An image from gemoomay. It demonstrates isolation and the feelings of Holden as if he was the only one in the world.
In the first seven chapters of the book The Catcher in the Rye we are greeted by the narrator and
protagonist Holden Caulfield. In first person we are quickly given an
understanding of Holden's pessimistic views of the world. It is soon revealed
that Holden was expelled from Pencey prep school which is his forth school so
far. In early chapters Holden visits his favorite teacher Mr. Spencer as he was
given a note to visit, during the visit Holden was given a lecture about his
poor attempts at his academics and receives a bit of advice. Holden however saw
it as humiliation and decides to ignore the lecture and think about other
topics, this bold act boosted Holden's self esteem because he knew that he was
capable of pretending to listen and deceive others. Holden later returns to his
dorm interacting with his roommate, Stradlater, and Ackley who lives next door.
Holden is very irritated with Ackley as he has no respect for others. Later in
the night Holden gets into a fight with Stradlater, which ended swiftly; Holden
then decides to go to a cheap hotel in New
York to relax from his stress and hide from his
parents as they receive news of Holden's expulsion.
Holden's behavior resembled that of my own in certain
situations. During the chapters Holden felt that nobody paid attention to him
and felt isolated; it was at this time where he relied on his over the top self
esteem to keep his sanity. There was a period in my life in which I felt the
same way, during those years I would always keep my composure, and look down
upon others; giving my self a sense of superiority. I would never get try to
get into conflicts like Holden has with Stradlater, but I would always try to
diffuse conflicts peacefully which would make me feel more influential and
powerful. Holden is desperately trying to keep himself together despite his
lack of positive traits, failing courses, unpopular, and irresponsibility has
made Holden feel unimportant. I share a similar experience at times, trying
everything to get approval of others, at the time I had rarely any friends; and
the ones I did have would often ditch me. During those years I had obtained an
inferiority complex which made me judge others and look down upon everyone,
which only worsened my friendships. I find that Holden is dealing with similar
hardships and using the same coping methods as I once did.
The language that Holden uses resembles that of a young
teenager, which is shown in his profanity, his tendency to exaggerate, short
sentences, and overconfidence. In the chapters the theme of false deception has
a very strong presence as Holden points out that many actions of adults are not
out of their goodness of their hearts but instead out of greed or another
ulterior motive. Holden mentions the steak they are fed every Saturday, instead
of seeing it as a reward for a hard week at work, he sees it as taking
advantage of visiting parents, he predicts that parents visiting on Sunday will
ask about the student's previous meal to
which the student will answer steak.
While reading the chapters a few burning questions arise,
such as: Why would Holden constantly bother and attempt to talk to Ackley if
Holden despises him so much? and Why
would Holden go to Manhattan
if he is just going to stay at a hotel the entire time? Holden may been reliant
on Ackley as Ackley is one of the only ones who stays inside and rarely
socializes and Holden is in the same position so it would make sense if Holden
thought that anyone to talk to is better than no one to talk to, regardless of
who they are. Holden may be going to Manhattan for nostalgic reasons, or for the
attractions. As Manhattan
is heavily populated it is possible that Holden can go to multiple attractions
without seeming suspicious.
I predict in that in the next few chapters, that Holden will
be mainly in his hotel judging the world from there, perhaps pointing out the
mistakes of those he walks past. It is also possible in the next chapters that
Holden decides to go home instead of staying at a hotel, from loneliness as he
would have nowhere to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment