knows Jane and seems to care about her. The fact that he knows small but intimate details about her, including how she likes to place her chess pieces and that she is a ballet dancer that used to practice about two hours every day (31) suggests an intimacy far beyond any that Stradlater is willing to attempt or that Stradlater is capable of. All the while Holden is telling Stradlater this, all he is doing is combing his gorgeous locks and then parting his hair all over again. It took him about an hour to comb his hair. (32) When Holden says I kept thinking about Jane and Stradlater having a date with her and all. It made me so nervous I nearly went crazy. (34) he is revealing a lot about himself. He knows Stradlater is a sexy [sexual] bastard (34) and can t bear the thought of Stradlater betraying his intimacy with her and in reality, Holden s innocence. It is yet one more blow to the romantic and innocent view of 3

4 something beautiful that Holden sees or once saw in the world he now abhors. Ironically, despite Holden s disgust of Stradlater, he is willing to write an English paper for him even though he knows he is being used by Stradlater. It highlights Holden s desperation to form any kind of bond with any one. He tries to please Stradlater while at the same time, despising him. He says I might. I might not (28) but he knows he will simply to find any connection, no matter how superficial and phony. That desperation disillusions and inwardly destroys a part of him. 3/ When Stradlater notices his hat and comments upon it he [takes] off [his] hat (29) even though he still had [his] red hunting hat on (27) indoors. He again wears it as a symbol of his individuality and separateness, but in the company of others he sacrifices that individuality to try and fit into a world he hates with people he loathes but needs. The fact that Stradlater immediately asks Holden to write his English composition immediately after noting how sharp the cap was, tells not only how superficial and phony Stradlater is but how desperate Holden is to fit in. Chapter 5 1/ I and this friend of mine, Mal Brossard, decided we d take a bus and have a hamburger and maybe see a lousy movie. I asked Mal if he minded if Ackley came along with us (35-36) Holden constantly recites Ackley s imperfections including sinus trouble, pimples, lousy teeth, halitosis and crumby fingernails but, still, he says you had to feel a little sorry for [him]. (39) This shows how Holden recognizes what it feels like to be on the outside looking in and he has a certain level of empathy for Ackley. Consequently, he wants to include Ackley in the night out to the movies. He wants to give to Ackley what he doesn t receive himself acceptance and connection and at the same time he, himself, wants to connect in any way he can with somebody, even if it is just Ackley. He highlights Ackley s flaws as a way of rejecting him and, thus, alienating himself from society as a form of self-protection. At the same time, he wants to include Ackley as away of not being alienated. This contradictory and conflicting set of emotions on Holden s behalf, account for a mixture of cynicism and compassion. He is at war with himself. 2/ [Ackley] started picking at his pimples. (37) The constant emphasis on Ackley s pimples highlights how society focuses on exterior, physical flaws that are literally and figuratively only on the surface. Society automatically rejects because of this superficiality and its own superficiality. Society has no interest in looking beneath the surface and seeing what an individual is really like. This superficiality of society and the people in it is what Holden hates and what he views as phony. The pimples on the surface might also symbolize a lack of substance with respect to Ackley s inner character. He may very well be an individual of little depth or quality which is also a factor that leads to Holden s rejection of society as a whole. He finds so few in it worthy of seeking any connection with. 4

5 3/ After [Ackley] left, I put on my old hunting hate. (37) Once again, Holden refuses to wear the symbol of his individuality the red hunting hat in public. Like his cynicism, the hat helps him separate himself from society by its uniqueness but, at the same time, his failure to put it on in public demonstrates his desire to in some way, connect to a world he finds very, very cold indeed. 4/ Holden s description of Allie s baseball mitt is a way for Holden to stay connected to his dead younger brother who died of leukemia. When he talks of Allie, it is not with the same cynicism and disgust he views the rest of humankind. He sees Allie as fifty times as intelligent as him and the nicest, in lots of ways. (38) Now we get a sense, as a reader, for Holden s desire to disconnect form society as a way of protecting himself. When the people you love most disappear, it is hard to count on other relationships to be ones you can trust in and count on for some form of permanency. This anger over the loss Holden has suffered manifested itself in the form of anger when he broke all the windows in the garage the night [Allie] died (39) but now it comes through in the form of Holden s cynicism and contempt for the world and the relationships he longs for but which ultimately end up being unfulfilling and disappointing. Chapter 6 1/ Stradlater returns home and voices his displeasure over Holden s descriptive essay on a baseball glove and was sore as hell. (41). The fact that Holden only did it as a favour for Stradlater highlights how selfish Stradlater is and how desperate Holden is to connect to anyone. For someone who is so obviously in tune with Stradlater s flaws, it is rather ironic that he would agree to do anything for him. He is just trying to combat his isolation with some attempt, however feeble, at connection. 2/ [Stradlater] was sitting on the edge of his bed, cutting his toenails. (42) Like Ackley s pimples, Stradlater s toenails may be a symbol of a deeper ugliness that he possesses, in his case, his selfishness and vanity as he walks around stroking his bare chest. (41) When Holden says, You were always watching somebody cut their damn toenails or squeeze their pimples (42) he is really saying you were always watching some superficial, selfish and morally ugly individual who never lives up to what you hope he or she may possibly be. 3/ I told him he thought he could give the time to anybody he felt like. I told him he didn t even care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row or not [he doesn t] even know if her first name is Jean or Jane. (44) Holden despises Stradlater for being able to have sex ( give the time to ) with Jane (who Holden cares deeply about) but lacks the capacity for any other kind of deeper intimacy, the kind of intimacy to know a girl likes to keep all her kings in the back row. Adolescent sexuality is a theme in The Catcher in the Rye. This physical desire is a strong one in adolescent life but just as powerful is the disappointment that comes when an adolescent realizes that sex does not automatically bring intimacy. In fact, it may help 5

6 to breed alienation and isolation as a result of its potential to disappoint. This passage shows not only the shallowness and moral bankruptcy on Stradlater s part but it also shows a certain depth of character on the part of Holden, despite his surface cynicism and abrasiveness. As a result of yet another important relationship in Holden s life being a disappointing one, he reacts to Stradlater with violence. He ends up with blood all over [his] mouth and chin. (45) but the level of contempt Holden shows for Stradlater just using Jane as a sexual conquest reveals how much she means to him. He is equally disgusted by the fact that Stradlater does not even know her name. This symbolizes Stradlater s inability to know who she really is. Again, Stradlater shows his lack of capacity for any intimacy whatsoever, beyond a deep love of himself and his appearance. Holden s anger may also be the result of being let down by Jane for allowing herself to be seduced by Stradlater. He sees something in her that makes him want to get closer to her but her association with Stradlater taints and tarnishes this and possibly makes him believe she is yet anther person who has failed to live up to his expectations. All these emotional disappointments are why Holden detaches himself form the company of others. It is for his own emotional self-preservation. 4/ [Holden] heard old Stradlater close the door and go down the corridor and then found his hunting hat and put it on. (45) Again, Holden s hat is worn in the absence of human company. If he wears it and shows his individuality around others, he fears he will be rejected. Holden s internal conflict continues. Chapter 7 1/ a) I just kept laying there thinking about Jane and all. It drove me mad when I thought about her and Stradlater parked somewhere Every time I thought about it I felt like jumping out the window. (48) b) I got to feeling so lonesome and rotten I even felt like waking Ackley up (50) The impact of Stradlater s being with Jane cracks Holden s armour of cynicism and apathy and his vulnerability become obvious as it did in chapter 5 when he attacked Stradlater. The reader is reminded that Holden, despite his intelligence and intellectual maturity, is after all, just an adolescent boy trying to make sense of a world that has stripped away his innocence far too early. Despite his cynicism, he has a romantic ideal in his mind when he thinks of Jane, and Stradlater has, somewhat, shattered this ideal in his mind. It bothers him so much that he even says, I almost wished I was dead (48) and My nerves were shot (51). This suggests the fragility of his emotional state and mental well-being. Holden is so lost and alone after learning of Stradlater and Jane that his isolation becomes unbearable and he repeatedly says he is lonesome. He is so lonesome that he even felt like waking Ackley up and is not even put off by the white stuff on his face, for his pimples. (46) After his perceived destruction of his idealistically romantic view 6

7 of Jane, he needs connection more than ever, even if it is in the form of someone like Ackley. Ackley s disgusting personal hygiene and annoying manner only serve to highlight how desperate the normally cynical and detached Holden is at this point. His comment to Ackley about joining a monastery (50) and his action of waking Ackley up to talk about it shows his internal conflict between isolating himself from and connecting to society. 2/ Holden again put [his] red hunting hat on and turned the peak around to the back, the way [he] liked it (52) when he leaves Pencey and is away from all the other students at the school. He asserts his individuality when he has isolated himself from anyone in the school and steps out into the night all alone. Alone, he can t be rejected for his individuality. Chapter 8 1/ a) That hat I bought had earlaps in it, and I put them on I didn't give a damn how I looked. Nobody was around anyway. Everybody was in the sack. (53) b) All I did was take off my hunting hat and put it in my pocket. (53) Again, Holden's hat symbolizes the individuality he is afraid to assert when others are around. He is only willing to wear it now because nobody was around. He fears being rejected for who he is so he hides who he is. When he boards a train and faces the possibility of being exposed to a lot of people, he takes it off and puts it in his pocket. 2/ a) 'Rudolph Schmidt,' I told her. I didn't feel like giving her my whole life history.' (54-55) b) She was around forty or forty-five...but very good-looking (54) c) 'He's one of the most popular boys at Pencey.' d) 'Old Mrs. Morrow didn't say anything, but boy, you should've seen. I had her glued to her seat. You take somebody's mother, all they want to ear about is what a hot-shot their son is' (56) e) 'But I'll bet, after all the crap I shot, Mrs. Morrow'll keep thinking of him now as this very shy,modest guy that wouldn't let us nominate him for president.' (57) f) 'I have this tiny little tumour on the brain' (58) Holden meets a woman on the train who turns out to be the mother of a student at Pencey by the name of Ernest Morrow. Holden uses an alias (Rudolph Schmidt) which symbolizes his refusal to let anyone see who he really is or to let anyone get to know the real Holden Caulfield. He didn't feel like giving her [his] whole life history because that would have involved or risked letting someone get close to him. He strikes up these 7

8 conversations with total strangers rather than following through on his desire to call people he cares about (Jane, Phoebe) so as to avoid the risk of being rejected by people her cares about. If Mrs. Morrow gives him the brush-off, it is no great loss as she means nothing to him anyhow just as he means nothing to her. The fact that he tries to get some kind of intimacy with her highlights how desperate he is for any kind of intimacy, whatsoever, even if it is only a short term closeness. When Holden chooses a woman who is very good-looking, it reveals the internal conflict within Holden that makes it so hard for him to discern the difference between sexual attraction and real intimacy or love. He holds on to his idealistic view of romantic love all while his body and mind are driven by the longing of sexual desire and the longing for sexual fulfillment. Everything Holden tells Mrs. Morrow is all with the intention of making her feel good about her time with him and, as a result, making him feel better about himself as he feels close to her. He does this by telling Mrs. Morrow that Ernest was one of the most popular boys at Pencey. By making her feel good about her son, he feels good about himself because she is viewing him with affection and a genuine respect. He likes the fact that he had her glued to her seat and even though all the crap [he] shot is a lie, it is fitting for the type of intimacy he is establishing with Mrs. Morrow because this intimacy is also a lie. It is just a substitute for real intimacy and real caring. Holden ups the stakes even further at the chapter's end by telling Mrs. Morrow he has a tiny little tumour on the brain. Again, through her feeling sympathy or pity for him, it allows him to experience something akin to real love and real affection but without the strings, attachments or complications that come with real love and real intimate relationships. Chapter 9 1/ a) Then I thought of giving Jane Gallagher's mother a buzz, and find out when Jane's vacation started, but I didn't feel like it. Besides, it was pretty late to call up. Then I thought of calling up this girl I used to go around with quite frequently, Sally Hayes, because I knew her Christmas vacation had started already she'd written me this long, phony letter, inviting me over to help her trim the Christmas tree Christmas Eve and all but I was afraid her mother'd answer the phone and all...then I thought of calling up this guy that went to the Whooton School when I was there, Carl Luce, but I didn't like him much. So I ended up not calling anybody. (59) b) I kept toying with the idea...of giving old Jane a buzz...i was going to tell whoever answered the phone that i was her uncle. I was going to say her aunt just got killed in a car accident...the only reason I didn't do it was because I wasn't in the mood. If you're not in the mood, you can't do that stuff right. (63) Yet again, Holden makes excuses not to contact people who seem to matter to him. His fear of real connection and real intimacy is only matched by his insatiable desire and longing for it. This struggle within Holden is part of the confusion that has compromised his innocent romantic view of a world that is nothing like the one he envisions or longs for. By not contacting Jane, he is able to keep his view of her and their relationship on some kind of romantic pedestal. He is afraid to test the relationship for fear that it will 8

9 not live up to the view of it that he has in his head. By not contacting Jane, his imaginings of what it would be like if he were with her are left intact, as fragile as they are. 2/ 'By any chance do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it's frozen over.' (60) The ducks are once more mentioned and again serve to highlight two things. First, Holden's curiosity about the ducks shows a childlike innocence of the world that contrasts greatly with the adolescent cynicism he shows towards the adult world. As well, the ducks again symbolize the alienated and isolated people like Holden who fly south to escape a frozen world that is cold and unfeeling. 3/ 'Would you care to stop on the way and join me for cocktail?' (60) Holden again tries to create superficial intimacy by striking up a conversation with people, like Mrs. Morrow, who he is not likely to ever see again. He asks the cabbies to join him for a cocktail because of his desperate loneliness. However, unlike Jane or Phoebe, he risks nothing by revealing anything of himself to them because they mean nothing to him. They can't reject him because he doesn't need them. With Jane it is different. He is afraid that he does need her and the intimacy she can provide and this frightens him. He fears he may lose it once he acquires it. 4/ We got to the Edmont Hotel, and I checked in. I'd put on my red hunting cap when I was in the cab, just for the hell of it, but I took it off before I checked in. I didn't want to look like a screwball or something. (61) Yet again, Holden refuses too wear his cap in public as he continues to hide his true self from an ever judgemental world. The cap is what makes him feel special or unique and different. Sadly, he fears his uniqueness will make him look like a screwball or something to the cruel, cold world that takes no mercy on anyone who happens to be not like everyone else or not cut from the same mold as everyone else. 5/ a) You'd be surprised what was going on on the other side of the hotel. They didn't even bother to pull their shades down. I saw one guy, a gray-haired, very distinguished- looking guy with only his shorts on, do something you wouldn't believe me if I told you. First he put his suitcase on the bed. Then he took out all these women's clothes, and put them on. Real women's clothes silk stockings, high heeled shoes, brassiere, and one of those corsets with the straps hanging down and all. Then he put on this very tight black evening dress. I swear to God...he was all alone too. (60) b) Then in the window almost right over his, I saw a man and a woman squirting water out of their mouths at each other. (62) 9

10 c) The trouble was, that kind of junk is sort of fascinating to watch, even if you don't want it to be. (62) d)...i'm probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. Sometimes I can think of very crumby stuff I wouldn't mind doing if the opportunity came up. I can even see how it might be quite a lot of fun, in a crumby way...to get a girl and squirt water or something all over each other's face. The thing is though, I don't like the idea. It stinks, if you analyze it. I think if you don't really like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all, and if you do like her, then you're supposed to like her face, and if you like her face, you ought to be careful about doing crumby stuff to it, like squirting water all over it. It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes. (62) e) Girls aren't too much help, either, when you start trying not to get too crumby, when you start trying not to spoil anything really good. I knew this one girl, a couple of years ago, that was crumbier than I was. Boy was she crumby! We had a lot of fun, though, for awhile, in a crumby way. Sex is something I really don't understand too hot. You never know where the hell you are. I keep making up these sex rules for myself, and then I break them right away. Last year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it the same week...the same night...i spent the same night necking with a terrible phony named Anne Louise Sherman. Sex is something I just don't understand. I swear to God...After awhile i sat down in a chair and smoked a couple of cigarettes. I was feeling pretty horny (62-63) f) 'Well, you don't know me, but I'm a friend if Eddie Birdsell's. He suggested that if I were in town sometime, we ought to get together for a cocktail or two...i couldn't remember if his name was Edmund or Edward. I only met him once, at a...stupid party.' (64) The above passages highlight Holden s innocence and his internal struggle. The kinky sex acts described above show how sex can be used for physical pleasure without the slightest hint of intimacy or emotional closeness whatsoever. However, adding to Holden s confusion is the fact that while he finds the acts arousing and titillating, he also finds them crumby and is bothered by the fact that crumby stuff can be a lot of fun sometimes. He, in his innocence, has equated sex and intimacy or romantic love as one and the same. The realization that is beginning to dawn upon him now is that sex and sexual arousal can have absolutely nothing in common with intimacy as is evidenced by the couple spitting water at one another. Though he knows how it might be quite a lot of fun, he feels that if you really like a girl...then you're supposed to like her face, and if you like her face, you ought to be careful about doing crumby stuff to it. The way he deals with this conflict is by calling up total strangers like Faith Cavendish (quote f) who can possibly provide the sexual turn on that a young, adolescent male is seeking without the intimacy he so desires but also is so fearful of being hurt by. In the above quotes, the kinkiness of the sex play symbolizes just how far sex and intimacy can be. Holden is beginning to see this in himself when he says I m probably the biggest sex maniac you 10

11 ever saw but admits he [doesn t] like the idea of sex as nothing more than a turn on. He is driven by two desires. One is for sexual fulfillment and the other is for emotional connection. What he doesn t realize is that for all this to come in one package is rare and it is when you ve probably found true love. He is somewhat ashamed and embarrassed by the fact that his own lust for sex can be so removed from the loving and caring of true intimacy. He is bothered by the fact that the phoniness he sees in a person like Stradlater is also a part of his own make-up as he tries to find sexual pleasure at all costs. Finally, in his innocence and confusion, he simply admits that sex is something I really don't understand too hot. Chapter 10 1/ You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life...i'm the only really dumb one. (67) Holden is talking about his sister Phoebe here and speaks of her with the same tone with which he spoke of his dead brother, Allie. He puts himself down at her expense almost as if he feels unworthy in her presence. Part of Holden's problem seems to be his guilt for having survived while Allie died. This has only added to his self-loathing. The fact that he recognizes himself as being no better than the people he despises for their phoniness and shallowness causes him to worship someone like Phoebe who he sees as a truly beautiful human being from the inside out. This also leads him to find excuses not to call her because he is trying to maintain a certain distance just in case she leaves like Alliedid when he died. 2/ a) She was really a moron. But what a dancer. I could hardly stop myself from sort of giving her a kiss on the top of her dopey head...she got sore when I did it. (71-72) b) I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and ten you never know where the hell you are. (73) Holden, again, shows his own phoniness as his adolescent sexual drive causes him to mistake lust for some form of love. Despite the fact that he views a girl he met at a club as a moron, he can't help from falling half in love with her, kissing her on the head and telling her she's a very good conversationalist (72), which is something a moron would not be. It is, indeed, quite possible to find a person who has personal qualities you detest, to be quite attractive physically. However, in Holden's naivete and innocence and his desperation for some form of emotional and physical attachment -he mistakes this sexual attraction for love. Once again, his confusion over the two feelings leaves him not knowing where the hell you are with respect to intimacy and relationships. To fall in love with and then kiss a total stranger who he views as being a moron certainly underscores the confused state of mind in which Holden finds himself. Again, like 11

12 Stradlater, he is presenting a false face in order to find sexual fulfillment. However, he is really fooling himself by thinking it is some form of love he is chasing. Chapter 11 1/ While the previous two chapters focus upon the superficiality of sex and sexual attraction, chapter 11 is in stark contrast as it finally reveals Holden's relationship with Jane in a little more detail. From those details we can see an intimacy quite unlike the sexual superficiality of chapters 9 and 10. Holden admits he got...jane Gallagher on the brain (76) and discusses how [he] really got to know her quite intimately. (76) He goes even further to show that maybe he is not as naïve as he seems when he says, You don't always have to get too sexy to get to know a girl. (76) 2/ We see this intimacy that is so tender and so loving without any hint of sexuality though there are hints of sensuality in the numerous incidents Holden reveals about his time spent with Jane one whole summer long (76) a) She was the only one, outside my family, that I ever showed Allie's baseball mitt to..i told her quite a lot about him. She was interested in that kind of stuff (77) Holden's closeness to Jane is not only shown by the fact that he confides in her about something so personal as Allie but also by the fact that she was interested in what he had to say. Her listening to what he had to say with interest, shows how she must care for him in the same manner he cares for her. And that is intimacy. b) Then she really started to cry, and the next thing I knew, I was kissing her all over anywhere her eyes, her nose, her forehead, her eyebrows and all, her ears her whole face except her mouth and all. She sort of wouldn't let me get to her mouth. (79) c) I held hands with her all the time...that doesn't sound like much..but she was terrific to hold hands with...we'd get into a...movie or something, and right away we'd start holding hands, and we wouldn't quit till the movie was over...you never even worried, with Jane, whether your hand was sweaty or not. All you knew was, you were happy. You really were. (79) d) One time, in this movie, Jane did something that just about knocked me out...i felt this hand on the back of my neck, and it was Jane's. It was a funny thing to do...most girls if you see them putting their hand on the back of somebody's neck...they're doing it to their husband or their little kid...it's so pretty it just about kills you. (80) The kissing here shows intimacy and not sexuality because the kissing of the eyes and nose and forehead and eyebrows shows a familiarity with, and a closeness to, that sex doesn't, necessarily, even come close to achieving. This kind of physical contact, like the touching of the neck in the quote (d), shows a genuine caring and love for another human being because it is so devoid of sexual overtones. The kissing of the mouth can be 12

13 quite sexual and when Jane wouldn't let [Holden] get to her mouth, it may not necessarily suggest that she does not like Holden that way. It may simply be that she does not want to spoil the intimacy and closeness of this moment with something as trivial and emotionally detached as sex. The touching of the neck is linked to a husband or a child because there is no stronger love than the love held for the person you choose to marry and the child you choose to bear. By comparing Jane's touching of Holden to the touching of a husband or child is to highlight how close Jane must feel to Holden to do this. Holding hands (quote c) is the same kind of intimacy. It is being intimate without being sexual and when Holden and Jane hold hands for an entire movie without changing the position (79)and without [quitting] till the movie was over (79), and without moving beyond this simple act, it shows, once again, how intimate two people can get without getting sexual. Chapter 12 1/ The fish don't go no place. They stay right where they are, the fish (82) The fish, unlike the ducks that flee the frozen lake - and winter - for the warmth of the south, stay right where they are and adapt to their environment. The fish symbolize the individuals who can accept the coldness and phoniness of society and still find their own happiness within it by adapting to the world they are forced to inhabit. They are a contrast to the ducks who represent the people who escape from society because they find it too inhospitable and alienating. When Holden asks the cab driver, Horwitz, Do you happen to know where [the ducks] go in the wintertime (82), what he is really asking is where do the people who can't cope with the loneliness and cruelty of this world go to find some sense of peace or even escape? 2/ Holden's loneliness leads to his desperate attempts at connection when he asks Horwitz, Would you care to stop off and have a drink with me somewhere? (83) He asks a total stranger to have a drink with him because of his desperate loneliness but the fact that Horwitz is a total stranger reminds the reader that Holden chooses strangers because they mean nothing to him. Because of this, he does not have to fear being rejected by them. This relationship offers no risk of pain. It is safe. It is his way of distancing himself from society for his own emotional well-being and self-protection but at the same time, not being alone. 3/ It was very phony...i don't even think he knows anymore when he's playing right or not. It isn't all his fault. I partly blame all those dopes that clap their heads off they'd foul up anybody if you gave them a chance. Anyway, it made me feel depressed and lousy again... (84) Holden is referring to the saxophone player, Ernie, who he sees performing at a club one night. Ernie is yet one more example for Holden of all the phoniness and fakery in society. He has to fake what he plays to please the audience. He puts in all these dumb, show-offy ripples in the high notes (84) because he knows this is what the 13

14 audience, in their musical ignorance, applauds. Holden feels Ernie hasn't played what he feels for so long that he's forgotten how to do it. Ernie symbolizes how, even though we may hate the phoniness of the world, we, ourselves, have to be fakes or phonies to survive in this artificial world of our own making. If we do it for long enough, we start to forget that we, ourselves, have become phonies. It just becomes the way we survive and keep ourselves protected. 4/ Anyway, this JoeYale-looking guy had a terrific looking girl with him. Boy she was good-looking. But you should've heard the conversation they were having...what he was doing, he was giving her a feel under the table, and at the same time telling her all about some guy in his dorm that had eaten a whole bottle of aspirin and nearly committed suicide. His date kept saying to him, 'How horrible...don't, darling. Please, don't. Not here.' Imagine giving somebody a feel and telling them about a guy committing suicide at the same time! That killed me. (85-86) This conversation witnessed by Holden shows the blurred and confusing line between sex and real intimacy. The boy is obviously horny for the girl as he is giving [her] a feel but the conversation about a near suicide would normally be a serious conversation between two people connecting on some level of intimacy. Part of the reason why Holden can't tell the two things apart (sex and intimacy) is that people often fake intimacy to attain sex. The boy could care less about the individual who nearly overdosed. He just uses this very personal incident to try and make the girl think he is a caring and sensitive person. If she thinks this, more than likely, he believes, he will be able to have sex with her. It seems to be working for him here. More than anything else, this incident serves as a contrast to real intimacy and real connection between two individuals who care deeply for one another. 5/ I'm always saying 'Glad to've met you' to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though. (87) Holden's comment comes after just meeting some Navy guy for the first and last time. It highlights how he is beginning to accept the fact that to survive in this world, one has to put on a false face. To be always honest and say what you feel and show who you really are is to risk rejection for not not trying to fit or blend in and be phony and fake just like everyone else. Chapter 13 1/...I took my red hunting hat out of my pocket and put it on I didn't give a damn how I looked. (88) Holden acknowledges here that his hat is not only part of who he is but, more importantly, he is afraid to assert his true individuality and identity when he is out in public. For once, he musters up the courage to not give a damn what others think and let society see at least a part of the real Holden Caulfield. Unfortunately, for the most 14

15 part, it is more bravado than real conviction as Holden continues to retreat further and further within himself as the novel progresses. 2/...I brushed my teeth...then I put on another clean shirt. I knew I didn't have to get all dolled up for a prostitute or anything, but it sort of gave me something to do. (91-92) Whether Holden knows it or not, the reason he is getting all dolled up for a prostitute is because he is not only trying to satisfy his adolescent sexual desires, but he is also trying to satisfy his longing for emotional intimacy and connection. His getting dressed up as if he is going on a date signifies his desire for intimacy. The fact that he is doing it for a prostitute signifies his inability to strive for real intimacy and his desire to protect himself from the emotional mine fields of real relationships, real connection and real intimacy. A prostitute allows him to keep his emotional distance because that is what a prostitute does in her profession. Finally, a prostitute can, at least, satisfy his teenage lust for sexual intercourse. When Holden says, If you want to know the truth, I'm a virgin, (92) the reader can understand why the conflict at war within Holden is such an intense one. For Holden to be a virgin at this age only heightens his longing and lust for sexual connection - as much for curiosity as for horniness. 3/ 'My name is Jim Steele' (94) Holden tells the prostitute, Sunny. Once again he keeps his emotional distance by never letting anyone, even a prostitute, see the real Holden. This distance - and his alias - allows him to keep himself safe and protected once more. 4/ I know you're supposed to feel pretty sexy when somebody gets up and pulls their dress over their head, but I didn't. Sexy was about the last thing I was feeling. I felt much more depressed than sexy. (95) Holden always pictured a girl undressing as a sexy but also, a very romantic and intimate thing. For him, the two go together. When Sunny does it, it is very workmanlike and does not have a hint of intimacy or sensuality to it. For Sunny, when she gets undressed, it is the same as someone else putting on their work clothes. It is just an afterthought. It is not at all as Holden envisioned it would have been. Sunny's lack of sensuality makes Holden feel very unsexy and unaroused. In fact, the sense of disillusionment makes Holden feel more depressed than sexy as his idealistic views of love and sex continue to crack and crumble under the strain of his naïve romanticism. 5/ 'Do you feel like talking for awhile?' (95) Holden's question to the prostitute, Sunny, shows Holden's warped sense of reality and love. He wants to talk to a prostitute just as he talked to Jane because talking is a form of intimacy. Unfortuntely, he is paying a prostitute to have sex, not to talk. Sunny looked at [Holden] like [he] was a madman. (95) because intimacy and talking are the last things on her mind, as they should be the last things on his mind at this time. If he were with someone he truly loved, then it would make perfect sense. Because Holden has 15

16 sex and intimacy, and love and lust, so mixed up, it leads to these very incongruent and contradictory situations in Holden's young and troubled life. Sunny represents something he both wants and despises, something he needs but fears. He is too scared to, both, call Jane and sleep with Sunny. He takes refuge in his isolation but this isolation only intensifies his alienation, his loneliness and, ultimately, his pain. 6/ I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all. The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell I don't know why exactly. (96) It makes Holden feel sad as hell even though he doesn't know why exactly because he pictures a beautiful woman buying a beautiful dress to go on a date with a man she loves. He is trying to make the hooker to whom he has paid cash so she will have sex with him, into this girl he has envisioned in his romantic, idealistic head. When he begins to realize the two don't match up very well, his disillusionment makes him sad and only heightens his sense of depression and confusion. This sense of disillusionment leads him to ask Sunny, '...Do you mind very much if we don't do it?' (96) because by now, Holden felt more depressed than sexy (96) Chapter 14 1/ I like Jesus and all, but I don't care too much for most of the other stuff in the bible. Take the Disciples, for instance. They annoy the hell out of me, if you want to know the truth. They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was was alive, they were about as much use to him as a hole in the head. All they did was keep letting him down. (99) The supposed betrayal, in Holden's mind, of Jesus by his Disciples tells more abut Holden's mental state than it does about the relationship between Jesus and his Disciples. Holden's discussion of the Disciples reveals how he feels betrayed and hurt by all the relationships he forms. He feels let down by Allie's death and by his inability to move to where he would like to in his relationship with Jane. He views connection and intimacy as being the first steps to betrayal and pain and it is for this reason he hesitates in forming any lasting and meaningful relationships with anyone, including members of his own family. 2/ I remember I asked old Childs if he thought Judas, the one that betrayed Jesus and all, went to Hell after he committed suicide. Childs said certainly. That's exactly where I disagreed with with him. I said I'd bet...that Jesus never sent old Judas to Hell...I think any one of the Disciples would've sent him to Hell...but I'll bet anything Jesus didn't do it. (100) In Holden's continuation of his discussion of the Jesus / Disciple relationship, he shows, once again, his idealistic and overly romanticized view of things. He pictures Jesus as an all-forgiving and ever-compassionate individual who forgives even the most horrific of sins and trespasses. Holden sees in Jesus the kind of person who he wishes he had in his 16

17 life. This kind of unconditional love is what he longs for because he feels he is too unworthy to ever be accepted by any normal human being in society. His self-loathing has led him to look up to yet one more person with whom he can never form a lasting and intimate relationship. With Jane, it is a girl he loves but always makes excuses to not call. With Sunny, it is prostitute with who could never ever love him as he could never love her or hurt him. With Jesus, it is a figure who exists only in the Bible or in myth or in the mind of only the most faith-filled. Jesus is yet one more idealized individual and relationship he can hold in his mind as perfect without the risk of seeing that relationship and idealized view of it come crashing down in the cruel, cold light of reality. 3/ 'You're a dirty moron...you're a stupid chiselling moron, and in about two years you'll be one of these scraggy guys that come up to you on the street and ask for a dime for coffee. You'll have snot all over your dirty, filthy overcoat, and you'll be -' Then [Maurice] smacked me. I didn't even try to get out of the way or duck or anything. All I felt was this terrific punch in my stomach. (102) Holden reveals two things about himself here. Firstly, he is a very intelligent young man who is probably a very good judge of character. He knows exactly what kind of a bully and a thug that Maurice is and the reason why Maurice slugged Holden in the stomach is, probably, not because of what Holden said but because what he said is so accurate. Maurice knows that Holden has him pegged and probably knows more about him than he would ever be willing to admit about himself. Holden struck a nerve with Maurice. This passage also reveals that, as mentally unstable as Holden may be, he is still a person of principle thanks in part to his overly idealized view of the world. In chapter 13, Holden views himself as yellow (89) when he says he wouldn't have the guts (89) to confront and take a sock (89) at the person who stole his gloves at Pencey Prep. However, even then he acknowledges, Maybe I'm not all yellow (89) and this piece of self-awareness proves to be quite accurate in chapter 14 as Maurice tries to extort $5.00 out of Holden for services provided by Sunny. The agreed upon price was $5.00 but Maurice says it was $ Holden stands up to the physically superior Maurice and refuses to pay. His courage and conviction is even more admirable when he remarks, God was I scared (102) He is beaten for his stand but refuses to give the money until it is forcibly taken from him. Holden has his own sense of dignity that he refuses to surrender at any cost even it it does involve physical harm to himself. 4/ The goddam movies. They can ruin you. (104) The movies, and Holden's dislike for them, symbolizes not only his romanticized and idealized view of the world he inhabits and how that view is not an accurate reflection of reality - but, also, how this view has caused Holden not to be able to function in the world that he is forced to inhabit every day. The fake and overly romanticized world of the movies has ruined [him] and as his protective cocoon of innocence falls away, this world that he sees reflected in movies - and that exists in his head - is nothing like the one he sees and feels every day. The real world is far more harsh and painful and unforgiving and far less ideal and romantic. It shatters him. The movies are just a symbol of the fake world of childhood innocence that hides the dark cruelties of the adult real world. 17