Holden's soft spot

"God, I love it when a kid's nice and polite when you tighten their skate for them or something. Most kids are."
We finally found Holden's weak spot, he loves kids. This really helps me clear up a couple thoughts about Holden. He likes children because they seem untouched by humanity. They've only been around for a short time, not long enough to be poisoned by other people. Stop me if I'm wrong but I think Holden thinks of the world like this...The longer someone lives, the more phony they become because they have had more time to be influenced by the world. Thinking about it like this made me realize that he is afraid of being phony, but he's even more afraid of being influenced by others. I think that he believes that being influenced and changed by others is always a bad thing. He is afraid because he doesn't have the power to keep himself the way he is. Maybe that's why he distances himself from others even though it's a natural desire to want to be close to others. This quote is like a master key, it open's multiple doors...and I'm sure that I will find more to open with it.

Childhood Vs. Adulthood

In chapters 9 through 11 I saw a couple different ways that Holden is stuck in between these two. What I find funny is how he dislikes adults so much yet he tries to be one all the time. He tries to drink, and get women. He can also be very childish though, for instance he knows Jane. He also knows that she wouldn't do anything with Stradlater, yet he sits around worrying about it and dwelling on the subject. All these little things let you see exactly how much he is at conflict with himself about whether or not to grow up. I know that one thing that I have problems with during this transition is that I want to keep doing so many things that they are overlapping on each other, I overcrowd my schedule. I am at some point going to have to stop doing that but I don't want to, because I like all the things that I do. I think a problem that most everybody has at one point or another is when they have to start supporting themselves with their money. Not having mom and dad paying for stuff for them. It pretty much happens to everybody at some point, unless you still live in your parents basement. In that case you really should get out of the house. Holden fits right in the middle of this, he can't decide whether or not to grow up, so he grows up in some ways but stays childish in other ways. He's just trying to figure out what to do. Like I said earlier, if you still live in your parents basement...get out...honestly.

If you don't like it...REBEL!!!!

I think that all teens rebel in one way or another. It just goes unnoticed sometimes. The reasons that they rebel can be completely different, and so can the way that they rebel. I would say that the real larger reason that they rebel is because they feel like they shouldn't be controlled since they are "growing up". Teens feel that as they grow up they should have more control over their life. They might actually be getting more control but they will rebel anyways. The important part isn't how much control that they have it is that everyone knows how much control that they have. So they rebel to show everyone how much power they have. It's funny because many teenagers like the people who rebel, there is something about it that attracts them. In the case of adults though they just see it as obnoxious. It's almost like a status symbol in the youth of America. We've never really seen much of it here, but in larger cities I'll bet that it still happens all the time. I think it's just a part of growing up. It's a way of testing the waters you could say...find out exactly what you can do and what you can't.

Thoughts about Holden

I find Holden to be a very interesting individual. He's very smart but won't apply himself. I'm trying to figure out if that's because he thinks he shouldn't have to do the work or what. One of the things I find most interesting is how in chapter 4 you see that he isn't very good with girls. He knows what he should do but he can't get the nerves to do it. I wonder if this applies to other things as well, where he says he should do it but doesn't. Also thoughout the book, you never see him talk about anyone that he really likes. He doesn't really like his parents it sounds like, and even the people that he would consider friends he doesn't like. He points out what he doesn't like about them. He doesn't like Ackley because he's so nosy. Even nice people like the old man, he doesn't like the way he looks and calls him boy all the time. Then in chapter 5 he talks about someone in a good way for the first time in the entire book. His brother Allie. You can really tell that his brother meant a lot to him. He doesn't point out any flaws and all he does is talk in a good way. I think when it comes to Holden's character this is as nice as it gets. This girl Jane also pops into the story for a little while, but he doesn't talk about her long enough to see if he points out her flaws or not. I think that he won't, she'll be the only person besides Allie that he thinks about that way.

First reaction to Catcher in the Rye

This book is a lot different than I thought it was going to be. The way that everything that happens in the book is so normal, you can identify with it so easy. It's all these mundane things that could and probably have happened to most people. I think that that was why the book was so popular amongst younger readers when it was released. They can see themselves being his character in the book. There were even a couple things in the book that I could connect with. Like when he's talking to the old guy, and how he doesn't really want to be there but he feels obligated to. That has happened to me and probably many other people too. It wasn't as story-like as I thought it would be, it was so real. It's like it could actually be happening.

Startin' a blog. Ooooooooooohhhhhh Yeeeeaaaaaaah! Prepare to be bombarded with words buckoes!!!