Friday, October 16, 2009

CATCHER IN THE RYE, Blog Post #2

In chapter 10, we learn about Holden's sister. Earlier in the book, we learned about his younger brother, Allie. What are Holden's feelings about each of his younger siblings? What do they represent for Holden?

DUE MONDAY, 10/19

36 comments:

KJ said...

Holden seems to respect his younger siblings more than anyone in the book. He talks bad about everyone in the book except for his younger siblings. Holden talked about how sad he was when his brother die. Holden talked about how sad he felt when his younger brother died. He talked about the relationship between Holden and is sister. He talked about how he would rather talk to his sister than anyone else in the world. Holden always talks about his siblings in a postive manner.
His siblings represent happiness. The siblings represent a bigger picture of acceptance. Most kids don't like their siblings but it seems different with Holden he seems to worship his siblings. He seems like a person who would protect his siblings.

S H Y guy N101 said...

Holden seems to really respect his younger siblings in the "Catcher in the Rye." Holden talks about everyone in the book in a negative way except his siblings. In the book it seems like Holden loves his siblings and just wants to them because he loves them the most. I think Holden's younger siblings represent love and Holden's soft spot. I think they represent these because Holden is a whole lot kinder when he talks about his younger siblings.

Louisa said...

Holden doesn't seem like the type of person who would be close to his siblings. He seems like he is a very independent person who doesn't care what other people think of him, so it's hard to imagine him going to the movies with his brother and sister. I think in the past few chapters we've really seen a new side of Holden then how he acted in the first few chapters. In the first few chapters he seemed sort of rude,and he didn't really have any friends because he thought everyone at his school was a "phoney". In the past few chapters he has seemed like a much nicer, more caring person. First learning about how he felt about his dead brother, then defending Jane, and finally talking about how he loves his siblings. Holden seems like he has two personalities, the nice, caring, loving side and the side that enjoys annoying people and is rude.It's interesting to see in which situations he uses each personality.

Vaughn said...

I think that both of Holden's siblings have quite an impact o him because he cares for them a lot. His brother died, and as I have stated before, I think that effects the way that Holden acts mentally as a person, it sort of brings out his soft side in a way. His sister is just as important to Holden, like when he arrived in NYC he was going to first call her
from the booth, but he was afraid he would get in trouble, but the thought of him calling his sister first instead of those he thought of calling before shows his passionate
feelings about his siblings. I think his siblings symbolize his soft side.

Anonymous said...

Holden's younger siblings are a very big part of his life. The whole time while Holden was leaving Pencey he kept having an urge to call his little sister. He described as the typical little girl who's very cute and very lovable. She has one annoying aspects to her but that is just the way all little sisters are. He was always ready with the phone to call his little sister but thought about her sleeping and his parents picking up the phone. Holden is very protective about his little brother. Even still after he passed away. He has very good memories spending time with his younger siblings. He always (when he gets the chance to) writes about his little brother's baseball glove. When his brother would play baseball, he would have poems writen in his glove so when he was waiting for a ball to come to him in thew field he would read them. Holden was very interested in this topic. After he wrote Stradlater's composition and he read it Stardlater called it stupid. Holden was very offended by this and got very angry at him because he put his whole heart into that composition for his little brother. Holden's little siblings are a very important part of his life and are one of the few things in life he actually cares about.

Nick said...

Indeed Holden has developed a deep personal bond with his siblings. But the bond itself is the cause for Holden’s erratic behavior. Holden it seems is faced with his sufferings in the form of the death of his brother Allie. Holden seems to have “gone over the edge” and hardened himself from others in order to safeguard himself from more anguish. The death of Allie could not have been the main problem with Holden, rather it was only the trigger. Most likely Holden had many other past traumas to shape who he is today. It is my belief Holden is concealing himself in order to protect himself. He gives the impression of a cool, tough reckless person but, he has forced this identity upon himself.

eleanor mcgrath said...

in this book everyone sees holden as this bad kid who doesn't really care about anyone besides himself. but then you see the compassion and understanding that he talks about them. he cares about them so much that they shape his life and personality. and unlike the relationships of most siblings they are very close and they are the only people holden can seem to speak positively about and holden keeps talking about how he really wanted to just call up his sister but he couldn't because he would get in trouble.

eminem said...

at first i thought that holden was a very independent person. that he never needed anyones help and that he would never ask. then when holden started to talk about his brother and his sister you could tell that something was up. the way holden describes his siblings is interesting because so far he hasn't described anyone the same way, no one that detailed. holdens sister seems like a calm and gentle person but she can never talk to holden when he needs her. i feel like there is this part of holden that is emerging now, a side that is in need of help, a side that does care, and not lonely and independent side that is seen all the time.

bartstile15 said...

I think that for Holden his siblings represent respect, a freedom, and the other side of Holden. We usually think of Holden as a stuck up tough 17 year old boy. When we hear about his siblings it's like he can describe them and talk about them without being derogatory, something he fails to do with anyone else. It seems like his siblings represent a time and place where Holden can slip out of his nosy 17 year old Pencey Prep boy persona, and take on a whole new personality. I think that this represents a sort of complexity in Holden. His siblings seem to be the one thing he doesn't take for granted. Holden's siblings are obviously something he treasures and is graetful for. BRANDON J.

Unknown said...

Holden's younger sister is named Phoebe and is ten. His brother is Allie but is actually dead. He describes them both as smart. He also denotes himself when talking about his siblings. He treats them with more respect then he has for himself. He also describes them as very similar people. They most likely represent successful people to Holden. Phoebe has apparently been getting A's since the beginning of her school. Allie was also very talented. They most likely became icons to Holden and in return he feels Phoebe would understand his problem. They are like his advisors.

NandiKandari said...

Holden seems to love his siblings a lot. When he talks about his siblings he always talks about them as the most wonderful persons in the world, he really respects them. When he talks about something he almost always says what Phoebe or Allie would say, or how they would act, or their opinion. When he talks about them he gives all the details, the time he and Allie went to the park with Phoebe, and they started to talk about something, and Phoebe was so quiet that you would almost forget that she was there until she would ask about something that showed that she payed so much attention. When he gave so much details about Allie's baseball glove.

MaiteCaballero said...

Like everyone else before me has previously stated, i believe that the only three people that Holden Caulfield speaks positively about are Allie, Jane, and Phoebe. Unfortunately Allie dies three years before the book, Catcher in the Rye, takes place; of leukemia. Holden remembers his younger brother fondly and it saddens him whenever he sees Allie's baseball glove because it reminds him of what was, and will never again be. Holden does not speak with JAne anymore but his memories of her are quite vivid. And finally, his sister, Phoebe. I looks to me as if Phoebe has Holden in the palm of her hand. He adores her and respects her. It seems that all she did go get his adoration of him was be herself.

I believe that Holden's siblings represent a sanctuary for him. In a world of "phonies" and "cooks" here are two children who are truthful and loving to him. When Allie dies i think it may have affected his personality, making him as bitter as he is now. Even though Holden still communicates with his sister while attending Pencey when he is in New York the urge to speak to her is almost overwhelming. This shows the extreme love that Holden has for his siblings (and Jane).

NandiKandari said...

That was Hanna. I forgot my account, so I think i used an old one.

claudia said...

Holden is always referring to his sister , Phoebe, and how beautiful and smart she is. I think to him his sister is special because he already lost his brother and that made him appreciate his brothers and sisters more. He talks about all these other people negatively in the book but not his family. After his brother died I think his family was what he relied on. In the beginning of the book you would not think this but he has a real soft spot for family and his sister and brother because they will not judge him or reject him. Without his family holden does not have much.

kira said...

I think Holden has a respect for his siblings, but in a way, it is an envious respect. He keeps talking about how his younger siblings are amazingly smart. Holden loves his siblings, and says that he would want to call his sister and talk to her. He deffinatley has that love that most have for their siblings. It almost seems like his sister is a person that he could always talk to.

The reason why I say it is an envious respect. is because Holden keeps talking about how he is not as smart has his siblings. He talks about how Allie was a 'wizard', and his sister is smart and pretty. She's memorized the dialouge of 39 steps, which describes the admiration he has of her. But he deffinatley classifies himself as the outsider out of all of his siblings. He seems to just not see himself as smart as them. Allie and Pheobe seem to represent Holdens idea of himself as an outsider. Though he respects them, he keeps comparing them to himself, and says that their smart and pretty. It's the same with D.B.. His success seems to have gained Holden's respect, but still leaves Holden in the place of the outsider.

kabanzzz said...

Holden is the type of person who will say thing as they are. He will not lie about what he thinks about someone or say something to make them feel good. Holden does not like the people at Pency and will not say otherwise. Although he does not like many people and calls then "phoneys" he does love his younger siblings. His siblings are very dear to him and they lie deep in his heart. He gets very offended when Stradlater thinks hos composition is dumb and because it was about his brother who died, this sparks his anger and causes him to get into a fight with Stradlater. He always talks about his siblings in a positive way and respects them. Although he can come off as rude and careless with no emotions. He is very sensitive toward the people he loves and cares about such as Phoebe, Allie and Jane. In chapter none and ten, Holden has the urge to call his little sister but is afraid that she is asleep. He loves his siblings more than anything and will do anything to talk to them.

Thamyr.D said...

Holden's younger sibilings seem like their the only people he really cares for in his life. When he talks about them he desrcibes them for a while and nothing bad is said about them. From what we have read he doesn't seem like the person that would like thier sibilings espeacially younger sibilings. I think they represents love and happiness to Holden. Maybe even him when he was younger and happy.

Mayo* said...

I think that Holden seems to think of his siblings as original and different and likes them and respects them for that reason. He usually has a very specific label for people as hot shots and phonies. Only some people he actually likes. Holden likes Allie and Phoebe because they're still young and haven't exactly gotten into the game yet. They're still too young to be able to know exactly what kind of person they are or if they'll become a phony or something. I think Holden's younger siblings represents Holdens friendship. If he had to call anyone it would be them because there was no one else he really could or wanted to talk to and that's why when Allie died it was so hard for Holden.

J dog said...

His feelings towards his brother and sister were interesting. He thought highly of them and complimented them on how smart they were. He seemed to think they were a lot better than he was. They were both nice and Holden said often that the reader would really like them. He said it when he described both of them. Allie meant a great deal to Holden and so does his sister. He feels a real sense of trust towards his sister because she is very mature for her age and she is easy to talk to. Holden and his sister also think alike. When there is a movie that he doesn't like his sister doesn't like it either for the same reasons.
james

itai said...

In chapter ten Holden talks about his sister. He talks about how she is very smart just like his brother who died and how she remembers everything in every movie she watches. It seems like Holden's sister is very important for him and he feels that he should be close to her.

isaac97 said...

Holden enjoys his younger siblings and likes to hang out with them. Holden feels like he is confortable around them and that he fits in well. His younger siblings represent the other side of Holden that doesn't come out too often, the side of him that is nice and friendly. Holden seems to be more relaxed and easy-going around his siblings. I think Holden somehow longs to be back in the days when he and his brother and sister would go out to the movies and have lots of fun together

englishkid said...

I think Holden’s little siblings signify the things Holden wishes he could be. They are both smart and he hypes them constantly. He always says "you would like him/her really you would" this tells me that he wants to be like them. He talks bad about everyone in the story but them and badmouths himself mainly. He seams to think that they represent what he could have been and what he wishes he could be. He had a bit of a nervous breakdown when his brother died and smashed all the windows in his garage. He before his sister was born, he regarded his little brother as the smartest person in the house. He considers both his younger siblings to be better than him and I think he considers himself a failure next to them. They seem to enjoy doing more “intelligent” things with their time than him. He has flunked out of school wile his little sister gets strait A’s in school

Rehana said...

It seems like Holden seems to enjoy having his younger siblings which doesn't is odd to me because he doesn't really seem like that kind of person. I think he feels a little bit like an outsider to himself when your talking about his siblings because both Allie and Phoebe are really smart and he feels like he isn't so there is a little bit of an outsider feel for Holden. I think Allie and Phoebe represent bigger people in younger bodies and what I mean by that is that in the book Holden says he actually enjoys or doesn't mind Phoebe listening to his phone conversations and how he can talk Phoebe anywhere because she would just blend in so quickly.

djuna mks said...

Holden loves his siblings greatly. He knows them very well and respects them thoroughly. Holden believes that he is the least intelligent of the family, in fact he thinks that he is the only not intelligent one. He doesn't seem to envy them or dislike them for it, he just respects them more. He loves them so much, and believes that the reader would love them all too, but from what he says about them you learn how he feels about himself. He doesn't show a lot of sadness when he speaks about him being the least intelligent, he uses it as a statement with not to many feelings along with it. You can tell how close he is with his sister because he was thinking about calling her late at night to talk about his problems but didn't because of the thought of his parents picking up.

x3mm3rzsx said...

Holden seems that he is protective over his younger sibblings. I think that Holden has a little 'heart' or caring love for them. I think that his sibblings are the only people he like and really care about. Holden tells how he feels when he talks about his younger younger who died. I think that Holen wants to protect his little sister so that nothing bad would happen to her. His sibblings represent his only joy or happiness, i agree with KJ. Holden seems happy whenever he talks about his sibblings and he dosent talk badly about them.
♥ Emma Francesca ♥

guitarherofingers said...

Holden seems to share this sense of pride within his feelings toward his siblings. He seems to think that they are alot smarter than him and he thinks that they are both particularly special. He thinks Allie was always in a good mood and he thought that he way extremely wonderful to be around. He thinks his younger sister Pheobe is a sensitive young girl but someone who can hold up similar thoughts as himself. He feels he can talk to her about movies and other popular culture things. He often feels like calling her just to talk when he finds himself bored. I think they represent to him all he's not. He doesn't consider himself a smart person and considerers them both genius'. He also thinks they represent sensitivity and good feelings while he, himself, is not sensitive but rather non responsive toward sad things and someone who is not ever having good feelings. In shorter terms, they are his better half.
-Pablo

Janet.O said...

In chapter 10, when Holden speaks of his younger sister one can tell that he cares about her very much. He describes her as sensible, smart, and affectionate. He admires and respects Phoebe, even though she is only ten years old. Towards Allie, his brother who passed away, Holden also feels much respect for him. He loves the fact that Allie was smart and has much pride in him. Holden describes both his siblings as the brains of his family. Unlike him, they have been successful in school. He admires them greatly. Both of his siblings are the only people that Holden doesn’t speak ill of. He always describes people and who they are with judgmental tones. But when he describes Phoebe or Allie he has a certain sparkle of pride in his voice. He really enjoys talking about them because he respects them greatly. I think that to Holden, his siblings represent many things. The represent how close he is to them and how much his family means to him because he is constantly telling people about them. They can also represent happiness and pride, because he has both of these emotions towards them. In many ways, Phoebe and Allie do represent someone that he would aspire to be considering that he has not been so successful in school or academically. But they also represent love for him because it is the one pure emotion that he has for them.

Anonymous said...

Holden seems to respect his siblings and they represent pieces of his heart, and they are the people that he most respects, but they are in different places, and hes sort of alone. His younger siblings are intelligent, just like himself, (well Holden fails many classes, but is an intelligent young man.) From what was described of Phoebe, she is much like Holden, Holden is a emotional person. He seems like a guy that is a role model to his siblings and will do anything to protect them, and he wants them to have a good future.

Unknown said...

In the beginning of "Catcher in the Rye" I thought Holden was the type of guy that had no feelings towards anything and who talked bad about everybody. With his siblings, he can only talk good about them. He has the only respect for them. He talks bad about most of the other people in the book but with his siblings he says there smart, fun, nice and you would like them. To him everybody else is a phony. Like Louisa said, we have been getting the sense of a new side of Holden, the nice side. Holden's younger siblings represent a sense of friendship and family, and a caring and nice side. Holden does not have many friends (except for Stradlater and Ackley sometimes) so he relies on his sister for that friendship and warmth.

"You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She's really smart."67

Quitze said...

Holden seems to show love and sympathy towards his younger siblings. As others have said he seems to have a soft spot when it comes to family. He never says this in the book but I assume that this is because he’s out at boarding school and away from all of his familiar family and friends most of the time at Pencey. Once someone is away from someone else that they’re close to, they start showing more sympathy towards them. I also think that that’s the reason that he seems like a tough guy, because he misses his home, he feels out of place. He probably thinks at least one thing bad about everyone there because he’s not acquainted with them as much as the people he’s familiar with in his neighborhood. I think this is the reason for his gruffness.

☮Summer♥ said...

Holden seems to be incredibly proud of his siblings-especialy Phoebe. He seems so proud to have her as a sister and he seems to really value her. He talks about how smart she is and how shes a nice person to talk to. I think shes so special to Holden because he lost he brother so its like he has to hang on to Phoebe. He's always talking about how this person is annoying and how this person does this, but not Phoebe, its all good things about her.

Ari said...

Stradlater's Perspective on Holden

Holden is never really friendly with anyone and he’s always-insulting people for no other damn reason then who they are. He’s a god damn bastard most of the time. Holden’s always getting smart with someone for some minor reason. He always seems like he’s looking to get into a fight even though he’s a scrawny little bastard, but he never actually gets into a “real” fight with anyone. And when he does fight he always losses, cause he’s kind of a weak bastard. Holden doesn’t see anything in anyone and you can know him for a god damn year and not meet one person that he doesn’t hate. The kid likes to think he’s impartial but he hates everyone no matter what they are. From his prospective, no matter what you do you’re a god damn phony. He sounds like the kind of guy that’s always looking for a fight but actually he acts like everyone isn’t even worth the time. A lot of people in this school are bastards, but even when they’re not doing anything he finds fault in them. The bastard’s failing out of school and he’s smarter then me! The kids even to angry to care about himself and his future. He’s always purposely screws things up just to get on your nerves. It’s not that he’s lazy, but this is what really pisses me off about this god damn bastard. He just doesn’t care enough about people or things to do anything positive or negative in his own life.

Kelsey Barbosa said...

Holden shows a lot of affection towards his sister in chapter 10. He goes on and on expressing all these great aspects to his little sister. She seems to be a really important person in his life like Allie is. It seems like Holden and Phoebe have a really great relationship with each other, and that Phoebe reminds Holden a lot about Allie. Phoebe's personality and all their memories they had together seems to always connect with Allie. It's like a part of Allie lives within Phoebe that Holden and Phoebe can share. When Holden gives that whole backround and description of Phoebe it represents that he is sad, lonely, an affectionate person, and really connects with his family.

Ari said...

I think that Holden’s sister and brother mean a lot to him. It appears that they’re the only people that he can have a meaningful relationship with. I think that it’s not just about the fact that his sister and brother are somewhat like him, but that when you’re dealing with someone like Holden, who struggles to say anything positive about anyone, you have to make an impression on him early on. Also, Holden looks up to them, because he hates phony people. (Of all the negative things you can say about Holden you can’t say he’s “phony.”) His sister and brother are respect-worthy people who aren’t so arrogant that they ruin the respect they have gained--which is why Holden likes them. Children are naturally honest because they don't really care as much about what people think of them. People don't really learn how to be phony until they grow up.

Ari

donyaeh said...

I think that Holden is really in love with his sister and his brother. Even though his brother had died. I think that he is really going to make sure that his sister not going to get hurt in any way like his brother allie.I think that is brother allie was only person that Holden could really communicate with. I think this because in the story he says that he and allie would go out and that they would take phoebe with them very time. I think that Holden's cetral happiness is with his brother and sister. I think that he really hates everyone because of his brother death. I think that someone had killed his brother and that what made him hate everybody so much.

Brittney said...

Holden loves his younger siblings dearly and are probably the most treasured people in his life. Holden describes his love for Allie while writing the paper on Allie’s baseball mitt. He praises Allie’s intelligence, calling him the most intelligent person in the family and talked about his very red hair. He talks about his younger sister, Phoebe, in a very similar way. He talks about her writing and humourous ways. I think in Holden’s mind, they represent what he is not.