Please respond to the following question by the start of class on Monday. Your responses should be around 350 words, you should cite the text, use proper grammar, however, you are free to use the "I." Your responses can be personal in style but should be professional/academic in tone and substance.
At the start of chapter 3, page 18, Holden says: "I read a lot of war books and mysteries and all, but they don't knock me out too much. What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."
In The Catcher in the Rye, what is one passage (paragraph) or idea that has 'knocked you out,' that has inspired or provoked you?
Please clearly state what this idea or passage is, articulate what you believe the purpose of this passage/idea is in regards to Holden's narrative, and then discuss why you are personally drawn to it.
As always please let me know if you have any questions--but I would encourage you to try and work through this assignment on your own and see what you come up with.
I look forward to reading your responses and learning from your ideas.
Best,
AK
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At the top of page 68 in chapter 10, Holden begins to tell the reader about his little sister Phoebe. “She writes books all the time. Only, she doesn’t finish them. They’re all about some kid named Hazel Weatherfield—only old Phoebe spells it ‘Hazle.’ Old Hazle Weatherfield is a girl detective. She’s supposed to be an orphan, but her old man keeps showing up. Her old man’s always a ‘tall attractive gentleman about 20 years of age.’ That kills me”
This passage helps to explain Holden’s story to the reader because when Phoebe never finishes writing her stories, it is as if the character, Hazle Weatherfield, is lost and doesn’t know how to go on. She is lost without Phoebe’s help. This moment is a foil for Holden because although he has begun his life and started many exciting experiences, he always becomes lost and doesn’t know where to turn. Holden, like Hazle, acts as if he is an orphan, but constantly is reminded that he has a “family” trying to support him, or in Hazles case, a man. Even the character Hazle portrays matches up with Holden’s life—he is a detective trying to discover who he is in the midst of failing all of his classes but English, being kicked out of four schools, and breaking his mothers heart by doing so.
I believe that the relationship Holden has with his siblings helps to bring out his character as well. He respects them and looks up to them. When Allie died, he was devastated because he had lost one of his best friends. Holden thinks D.B. is awesome because he lives in Hollywood and has written a book—which is Holden’s favorite. Holden also loves Phoebe and spends time with her whenever he can. Whenever Holden talks about his siblings, he says “I swear to God you’d like him/her”. They mean the world to Holden and he can find a reflection of himself in them. Holden loves English class, and D.B. is a writer, so is Phoebe, and Allie wrote poems in his baseball glove.
I can connect this passage to my own life because I have a strong connection to my sister. Whenever I have lost my way, she helps to find me. This is what Holden needs—someone to find him when he begins to wander off the trail. I can relate to Holden speaking so highly about his sister and valuing her because my sister means so much to me, just as Phoebe means so much to him. Even when phoebe spells ‘Hazel’ ‘Hazle’, I can see the refection of Holden’s frustration in my own life.
“After they left, I started getting sorry that I’d only given them ten bucks for their collection. But the thing was, I’d made that date to go to a matinee with old Sally Hayes, and I needed to keep some dough for the tickets and stuff. I was sorry anyway, though. Goddamn money. It always ends up making you blue as hell.” (113)
This passage shows Holden’s carelessness. Since he doesn’t seem to care about anything, he spends money at almost every opportunity. He complains about his lack of money, but he doesn’t seem to understand or care about the idea that his money will not disappear as quickly if he doesn’t spend it. It shows his apathy for the world and his own problems, problems that he could easily solve if he actually tried. With that being said, this passage also shows a small, but significant, side of Holden; his kind generous side. It shows that even though Holden is depressed, and that he hates practically everything and everyone, he has enough generosity left to spare some money for two nuns. He even regrets not being able to give a little extra.
This passage is also part of a motif; the motif of money. Other financial issues occur when Holden argues with a classmate about the selling price of his typewriter, and a prostitute and her boss beating Holden up for five extra dollars. Money troubles occur frequently to emphasize Holden’s depression and hatred for the world around him.
This passage jumps out at me because of how true it is. Money is at the heart of all the world’s problems, and yet people need to spend money on even basic survival needs: food, water, and a place to live. It also seems to be a possible cause for Holden’s depression; was his family poor as a child? Did his brother die because his family couldn’t pay for medical treatment? Or is Holden just mad because everything costs him money? This passage catches my attention because it succinctly sums up both an important motif of the book, and at the same time displays important character traits of Holden.
Holden thinks of Jane frequently, but one particular memory stands out as the most powerful. “Jane wouldn’t answer him when he asked her if she knew where there was any cigarettes. So the guy asked her again, but she still wouldn’t answer him. She didn’t even look up from the game. Finally the guy went inside the house. When he did, I asked Jane what the hell was going on. She wouldn’t even answer me, then. She made out like she was concentrating on her next move in the game and all. Then all of a sudden, this tear plopped down on the checkerboard. On one of the red squares, boy I can still see it. She just rubbed it into the board with her finger. I don’t know why, but it bothered the hell out of me.”
This memory shows the reader who Jane is as a character and why Holden still thinks of her. Jane ignores her step father and focuses on the next move of the game. Games are a motif for life and in this moment Jane is trying to ignore the bad situation she has been placed in, and focus on her life and her future. Jane won’t answer Holden because she is ashamed of her situation and doesn’t want to be judged on it. Jane is vulnerable and alone and when she cries it bothers Holden. This shows the reader that Holden had a relationship with someone and he has the ability to care for others. Holden and Jane are also in similar situations. They are both angry with their parents, which also helps them strengthen friendship. Jane is one of the only people that convinced Holden to play a game. When Holden is with Jane he feels included not isolated.
This passage stood out to me because the description creates a clear picture in my mind. I can imagine Jane’s tear resting on the red square of the checkerboard. I also connected to this passage because I have sympathy for Jane and can connect to her more easily than I can to Holden. I can relate to Jane in this moment, when she is embarrassed to cry in front of her friend, but also why she is crying. Jane wants her Dad back and hates her step father. By marrying a smoker and a drunk the message her mother is sending to her is that she never cared about Jane’s father. All of that emotion is expressed through one tear on the game.
The passage where Holden began to describe Allie and his baseball mitt really “knocked me out”. “My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he would have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He’s dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent” (38).
This passage shows how Holden really cared and still cares for his late brother Allie. Before this point, Holden seemed like a boy who did not really care about anything. He did not care about anyone or anything; he did not even seem to care about what happened to him. Now Holden shows that he does have feelings. The only thing Holden has left of his brother is this baseball mitt. How Holden describes Allie’s baseball mitt shows the great relationship he had with his brother. Holden describes the mitt in a loving way which shows how much he loved his brother. Holden would not have picked Allie’s baseball mitt to write Stradlater’s paper on if he did not have great memories with that mitt and the person who owned the mitt. These great memories help to bring out Holden’s character as a person. Without Allie Holden would not be who he really is. Holden would be the person who he tries to be and wishes he was. A phony. A hotshot. And a sonuvabitch.
I was “knocked out” by this passage because it was the first time in the book that I did not hate Holden. It was the first time that I could really connect to him and relate. Holden says “if you want to know the truth” all the time but you never know when he is actually telling you the truth. Here I know for a fact that he is telling the truth. Holden does lie about a lot of stuff and shoots the bull to a lot of people, but there is no bull when he talks about Allie and all of his other siblings. I can relate because sometimes I really don’t like my brother but I would never hurt him and I’ll always love him. Holden lost one of the most important people in his life and he will never be the same again. Allie made Holden who he is and that will never change no matter who Holden really wants to be. Holden will always be the person who wants to be just like his little brother.
On page 43 Holden shows some character by sticking up for Jane and himself by going after Stradlater when he told Holden he took Jane in the back of his car and wouldn’t tell him what he exactly did with her. He swings right for Stradlater’s face, “I got up from the bed, like I was going down to the can or something, and then I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would spilt his goddam throat open.” To me this shows that Holden really cares for this girl Jane and can’t stand to hear Stradlater talk about her in that type of manner. Also Holden doesn’t want to face the reality that Jane and Stradlater had possibly done it in the back of Ed Banky’s car. Holden also was really upset because he asked Stradlater to ask Jane a couple of questions he had for her because he was a little shy to go ask her himself. When Stradlater comes back and Holden asks if he had asked her the questions he shrugs it off like of course not did you really think I would. One last thing that got on Holden’s nerves was that Stradlater had asked him to write a paper for him due the next day. Holden said he would and eventually did but when Stradlater saw it he flipped out at Holden. He started complaining about how what he had written wasn’t about anything that he needed to write about. First off I think on this He should be happy that Holden even wrote the story for him in the first place and saved his butt to go on a date with a girl he likes. Especially since Holden wrote about something that had to do with his brother who died of cancer. Holden had just finally reached his breaking point and went at Stradlater. . I do think what Holden did was 100% necessary because somebody needed to stand up to the hot shot Stradlater.
I can relate to this because I know if people ask me to do something for them and I put the time and effort into it and then they take it and are mad because it’s not good enough, I would be wicked mad. I did something I didn’t have to too help you and you repay me by this. I would be fiery just as he was and I would flip just like he did. Holden can be shy but when enough is enough he can explode, which I guess is somehow I can be.
Ricky Kramer
One idea in The Catcher in the Rye that has “knocked me out” so to speak is the idea that Holden is alone in this world. This is prevalent in Chapter 9, when Holden arrives at Penn Station, and says, “I felt like giving somebody a buzz. I left my bags right outside the booth so that I could watch them, but as soon as I was inside, I couldn’t think of anybody to call up” (59). In this passage, Holden basically says that there is no one in the world whom he can literally call upon, and this is accentuated by his watching his bags, that he has no friends.
This is important to Holden’s narrative because it is a way of showing his loneliness. Because Holden is lonely and alone, it breeds empathy in the reader, which is important because Holden is such a troubled young man. I also think that Holden mentions it because his loneliness will be a part of the narrative later on, and he is laying the groundwork for his stay in New York City. It is through this groundwork that Salinger makes the reader connect, and pity (on a certain level), Holden. It is important that the reader does this because Holden will probably do something later on in the book that shows his true colors, and if the reader isn’t totally committed to Holden and his troubles, the reader will decide that Holden himself if the true phony and deserves what he gets instead of pitying him, which is what Salinger wants us to do.
I am drawn to this passage because I think that unless a person has committed an unspeakable crime, that that person needs to have at least one person in their life that he/she can call upon no matter what, no matter what the circumstances. While I think that Holden needs to grow up and quit whining, I also feel pity and can connect with Holden over the fact that he has no friends whatsoever, as one of my biggest fears is that I will have no friends. Although, I believe that the reasons why I am scared of having no friends and Holden’s lack of friends are completely different.
“It was a very descriptive subject. It really was. My brother Allie had this left-handed fielder’s mitt. He was left-handed. The thing that was descriptive about it, though, was that he had poems written all over the fingers and the pocket and everywhere. In green ink. He wrote them on it so that he would have something to read when he was in the field and nobody was up at bat. He’s dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18, 1946. You’d have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent.”
I chose almost the same passage as Abby; it really knocked me out too; it made me feel like running around gathering Amelia and my Abbey into my arms and holding on for dear life. Holden is the student who just does not seem to care. He is the one in the corner that you look at and wonder where he will be going; he could do great things. I read this and I saw Holden covering it all up. He holds in his grief because he is too afraid to face it; I would be too. Allie was two years young than Holden, so present in the story he would be 15, then he died three years ago; he was only 12 years old when he died, and probably wrote the poems before that. The beauty of a 12 year old boy who could write poems in his baseball glove for his own shear entertainment amazes me. Allie is Holden’s guardian angel and this seems to be what Holden can connect to and communicate with to Allie; Allie is his only ally. Personally I see Holden’s pain and comprehend grief but I cannot feel it. Significant losses are one thing; but a sibling is even deeper. The memories that are brought back when I see an object from the past is overwhelming. It is like a hail storm; being pounded with emotions. This particular paragraph brings out Holden’s compassion for his family. If one met Holden on the street I think his automatic reaction would be to be cold because he would not want to be exposed to the opportunity to be hurt. He has barely healed from the loss of Allie and is not willing to be vulnerable. When speaking about Phoebe and D.B., he shows more compassion than he ever does speaking about anyone else. Holden has sub-consciously realized the importance of his family. Allie’s mitt brings back the brilliance that Allie brought into Holden’s life. This is connected to me because my sister’s bring brilliance and beauty into my life, and I treasure them and their writings.
Andrew Waterhouse said...
In the middle of page 96, chapter 13, after getting all excited for finally losing his virginity, Holden changes his mind at the last minute. "Look' I said. 'I don't feel very much like myself tonight. I've had a rough night. Honest to God. I'll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don't do it? Do you mind very much?' The trouble was, I didn't want to do it. I felt more depressed than sexy, if you want to know the truth. She was depressing. Her green dress hanging in the closet and all. And besides, I don't think I could ever do it with somebody that sits in a stupid movie all day long. I really don't think I could."
This passage shows Holden after going after sex, backing out once he's in. I think Holden backs out because the idea of sex relates to being old, which Holden so desperately has tried to avoid. Holden sympathizes with people he sees a little bit of himself in. He looks at Sunny and sees the part of him that is looked down upon and lonesome and such.
This passage also reveals to us more meaning of the motifs. A recurring image in Catcher in the Rye is the color Green. The color green represents bad memories that make Holden feel lonesome. Allie's mitt was written on with green ink, which Holden remembers of the tragic death of Allie when he thinks of it. The color green partly represents that. This passage also gives us information about Holden's hatred for the movies. We already knew that he hates the movies because they are very corny and phoney, and that they remind him of the time when he and Jane Gallagher were intimate, but this passage tells us that because of Holden's hatred for the movies, he forces himself to avoid something he initially wants.
The last chapter on page 52 is the one passage in the book that doesn’t really relate to me personally, but it really seems like when he yells “Sleep tight, ya morons!” that I can see a lot of people I know doing the same exact thing. The picture I have of what Holden looks like and acts exactly like is all based of of the one person that I know that I picture him doing in this very moment. The reason this paragraph caught my eye over all of the others so far in the book is because Holden describes how he really feels in a different emotion than he has in the book up to that point. He really lets his emotions run free when he is explaining exactly what happened that night when he left Pencey Prep. He puts on his red hunting hat and screams at the top of his lungs how he really feels about the kids at his school, and he never does that again up to Chapter 16. But he also acts like the coward he later admits he is and gets out of there as fast as he can because he probably woke up every moron in the whole dorm. I think the real purpose and meaning of this passage is for Holden to show who he really is but not by just saying who he is in exact words. I think this passage gives us a better understanding on who he really is, better than the other passages where he says, in exact words, who he thinks he is. The weird thing about this passage is that he says that as he is leaving the dorm that he is crying and he doesn’t know why. I think it might be because underneath all of the hatred that he says he has against Pencey, that he really does love it there and is sad that there is no excuse for staying there where he likes it.
~Jon Malloy~
In J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher and the Rye, Holden Caulfield attempts to find direction, guidance, and salvation from the life he does not want. Holden’s younger brother Allie acts as a director, guide, and savior for his older brother. On page 38, Holden tells a story about his brother Allie that begins with a baseball mitt, and ends with Holden's scar. Allie himself is a very descriptive subject in being a human being wrought with emotion, but as a brother, and as a deceased brother, Allie is not only a descriptive subject but also one that will provoke you, inspire you and “knock you out.” Allie and the memory of him, serves on two fronts for the reader; symbolizing the role Allie plays as Holden’s savior and providing Holden with the means to express the true reason for his failure in school, within his family, and life. Allie is Holden’s guide to success when he is out in the world with nobody leading him to his path.
The story of Allie is a crucial point in Holden’s narrative because it reveals Holden’s attachment to, need for, and dependency upon, his brother. Holden’s realization that his brother was always there to support him depicts these three critical points. “I’ll tell you the kind of red hair he had. I remember once, the summer I was around twelve, teeing off and all, and having a hunch that if I turned around all of a sudden, I’d see Allie. So I did, and sure enough, he was sitting on his bike outside the fence—there was this fence that went around the course—and he was sitting there, about a hundred and fifty yards behind me, watching me tee off” (38). Through supporting, inspiring, and being with Holden, Allie became a necessity in Holden’s life. Holden expected Allie to be there, and by recounting this expectancy, Holden leads the reader to the fact that because Holden expects Allie he is dependant upon him. The dependency Holden has on his brother is symbolically represented when Holden wears his red hunting hat. Holden brings the red hat with him wherever he goes because it reminds him of the kind of red hair his brother had, and therefore his brother himself.
Holden’s relationship with his brother inspires the reader because every brother can place them self in either Holden’s or Allie’s place. I have a brother, 3 years younger than I, who has a pure head of blonde hair; yet, I see him now with the same kind of red hair that Allie had. Matthew is my Allie, he is intelligent, kind hearted, and hilarious; more than any of this though, he is something I feel cannot ever be taken from me. For Holden Caulfield, the exact opposite quickly became truth. Holden lives in the shadow cast by his brother’s death, completely engulfed by the grief that quickly ensued. “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (39). When I read this passage, I can feel my hand throb in a fast convulsive rhythm, as if each punch Holden threw at those windows I threw myself. As a brother, I have felt the love Holden describes, but never the pain or the suffering felt at their loss because I am under the belief, perhaps the illusion, that he cannot be taken from me. It is an illusion because I am not naïve enough to believe we live forever, but it is a belief because as Holden carries his red hat with him wherever he goes, I know I will carry something wherever I go, that holds the memory and life of my brother.
Holden’s struggle to find happiness and success in life is illuminated with the story of his brother. This story knocked me out for many reasons, but primarily it was because it was a reflection of my own relationship with my brother, and the inescapable truth of what would happen if I ever lost him. If a paragraph knocks a reader out, no matter how small the paragraph is, average looking, poorly written, or random, it is important. Ursula K. LeGuin said that “The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.” It is the reader’s duty to make the story come alive, and the parts that truly knock them out are the ones that are alive. Allie was and is alive for myself as much as he was and is for Holden Caulfield, because I made it so. I read about a lost boy and tried to write something descriptive; so what I did, I wrote about Holden Caulfield.
Chris Richards
In Chapter 10, page 67, Holden talks about his younger sister Phoebe in depth for the first time. He wants to call her but he is afraid that his parents will answer instead of Phoebe. Phoebe is the kind of person that you always want to talk to, in person and on the phone. “Anyway, she was somebody that you always felt like talking to on the phone”(68). I think that Phoebe reminds Holden of Allie hugely and that’s part of the reason that Holden is so incredibly fond of Phoebe. Whenever he talks about Phoebe and memories including her they always mention Allie as well.
The relationship between Holden and Phoebe speaks to me because I am very close with my siblings too. Aryn and I remind me of Holden and Phoebe because Holden says, “…I and Allie used to take her to the park with us, especially on Sundays”(68). Even when I was a little kid, Aryn used to include me, and take me with her to hang out with all of her older friends even though I was four years younger than her.
We never get tired of talking to each other, and neither do Holden and Phoebe. I have always been thought of the more responsible and she the more rash one. I think that our relationship and our parts in that relationship compare to that of Holden and Phoebe’s relationship hugely.
-Hallie
In "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger on chapter 11, pg. 77 Holden says "She was a funny girl, old Jane. I wouldn't exactly describe her as strictly beautiful. She knocked me out, though. She was sort of muckle-mouthed. I mean when she was talking and she got excited about something, her mouth sort of went in about fifty directions, her lips and all. That killed me.
During the Catcher in the Rye, I have looked at Holden Caulfield as somewhat of a loser. Not a kid that nobody liked, but a kid who didn't like anything. His lack of passion and interest gave me a first impression that he didn't care about life and that for him to get enthusiastic about something, would be quite a task. After this section, it really showed how love can both change you and bring out different sides of you. Holden is so obsessed with every little feature about Jane even her laugh. His passion leads me to believe that his constant interest in her is not out of lost friendship, but love.
This paragraph really knocked me out because it’s the first vision of passion I have seen in this book. The repetitive image of “knock out” and “it killed me” shows the extent to how far he loves and cares about Jane. Later in the paragraph that isn't mentioned, Holden tells us that Jane was the only person to see Allie's baseball mitt. Earlier in the year we defined the "ultimate act of love" and most of us said to be trustworthy to whoever it is. By Holden showing Jane something he's never showed anyone, it must have required large amounts of trust and promise. Holden's relationship with Jane is at first seen to be an old friendship, but maybe they really are soul mates.
~Conor McFarland
Holden is always talking about phonies and how he can’t stand them. That’s why I admire him for being incredibly honest and true to himself—most of the time. The quote/passage in the book that really “knocked me out” was on the top of the page 12 in chapter 2, “Dear Mister Spencer [he read out loud]. That is all I know about the Egyptians. I can’t seem to get very interested in them although your lectures are very interesting. It is all right with me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway. Respectfully yours, Holden Caulfield.”
I think the purpose to this quote is to show how easily Holden gives up, it also shows how Holden stays true to his feelings. I think it also shows what Holden’s interest is. He succeeds at English. This further helps us know more about Holden.
This quote stood out to me because sometimes life isn’t very easy-many people say that every day, there’s a new challenge-and sometimes we want to give up. In this quote I see that Holden is just giving up. This quote makes me want to know more about Holden and where he comes from. When I read this I wonder what is making him so sad and so ready to give up. Now that I am just about half way through the book, I’m finding more about Holden and the more I read the more I can relate to him. But I still haven’t found out what is the real reason behind his depression. I can definitely understand his struggle with his brother, Allie’s death, but I am still curious as to what else his depression can be linked too. This quote really made me interested in the book. And the more I think about it, the more I appreciate how a handful of sentences can teach us so much about a person. If anything this quote increased my interest in not only The Catcher in the Rye, but also my interest in Holden. And I am still waiting for him to impress me.
Holden is always talking about phonies and how he can’t stand them. That’s why I admire him for being incredibly honest and true to himself—most of the time. The quote/passage in the book that really “knocked me out” was on the top of the page 12 in chapter 2, “Dear Mister Spencer [he read out loud]. That is all I know about the Egyptians. I can’t seem to get very interested in them although your lectures are very interesting. It is all right with me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway. Respectfully yours, Holden Caulfield.”
I think the purpose to this quote is to show how easily Holden gives up, it also shows how Holden stays true to his feelings. I think it also shows what Holden’s interest is. He succeeds at English. This further helps us know more about Holden.
This quote stood out to me because sometimes life isn’t very easy-many people say that every day, there’s a new challenge-and sometimes we want to give up. In this quote I see that Holden is just giving up. This quote makes me want to know more about Holden and where he comes from. When I read this I wonder what is making him so sad and so ready to give up. Now that I am just about half way through the book, I’m finding more about Holden and the more I read the more I can relate to him. But I still haven’t found out what is the real reason behind his depression. I can definitely understand his struggle with his brother, Allie’s death, but I am still curious as to what else his depression can be linked too. This quote really made me interested in the book. And the more I think about it, the more I appreciate how a handful of sentences can teach us so much about a person. If anything this quote increased my interest in not only The Catcher in the Rye, but also my interest in Holden. And I am still waiting for him to impress me.
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