Who is Holden? After reading the first five chapters of the novel, how would you describe him? What kind of person is he? Include a quote in your post.
"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. So when i told old Spencer had to go to the gym to get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie. I don't even keep my goddam equipment in the gym." (pg.16, Chapter 3)
I think that besides stating the obvious, that he lies, this quote shows us the facility that he has with lying. When people lie alot it means they are trying to cover up some things, and since Holden lies quite frequently it gives me the sense that he doesn't like his life. I can relate, it does not look like Holden has had a very satisfactory life, moving from school to school, and never being particularly happy.
By lying he creates this association with the lies he has woven into his life, with simple thing such as going to buy a magazine and lying about it. Lying also makes you wonder what in his life has made him turn to lies, covering up the truth to others and weaving a cloth over their eyes making them believe his false words.
Holden is a badmouthed semi smart kind of kid. Holden doesn't like a lot of things/habits people have or do and always seems to be in a bad temper when he is narrating. In the book when he said on page 22 "He started cleaning his goddam fingernails with the end of a match. He was always cleaning his fingernails." he stresses his annoyance with the persons habits and seems that because the person was doing something that he doesn't like and they don't know that he has to get annoyed at them. But Holden also has a good side, he can pick out the likable part of a guy in just about anyone and see what their intentions are. Holden can also do people some big favors if he thinks that you are OK like how he did his roommates homework. Holden can be nice but the majority of the time he is an OK guy.
Holden is a 17-year-old, who still has the bits and pieces of him that are younger: "I also say 'boy!' quite alot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about 13. It's really ironical, because I'm six foor two and and a half and I have gray hair. I really do." (Page 9) Holden almost has that rebelious essence that younger people have. Like Maite said he lies, which is something that at age 17, most people expect you to have grown out of habbits like that.
The fact that he's extremely tall and has gray hair, adds to the expectation for him to be smarter or mature. His maturity level goes down by the fact that he is getting kicked out of Pencey and he has gotten kicked out of more than two schools before. His older-looking appearance seems to be sort of lost in this fact that he feels like he could be a 13-year old boy. Its almost like Holden is this smaller person inside a body that is huge. From the first five chapters i guess i could discribe Holden as somewhat immature.
Holden is a non-caring kid. He does not care about school, his health, his relationship with his parents, and much much more. He does not care if he is freezing cold in the winter. After someone stole his jacket and gloves he did not bother to ask for a new one. He was failing 4 classes and he didn't really bother to get higher grades. This made his parents very angry, so they kicked him out and he was unable to go back home for winter vacation."I forgot to tell you about that. They kicked me out. I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all. They gave me frequent warning to start applying myself-..." No matter what his parents told him he still did not do what he was told to. Holden is a very strange person.
Holden is a teenager and he going through a Rebellious phase. he lies a lot, curses a lot, and acts up a lot. But he seems to have the potential for so much more. "I feel concerned for my future ... but not that much." " I'd like to put some sense into that head of yours." these quotes back up my theory of potential.
Holden talks a lot about which fairness. "life is a game that one plays according to the rules." "if you get on the side where all the hot shots then it's a game, but if you get on the other side where there aren't any hot shots then what's the game about." these quotes talk about the importance of being on the "right side" or the "wrong side." Holden seem to be caught in between of both.
i agree with my peers about his lying problem and the youngness of him but he seems to go deeper than that.
" 'And how do you think they will take the news?' 'Well... they' ill be pretty irritated about it,' I said. 'They really will. This is about the fourth school i have gone to.' I shook my head. ...I also say "Boy!" a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, I am seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I am about thirteen. It's really ironical because I am six foot two and a half and I have grey hair. I really do. The one side of my head-the right side-is full of millions of gray hairs ... and yet I still act sometimes like I am twelve... Sometimes I act a lot older than I am-I really do-but people never notice. People never notice anything." From reading this chapter Holden actually seems smart. He loves to read and really understands the books and what the author is trying to say, but yet he is failing almost all his classes. He seems insecure and critical towards himself. It is not that he cannot understand the work, it is that he does not want to or he does not care. I think the loss of his brother at age thirteen is what is making him not care or not want to care.
Holden is the main character in the story. "All of a sudden for no good reason, really, except that i was sort of in the mood for horsing around-i felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you fell like it. So i did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." (page 30 chapter 4). This really shows that he is a fun character that likes to horse around even though he is 17. He acts a little crazy too. He is also a bit of a worrier. He talked a lot about it in the last couple pages of the reading.
"'Absolutely nothing,' he said over again. That's something that drives me crazy. When people say something twice that way, after you admit it the first time. Then he said it three times. 'But absolutely nothing. I doubt very much if you opened your textbookeven once the whole term. Did you? Tell the truth boy.'" Chapter 2 pg (11)
I think this quote signifies his tendancy to have a short temper. He's not the typical boy for his time and age. A comparison I have with him is Bart Simpson. I think they are similar in their bad boy attitude. This builds the character really well and leaves room for him to change in the story, but so far this is what I see of him. -Pablo
Holden is a 16 year old junior, a Manhattan native whose family is financially well off. His father works but his mother does not. Despite financial comfort, he leads a somewhat troubled life. I feel like Holden is a good liar but he also hides things very well. In therapy he never really reveals anything. Holden's life is very complicated it is not his fault that he hides things. Almost everyone has something to hide and when they do they lock it up until they find someone or something they can tell. By holding this in you create this void inside that gets darker and darker and i feel like holden has been holding it in for to long. "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." (chapter 1) this quote touches on a lot of subjects. one i feel is that holden isnt apart of that game in life. holden is breaking the rules. he isnt participating in the game and thus becomes a lousy player. He has something he wants to say and i hope he does. he cant keep breaking the rules.
"I also say boy quite alot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes." (pg 9)
Holden is definately honest about all of his downfalls. He seems like a kid at heart. Holden seems smart and inteligent, but needs some assistance applying and organizing himself. Holden is also sarcastic alot. He seems like a stressed guy as well. Holden is a guy who says what is on his mind for sure. Overall Holden is a laid back guy who needs a little help applying himself.
'"Life is a game, boy. Life is a game one plays according to the rules." "Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it." Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are,then its a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get on the side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game.' (pg 8 ch 2)
I think that Holden is somewhat your typical 17 year old boy - if you take away the flunking 4 classes and the getting kicked out of schools. Under all of that, I personally think that he faces some of the problems that teenagers face today as oppose to the 50's. He faces peer pressure, school and keeping up his grades, etc; I also think that he is a smart mouthed, smart alecy kind of kid. I can definetely relate to his life.
"He came down off the shower ledge and came in the room. 'Hi' he said. he always said it like he was terrifically bored or terrifically tired. He didn't want you to think he was visiting you or anything. He wanted you to think he came in by mistake, for God's sake. 'Hi.' i said, but i didn't look up from my book. With a guy like Ackley, if you looked up from your book you were a goner. You were a goner anyway, but not as quick if you didn't look up right away." (pg. 20 chapter 3)
Holden is the kind of boy that analyses everyone and every move they make. Strange enough it always seem like its for the worse. I've realized this throughout all the chapters we read. The only person who he talks kindly about is Jane Gallagher and his late brother Allie.
He looks at everyone as if they were science projects to be studied. Or rather he made assumptions of people. He would look at them, see one thing, and call them phoney or fake. It's possible that he had some experience when he was a younger child that had to do with trusting people. I say this because it looks like he has issues with trusting people.
the way holden reacts towards other people and the descriptions he gives of them tell me that he is a bit cynical but very observant. he seems to be prone to mood swings. the different people around him seem to have shaped him and not shaped him. with so many diiferent influences. his roommate and the annoying kid who lives in the next dorm. he is mostly nice to the people who are nice to him and the people he has a relationship with. he was willing to do his friends homework but is constantly insulting his neighbors. if I had to summ him up in one word, it would be random.
"Dear Mr. 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."(pg.12, Chapter 2)
This quote shows that Holden has basically given up and he is not denying it. And knowing that he is being kick out of the school seems to be nothing to Holden. It is like a routine that he has adjusted to. While talking to Mr. Spencer he said that he had given up in the other schools so thats why he had to leave them. All of this giving up is showing that he may not be happy with he's life and doesn't care.
In the five chapters that we read Holden talks alot about lieing and giving up. Both of those things have become such a big part of he's life with him knowing it and because he has been doing this for a while it doesn't sem as bad. Like Maite said when asked where he was going if he was going to buy a magizine he had to lie bout. Such a small thing ther is no reason to have to lie about it.
“ He was one of these very, very tall, round shouldered guys—he was about six four with lousy teeth.”
This quote show’s that Holden, the main character, is passive in most situations, about the people he knows. Holden roomed next to this guy since he’s been in this school but he has no negative or positive feeling for him. True he does not like him but he just points out his obvious faults. He does not try to know anyone, even his close “friends”. He just observes his surroundings and draws out anything negative about them.
Even as he thinks about him self he does not really think about or care about what’s going on in his life. He is going threw a very critical moment that would upset almost anyone and basically ruins his life. But all he can think about is the things that he wont miss about his school and his old life.
"He wrote me this note saying he wanted to see me before I went home. He knew I wasn't coming back to Pencey. *** I forgot to tell you all about that. They kicked me out. I wasnt supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all." (Page 4, Chapter 1)
This explains alot of who Holden, the main character and narrator is, and the role he is as a person. Holden is about 16 or 17 years old. Althouh he is poor, he is going to school in a fancy, preppy, rich school. Which he wastes because he is flunking at alot of subjects. His struggle is keeping up in school academically. ♥ Emma Francesca ♥
"Dear Mr. 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" (chapter 2, page 12)
I think that Holden is a pessimist. He seems like he could do well in school if he tried or if he even cared about failing or being kicked out of school. I think the quote shows that he thinks that since he is already failing everything else it does not matter whether or not he fails one more subject. With that kind of attitude I'm not surprised he has been kicked out of more than one school. I wonder what his parents reaction will be, do they care he's been kicked out of another school? He seems to think they won't care that much if he's planning to tell them he got kicked after he has arrived home.
Holden does not really care much about anything. He has flunked school over the years and isnt the brightest of the chracters the book mentioned. He likes to lie a lot and doesnt seem to get along with abunch of people. One of the people that seems to really annoy him is Ackley. "I slid way down in my chair and watched old Ackley making himself at home. I was feeling sort of tired from the trip to New York and all, and I started yawning. Then I started hoarsing around a little bit. Sometimes I horse around quite a lot, just to keep from getting bored. What I did was, I pulled the old peak of my hunting hat down over my eyes. That way, I couldnt see a goddam thing. "I think Im going blind," I said in this very hoarse voice. "Mother darling, everything's getting so dark in hear"." (bottom of pg. 21). This quote tells you that Holden gets bored and that he cant help himself from annoying other people to keep him awake. -nico
I would describe Holden Caulfield as obstinate in his opinions , quite often in the book Holden shows disregard to other’s views. This is made apparent on page 8 when Holden fails to contemplate the significance of the quote “life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays by the rules.” Holden also has an odd attribute; he develops a deep passion for others, usually for seemingly odd reasons this is the case with Jean Gallagher. Though Holden did not provide much information on her, Holden talked about how she played checkers and a number of other odd aspects of her which does not really tell why they are acquaintances. I would say Holden is an enigma ; his behavior is radically changing, but perhaps He is grossly misunderstood.
I think that Holden might be going through a rebellious phase in his life like Kyle said, or maybe this rebellious phase I his life is actually a call for help? he failed his history and did horrible on an article about Eygptians and he doesn't really seem to care fro school that much actually. I think beneath this layer, this thick layer, there is a passionate Holden. For example, when he was at Mr. Spencer's house, Mr. Spencer read the letter that went along with his paper. "He read it anyway, though. You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it." I think this quote shows that Holden knows that his academic life isn't the best and that he is trying to step up his game, maybe, but maybe he just isn't trying hard enough.
It was just before dinner and it was getting pretty dark out, but we kept chucking the ball around anyway. It kept getting darker and darker, we could hardly see the ball any more, but we didn't wanna stop doing what we were doing. ( pg.5)
This quote shows that Holden doesn't really follow the rules. It shows that he’s (in a way) a ‘rebel’. I think he has his moments where he acts like a little child and a little immature, but then there are moments where he acts like his real age sometimes even older than his age. Holden is also really charismatic. I think he doesn't take work seriously and now that he's going to be kicked out of school I think he missed his chance to 'be prepared or concerned for the future' as Mr.Spencer said on page 14.
Holden Caulfield seems like a careless guy that hasn't found himself as a person yet.
"Well... they'll be pretty irritated about it, they really will. This is about the fourth school I've gone to."(9): This gives the sense that he is careless. He doesn't care that he has he is flunking school. It also seems like he doesn't know what to do with his life. He doesn't show sympathy for him getting kicked out. He feels there is no point since he doesn't know what to do.
"That guy had just about everything. Sinus trouble, pimples, lousy teeth, halitosis, crumby fingernails. You had to feel bad for the crazy sonuvabitch."(39): Holden is nice and when he tries to be nice he also somehow combines humor and impoliteness into it. He often makes rude jokes about someone while trying to not be mean as he is describing them. He is also nice by being giving. If he wants to do something nice he will do it. He invited Ackley to the movies when he was staying home, he wrote a composition for Stradlater, and he lent Stradlater his jacket.
"Ackley! For Chrissake. Willya please cut your crumby nails over the table? I've asked you fifty times!"(24): This shows he is a determined guy that gets something he really wants. He really wanted Ackley to cut his nails somewhere else so he spoke up and he got it.
Overall Holden is a nice, rude, determined, and careless guy.
Holden is a 16 year old boy who is still living the life of a little kid. He has parts of him that are serious, and very mature. But he has a lot of moments where he is very immature and goes back into the stage of a little kid. " I got bored sitting on that washbowl after a while, I backed up a few feet and started doing this tap dance, just for the hell of it. I was just amusing myself." This quote portrays some of the different aspects that Holden has. This quote somewhat shows that he is lonely being in that boarding school, he is a bit of a child still, and that he has nothing really to do with, so he has to amuse himself. In the first couple of chapters of the book Holden is described as a lonely, troubled, smart, lost individual. He doesn't seem like he has found himself yet, that he is still trying to figure out who he truly is. Him being away in boarding school away from his parents seems to leave him a little big empty inside. Since his brother, Allie, had passed away it also affects him and how he does in school. He has been through a lot, and gives his peers the persona of him being a troubled kid.
"They kicked me out. i was not supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account that i was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all." Pg.4 I think this quote shows how the main character of this book Holen does not really care about stuff and how he got kicked out of school. He doesn't care about his life so much because he smokes alto.
----------------------------------- "And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father it's partly true, too, but it isn't all the time. People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am, I really do-but people don't notice it. They never notice anything." ---------------------------------- Holden is not a typical main character in a book. It is like he has two sides to him. He is at times smart and caring. But on the other hand he is flunking four out of five of his classes, he is careless short-tempered, immature, and obviously needs to be guided onto the right track in life. I do not believe Holden is a bad person, I actually think the opposite. I think he is a good kid who just needs a little guidance and support. Holden does not act his age. He is annoyed by it and has no problem admitting it. The fact that Holden is soo tall and that he has gray hair is almost opposing the fact that Holden is a kid inside. His immaturity may lead to some of his flaws but I think that the main cause of his flaws is his rough childhood. His younger brother died of leukemia when Holden was still very young. This loss was hard for Holden and in the book he expresses how he loved his brother and wrote about how his brother used to write poems in an old baseball glove. Another cause for this might have been his attitude toward his parents. He does not care about the poor relationship he has with his parents. Holden does not really care about anything. I also feel like Holden felt like he was not listened to or properly cared for when he was young. This is why I chose this quote. He says that he's wish people would stop telling him to act his age, especially his father. This gives an idea about the attitude Holden has toward his father. He also says "Sometimes I act a lot older than I am, I really do-but people don't notice it. They never notice anything." This quote shows how Holden does not feel that he is listened to. Holden also says that the only class that he does well in is english. I think that he does well in english because it is the only class where he can express his feelings, and this he does not get at home. He writes about his brother's baseball glove and how upset he was the night he died. Mabye his opinions or feelings are ignored and this could be a cause for his lying, carelessness and bad grades. Over all I think Holden is actually a good kid who means no harm, he just has a messed up life.
“What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse.” –p.4 ch. 1 Holden seems to me like an average kid going through hardships in his own life and dealing with them. He also seems to have his own view of the world that no one can ever change or take away. He seems to repeatedly show with his constant descriptions of his surroundings and explanations of the experiences he has at different moments. He reminds me of Sodapop from The Outsiders in the sense of the hardships and age group as well as his attitude in certain ways.
“ I knew right away who it was. It was Robert Ackley, this guy that roomed right next to me. There was a shower right between every two rooms in our wing, and about eighty-five times a day old Ackley barged in on me. He was probably the only guy in the whole dorm, besides me, that wasn’t down at the game. He hardly ever went anywhere. He was a very peculiar guy. He was a senior, and he’d been at Pencey the whole four years and all, but nobody ever called him anything except “Ackley.” . . . He was one of these very, very tall, round shouldered guys—he was about six four—with lousy teeth. . .Besides that, he had a lot of primples. . .He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn’t too crazy about him, to tell the truth.” (p.19)
This quotation shows that Holden, the main character, is passive in most situations when it comes to the people he knows. Holden has roomed next to this guy since he’s been in this school but he has no particular feelings for him. True, he does not like him but he just points out his obvious faults—the faults anyone would point out. He does not try to know anyone, even his close “friends”. He is extremely observant but he does not relate to others on an emotional level.
Even as he thinks about himself and reflects about his situation, he does not really “care”. It’s like he’s observing his own life, instead of living it. He is going through a very critical moment that would upset almost anyone—he has basically ruined his own life by failing out of school. But all he can think about is the things that he won’t miss about his school and his old life. He seems alienated from everyone around him and even from his own life.
"And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn , except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older then I am- I really do-but people never notice it. People never notice anything." Holden Caulfield is misunderstood. He has many parts of him that the adults in his life don't understand. His teachers don't get him, he continuously fails his subjects and no one reaches out to help him in the way he needs them to. No one, not even himself seems to know what way that people could reach out to him, to help him. He knows what he hates and what he wants to give up on. In the first few chapters of the book you get a sense that he really does know what he does not like in a person, in a school, and in talking. He has a strong sense of what he does not like, but it doesn't always seem like he knows or has a strong sense in what he wants.
"They kicked me out. I was supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account that I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all" (P. 4 Ch. 1) This quote shows that he doesn't care about things and doesn't mind not coming back to Pencley and doesn't mind that he is failing school. He didn't really like Pencley anyways. He doesn't care about anything, not even his own life. In Ch. 2, he goes to "Old Spencer's" house to say good-bye but instead got a lecture about flunking History. he doesn't seem to care about school or school work, it seems like those things in life are just a phase and you get over it. He seems like he just wants to be alone next to the frozen pond in Central Park. Holden doesn't care if he becomes nothing but a failure in life and is not succesful.
"My hand still hurts me once in a while, when it rains and all, and I can't make a real fist anymore-not a tight one, I mean, but outside of that I don't care much. I mean I'm not going to be a goddam surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway." Page 39.
The character Holden, kind of lets you in on his personal life in this quote and shows you that he has been through serious things and emotions and isn't just thinking about phonies or hot shots and simple things. In the last sentence of the quote, Holden shows that he thinks about life very realistically, but almost closes his options too fast in lack of self confidence almost or opinioning to quick, saying he knew he wouldn't be a surgeon or violinist.
"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. So when i told old Spencer had to go to the gym to get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie. I don't even keep my goddam equipment in the gym." pg 16 ch 3
this quote shows quite a bit about holden. it shows how careless he is because when he is talking about the ways in which he lies his tone seems almost nonchalant. like he doesn't care that he lies. this also shows quite a contradiction in holden. on one hand he is a very truthful person as in he tells the truth about other people quite a lot. but he has this terrific lying skill which he doesn't seem to be proud of, you can tell because of how he says it's terrible. however he doesn't seem to hate it either. like maite said he has some things to hide but having been kicked out of several schools doesn't seem to affect him and he doesn't really care about where his life is heading as he talks quite a bit about with old mr. spencer
"He started walking around the room, very slow and all, the way he always did, picking up your personal stuff off your desk and chiffonier. He always picked up your personal stuff and looked at it. Boy, could he get on your nerves sometimes." (pg. 26 Chapter 3).
I kind of got the impression that Holden is lonely, an outsider. He just got kicked out of the school, and are heading back to New York on wednesday. He certainly spends a lot of time in his room. Ackley always comes and bothers him, he cleans his nails over the floor, he is always picking on his pimples, picking on everything, just talks and talks and he never listens to you. But I think Holden still looks at him as a friend, deep down. Strandlater, that is Holden's roommate, is a selfish jerk. He just cares about himself, litterally.
Holden is kind of a childish sixteen-year-old boy, he says he likes to hoarse around a lot, " I felt like jumping of the washbowl and getting old Strandlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddamn panther." He also likes to imitate people from movies, he don't like to watch movies, but imitating, which is a little ironic. -People always tells me to act my own age.
Holden, the main character, is a 16 year old junior who attends Prencey prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Within the first five chapters the reader finds out a lot about who Holden is. Firstly, Holden Caulfield has been kicked out of Prencey prep for failing four subjects. He has had a history for leaving his previous schools, and now he has been asked to leave Prencey as well. One can tell that Holden is also very observant. For example, he compares two of his dorm mates. Both Ackley and Stradlater are slobs, but in different ways do they express this. “Ackley was a slob in his personal habits. Stradlater was a secret slob” (Salinger 27). Holden also describes and knows himself very well. He knows his strengths and his limits. He knows and is very aware of himself. He is aware that he could never fight Stradlater, and that his build wasn’t as broad as others. Holden is more of a peacemaker, especially when Ackley talks trash about people who are genuinely benevolent. When referring to Stradlater, “he’s conceited, but he’s very generous in some things. Look. Suppose, for instance, stradlater was a tie or something that you liked. You know what he’d do? He’d probably take it off and give it to you. He really would” (Salinger 25). Another quote that he self-explains who he is, is “im not too tough. I am a pacifist, to tell you the truth” (Salinger 46). Holden is aware, peaceful, honest, but also unsure of his future in terms of education because he can no longer attend Prencey Prep.
"He started ckeaning his goddam fingernails with the end of a match. He was always cleaning his fingernails. It was funny, in a way, His teeth were always mossy-looking, and his ears were dirty as hell, but he was always cleaning his fingernails." (Page 22, chapter 3)
Holden always seems to be commenting on everything a person does that annoys him as Issac said. It seems like most people that he knows he's always talking about the things that that person do that annoy him. Holden also doesn't seem to have many close friends, sure he has a few people he seems to talk to a lot but i wouldn't think Holden considers them friends.
I think that Holden is the sort of person that is really stuck up about himself sometimes and other times he can really disgrace himself. I really think that Holden is fluncking because he a carefree guy. I think this because in the composition he really put his effort into it.("Oh how lovely! perhaps you know my son, then, Ernest Morrow? He goes to Pency." "Yes, I do. He in my class." Her son was doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pency, in the crumby history of the school. He always going down the corridor after he had had a shower, snaping his soggy old wet towel on people's ass.")Quote:p.54 this makes me think that Holden really despised amost everyone that he know. Even his own sister he reaaly just kills everyone with his vanity of not being a jerk. His own sister hated him for not seeing the fact that he is the goddam biggest moron there ever was. I say this because he hates and he never tells the truth. Also he is like the only person thought the whole book that kept hurting people's feeling. Sally was trying to be nice to him and he rejected her with a cold shoudler. I think that over all Holden is a asshole backwards person. he does all the things he hates most. He is the biggest phony that I have evr seen!
“Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” "Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it." Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.
This quote really stood out to me because it shows how Holden is really depressed in life and that he lives in solitude, and this quote reminded me of the poems by Emily Dickinson, and Holden is acting like a nobody and in this case, he isnt on the side of the hot shots. He is failing and he has no companions. He doesn't want to play by the rules, because there are too many rules in life.
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth”.
That’s the first sentence of the story, and already the reader knows quite a bit about Holden’s personality. It shows that he’s rather negative about most things. In my opinion he has a lousy personality (from this first look), maybe that’s what Salinger was going for at first, who knows? Holden’s got a self-depreciating personality shown from his frequent negative criticisms directed at himself. By the way, David Copperfield is an illusionist.
39 comments:
"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. So when i told old Spencer had to go to the gym to get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie. I don't even keep my goddam equipment in the gym." (pg.16, Chapter 3)
I think that besides stating the obvious, that he lies, this quote shows us the facility that he has with lying. When people lie alot it means they are trying to cover up some things, and since Holden lies quite frequently it gives me the sense that he doesn't like his life. I can relate, it does not look like Holden has had a very satisfactory life, moving from school to school, and never being particularly happy.
By lying he creates this association with the lies he has woven into his life, with simple thing such as going to buy a magazine and lying about it. Lying also makes you wonder what in his life has made him turn to lies, covering up the truth to others and weaving a cloth over their eyes making them believe his false words.
Holden is a badmouthed semi smart kind of kid. Holden doesn't like a lot of things/habits people have or do and always seems to be in a bad temper when he is narrating. In the book when he said on page 22 "He started cleaning his goddam fingernails with the end of a match. He was always cleaning his fingernails." he stresses his annoyance with the persons habits and seems that because the person was doing something that he doesn't like and they don't know that he has to get annoyed at them. But Holden also has a good side, he can pick out the likable part of a guy in just about anyone and see what their intentions are. Holden can also do people some big favors if he thinks that you are OK like how he did his roommates homework. Holden can be nice but the majority of the time he is an OK guy.
Holden is a 17-year-old, who still has the bits and pieces of him that are younger: "I also say 'boy!' quite alot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, I'm seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I'm about 13. It's really ironical, because I'm six foor two and and a half and I have gray hair. I really do." (Page 9) Holden almost has that rebelious essence that younger people have. Like Maite said he lies, which is something that at age 17, most people expect you to have grown out of habbits like that.
The fact that he's extremely tall and has gray hair, adds to the expectation for him to be smarter or mature. His maturity level goes down by the fact that he is getting kicked out of Pencey and he has gotten kicked out of more than two schools before. His older-looking appearance seems to be sort of lost in this fact that he feels like he could be a 13-year old boy. Its almost like Holden is this smaller person inside a body that is huge. From the first five chapters i guess i could discribe Holden as somewhat immature.
Holden is a non-caring kid. He does not care about school, his health, his relationship with his parents, and much much more. He does not care if he is freezing cold in the winter. After someone stole his jacket and gloves he did not bother to ask for a new one. He was failing 4 classes and he didn't really bother to get higher grades. This made his parents very angry, so they kicked him out and he was unable to go back home for winter vacation."I forgot to tell you about that. They kicked me out. I wasn't supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all. They gave me frequent warning to start applying myself-..." No matter what his parents told him he still did not do what he was told to. Holden is a very strange person.
Holden is a teenager and he going through a Rebellious phase. he lies a lot, curses a lot, and acts up a lot. But he seems to have the potential for so much more. "I feel concerned for my future ... but not that much." " I'd like to put some sense into that head of yours." these quotes back up my theory of potential.
Holden talks a lot about which fairness. "life is a game that one plays according to the rules." "if you get on the side where all the hot shots then it's a game, but if you get on the other side where there aren't any hot shots then what's the game about." these quotes talk about the importance of being on the "right side" or the "wrong side." Holden seem to be caught in between of both.
i agree with my peers about his lying problem and the youngness of him but he seems to go deeper than that.
" 'And how do you think they will take the news?'
'Well... they' ill be pretty irritated about it,' I said. 'They really will. This is about the fourth school i have gone to.' I shook my head. ...I also say "Boy!" a lot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, I am seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I am about thirteen. It's really ironical because I am six foot two and a half and I have grey hair. I really do. The one side of my head-the right side-is full of millions of gray hairs ... and yet I still act sometimes like I am twelve... Sometimes I act a lot older than I am-I really do-but people never notice. People never notice anything."
From reading this chapter Holden actually seems smart. He loves to read and really understands the books and what the author is trying to say, but yet he is failing almost all his classes. He seems insecure and critical towards himself. It is not that he cannot understand the work, it is that he does not want to or he does not care. I think the loss of his brother at age thirteen is what is making him not care or not want to care.
Holden is the main character in the story. "All of a sudden for no good reason, really, except that i was sort of in the mood for horsing around-i felt like jumping off the washbowl and getting old Stradlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold, in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you fell like it. So i did it. I landed on him like a goddam panther." (page 30 chapter 4). This really shows that he is a fun character that likes to horse around even though he is 17. He acts a little crazy too. He is also a bit of a worrier. He talked a lot about it in the last couple pages of the reading.
"'Absolutely nothing,' he said over again. That's something that drives me crazy. When people say something twice that way, after you admit it the first time. Then he said it three times. 'But absolutely nothing. I doubt very much if you opened your textbookeven once the whole term. Did you? Tell the truth boy.'" Chapter 2 pg (11)
I think this quote signifies his tendancy to have a short temper. He's not the typical boy for his time and age. A comparison I have with him is Bart Simpson. I think they are similar in their bad boy attitude. This builds the character really well and leaves room for him to change in the story, but so far this is what I see of him.
-Pablo
Holden is a 16 year old junior, a Manhattan native whose family is financially well off. His father works but his mother does not. Despite financial comfort, he leads a somewhat troubled life. I feel like Holden is a good liar but he also hides things very well. In therapy he never really reveals anything. Holden's life is very complicated it is not his fault that he hides things. Almost everyone has something to hide and when they do they lock it up until they find someone or something they can tell. By holding this in you create this void inside that gets darker and darker and i feel like holden has been holding it in for to long. "Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules." (chapter 1) this quote touches on a lot of subjects. one i feel is that holden isnt apart of that game in life. holden is breaking the rules. he isnt participating in the game and thus becomes a lousy player. He has something he wants to say and i hope he does. he cant keep breaking the rules.
"I also say boy quite alot. Partly because I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes." (pg 9)
Holden is definately honest about all of his downfalls. He seems like a kid at heart. Holden seems smart and inteligent, but needs some assistance applying and organizing himself. Holden is also sarcastic alot. He seems like a stressed guy as well. Holden is a guy who says what is on his mind for sure. Overall Holden is a laid back guy who needs a little help applying himself.
KAI
'"Life is a game, boy. Life is a game one plays according to the rules." "Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it." Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are,then its a game, all right - I'll admit that. But if you get on the side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game.'
(pg 8 ch 2)
I think that Holden is somewhat your typical 17 year old boy - if you take away the flunking 4 classes and the getting kicked out of schools. Under all of that, I personally think that he faces some of the problems that teenagers face today as oppose to the 50's. He faces peer pressure, school and keeping up his grades, etc; I also think that he is a smart mouthed, smart alecy kind of kid. I can definetely relate to his life.
BRANDON JOHNSON
"He came down off the shower ledge and came in the room. 'Hi' he said. he always said it like he was terrifically bored or terrifically tired. He didn't want you to think he was visiting you or anything. He wanted you to think he came in by mistake, for God's sake. 'Hi.' i said, but i didn't look up from my book. With a guy like Ackley, if you looked up from your book you were a goner. You were a goner anyway, but not as quick if you didn't look up right away."
(pg. 20 chapter 3)
Holden is the kind of boy that analyses everyone and every move they make. Strange enough it always seem like its for the worse. I've realized this throughout all the chapters we read. The only person who he talks kindly about is Jane Gallagher and his late brother Allie.
He looks at everyone as if they were science projects to be studied. Or rather he made assumptions of people. He would look at them, see one thing, and call them phoney or fake. It's possible that he had some experience when he was a younger child that had to do with trusting people. I say this because it looks like he has issues with trusting people.
the way holden reacts towards other people and the descriptions he gives of them tell me that he is a bit cynical but very observant. he seems to be prone to mood swings. the different people around him seem to have shaped him and not shaped him. with so many diiferent influences. his roommate and the annoying kid who lives in the next dorm. he is mostly nice to the people who are nice to him and the people he has a relationship with. he was willing to do his friends homework but is constantly insulting his neighbors. if I had to summ him up in one word, it would be random.
"Dear Mr. 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."(pg.12, Chapter 2)
This quote shows that Holden has basically given up and he is not denying it. And knowing that he is being kick out of the school seems to be nothing to Holden. It is like a routine that he has adjusted to. While talking to Mr. Spencer he said that he had given up in the other schools so thats why he had to leave them. All of this giving up is showing that he may not be happy with he's life and doesn't care.
In the five chapters that we read Holden talks alot about lieing and giving up. Both of those things have become such a big part of he's life with him knowing it and because he has been doing this for a while it doesn't sem as bad. Like Maite said when asked where he was going if he was going to buy a magizine he had to lie bout. Such a small thing ther is no reason to have to lie about it.
“ He was one of these very, very tall, round shouldered guys—he was about six four with lousy teeth.”
This quote show’s that Holden, the main character, is passive in most situations, about the people he knows. Holden roomed next to this guy since he’s been in this school but he has no negative or positive feeling for him. True he does not like him but he just points out his obvious faults. He does not try to know anyone, even his close “friends”. He just observes his surroundings and draws out anything negative about them.
Even as he thinks about him self he does not really think about or care about what’s going on in his life. He is going threw a very critical moment that would upset almost anyone and basically ruins his life. But all he can think about is the things that he wont miss about his school and his old life.
"He wrote me this note saying he wanted to see me before I went home. He knew I wasn't coming back to Pencey. *** I forgot to tell you all about that. They kicked me out. I wasnt supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account of I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all." (Page 4, Chapter 1)
This explains alot of who Holden, the main character and narrator is, and the role he is as a person. Holden is about 16 or 17 years old. Althouh he is poor, he is going to school in a fancy, preppy, rich school. Which he wastes because he is flunking at alot of subjects. His struggle is keeping up in school academically.
♥ Emma Francesca ♥
"Dear Mr. 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" (chapter 2, page 12)
I think that Holden is a pessimist. He seems like he could do well in school if he tried or if he even cared about failing or being kicked out of school. I think the quote shows that he thinks that since he is already failing everything else it does not matter whether or not he fails one more subject. With that kind of attitude I'm not surprised he has been kicked out of more than one school. I wonder what his parents reaction will be, do they care he's been kicked out of another school? He seems to think they won't care that much if he's planning to tell them he got kicked after he has arrived home.
Holden does not really care much about anything. He has flunked school over the years and isnt the brightest of the chracters the book mentioned. He likes to lie a lot and doesnt seem to get along with abunch of people. One of the people that seems to really annoy him is Ackley. "I slid way down in my chair and watched old Ackley making himself at home. I was feeling sort of tired from the trip to New York and all, and I started yawning. Then I started hoarsing around a little bit. Sometimes I horse around quite a lot, just to keep from getting bored. What I did was, I pulled the old peak of my hunting hat down over my eyes. That way, I couldnt see a goddam thing. "I think Im going blind," I said in this very hoarse voice. "Mother darling, everything's getting so dark in hear"." (bottom of pg. 21). This quote tells you that Holden gets bored and that he cant help himself from annoying other people to keep him awake.
-nico
I would describe Holden Caulfield as obstinate in his opinions , quite often in the book Holden
shows disregard to other’s views. This is made apparent on page 8 when Holden fails to
contemplate the significance of the quote “life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays by
the rules.” Holden also has an odd attribute; he develops a deep passion for others, usually for
seemingly odd reasons this is the case with Jean Gallagher. Though Holden did not provide much
information on her, Holden talked about how she played checkers and a number of other odd
aspects of her which does not really tell why they are acquaintances. I would say
Holden is an enigma ; his behavior is radically changing, but perhaps He is grossly misunderstood.
I think that Holden might be going through a
rebellious phase in his life like Kyle said, or maybe
this rebellious phase I his life is actually a call for help? he failed his history and did horrible on an article about Eygptians and he doesn't really seem to care fro school that much actually. I think beneath this layer, this thick layer, there is a passionate Holden. For example, when he was at Mr. Spencer's house, Mr. Spencer read the letter that went along with his paper. "He read it anyway, though. You can't stop a teacher when they want to do something. They just do it." I think this quote shows that Holden knows that his academic life isn't the best and that he is trying to step up his game, maybe, but maybe he just isn't trying hard enough.
It was just before dinner and it was getting pretty dark out, but we kept chucking the ball around anyway. It kept getting darker and darker, we could hardly see the ball any more, but we didn't wanna stop doing what we were doing. ( pg.5)
This quote shows that Holden doesn't really follow the rules. It shows that he’s (in a way) a ‘rebel’. I think he has his moments where he acts like a little child and a little immature, but then there are moments where he acts like his real age sometimes even older than his age. Holden is also really charismatic. I think he doesn't take work seriously and now that he's going to be kicked out of school I think he missed his chance to 'be prepared or concerned for the future' as Mr.Spencer said on page 14.
Holden Caulfield seems like a careless guy that hasn't found himself as a person yet.
"Well... they'll be pretty irritated about it, they really will. This is about the fourth school I've gone to."(9):
This gives the sense that he is careless. He doesn't care that he has he is flunking school. It also seems like he doesn't know what to do with his life. He doesn't show sympathy for him getting kicked out. He feels there is no point since he doesn't know what to do.
"That guy had just about everything. Sinus trouble, pimples, lousy teeth, halitosis, crumby fingernails. You had to feel bad for the crazy sonuvabitch."(39): Holden is nice and when he tries to be nice he also somehow combines humor and impoliteness into it. He often makes rude jokes about someone while trying to not be mean as he is describing them. He is also nice by being giving. If he wants to do something nice he will do it. He invited Ackley to the movies when he was staying home, he wrote a composition for Stradlater, and he lent Stradlater his jacket.
"Ackley! For Chrissake. Willya please cut your crumby nails over the table? I've asked you fifty times!"(24):
This shows he is a determined guy that gets something he really wants. He really wanted Ackley to cut his nails somewhere else so he spoke up and he got it.
Overall Holden is a nice, rude, determined, and careless guy.
Holden is a 16 year old boy who is still living the life of a little kid. He has parts of him that are serious, and very mature. But he has a lot of moments where he is very immature and goes back into the stage of a little kid. " I got bored sitting on that washbowl after a while, I backed up a few feet and started doing this tap dance, just for the hell of it. I was just amusing myself." This quote portrays some of the different aspects that Holden has. This quote somewhat shows that he is lonely being in that boarding school, he is a bit of a child still, and that he has nothing really to do with, so he has to amuse himself.
In the first couple of chapters of the book Holden is described as a lonely, troubled, smart, lost individual. He doesn't seem like he has found himself yet, that he is still trying to figure out who he truly is. Him being away in boarding school away from his parents seems to leave him a little big empty inside. Since his brother, Allie, had passed away it also affects him and how he does in school. He has been through a lot, and gives his peers the persona of him being a troubled kid.
"They kicked me out. i was not supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account that i was flunking four subjects and not applying myself and all."
Pg.4
I think this quote shows how the main character of this book Holen does not really care about stuff and how he got kicked out of school. He doesn't care about his life so much because he smokes alto.
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"And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father it's partly true, too, but it isn't all the time. People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am, I really do-but people don't notice it. They never notice anything."
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Holden is not a typical main character in a book. It is like he has two sides to him. He is at times smart and caring. But on the other hand he is flunking four out of five of his classes, he is careless short-tempered, immature, and obviously needs to be guided onto the right track in life. I do not believe Holden is a bad person, I actually think the opposite. I think he is a good kid who just needs a little guidance and support. Holden does not act his age. He is annoyed by it and has no problem admitting it. The fact that Holden is soo tall and that he has gray hair is almost opposing the fact that Holden is a kid inside. His immaturity may lead to some of his flaws but I think that the main cause of his flaws is his rough childhood. His younger brother died of leukemia when Holden was still very young. This loss was hard for Holden and in the book he expresses how he loved his brother and wrote about how his brother used to write poems in an old baseball glove. Another cause for this might have been his attitude toward his parents. He does not care about the poor relationship he has with his parents. Holden does not really care about anything. I also feel like Holden felt like he was not listened to or properly cared for when he was young. This is why I chose this quote. He says that he's wish people would stop telling him to act his age, especially his father. This gives an idea about the attitude Holden has toward his father. He also says "Sometimes I act a lot older than I am, I really do-but people don't notice it. They never notice anything." This quote shows how Holden does not feel that he is listened to. Holden also says that the only class that he does well in is english. I think that he does well in english because it is the only class where he can express his feelings, and this he does not get at home. He writes about his brother's baseball glove and how upset he was the night he died. Mabye his opinions or feelings are ignored and this could be a cause for his lying, carelessness and bad grades. Over all I think Holden is actually a good kid who means no harm, he just has a messed up life.
“What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by. I mean I’ve left schools and places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse.” –p.4 ch. 1
Holden seems to me like an average kid going through hardships in his own life and dealing with them. He also seems to have his own view of the world that no one can ever change or take away. He seems to repeatedly show with his constant descriptions of his surroundings and explanations of the experiences he has at different moments. He reminds me of Sodapop from The Outsiders in the sense of the hardships and age group as well as his attitude in certain ways.
“ I knew right away who it was. It was Robert Ackley, this guy that roomed right next to me. There was a shower right between every two rooms in our wing, and about eighty-five times a day old Ackley barged in on me. He was probably the only guy in the whole dorm, besides me, that wasn’t down at the game. He hardly ever went anywhere. He was a very peculiar guy. He was a senior, and he’d been at Pencey the whole four years and all, but nobody ever called him anything except “Ackley.” . . . He was one of these very, very tall, round shouldered guys—he was about six four—with lousy teeth. . .Besides that, he had a lot of primples. . .He was also sort of a nasty guy. I wasn’t too crazy about him, to tell the truth.” (p.19)
This quotation shows that Holden, the main character, is passive in most situations when it comes to the people he knows. Holden has roomed next to this guy since he’s been in this school but he has no particular feelings for him. True, he does not like him but he just points out his obvious faults—the faults anyone would point out. He does not try to know anyone, even his close “friends”. He is extremely observant but he does not relate to others on an emotional level.
Even as he thinks about himself and reflects about his situation, he does not really “care”. It’s like he’s observing his own life, instead of living it. He is going through a very critical moment that would upset almost anyone—he has basically ruined his own life by failing out of school. But all he can think about is the things that he won’t miss about his school and his old life. He seems alienated from everyone around him and even from his own life.
"And yet I still act sometimes like I was only about twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn , except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older then I am- I really do-but people never notice it. People never notice anything."
Holden Caulfield is misunderstood. He has many parts of him that the adults in his life don't understand. His teachers don't get him, he continuously fails his subjects and no one reaches out to help him in the way he needs them to. No one, not even himself seems to know what way that people could reach out to him, to help him.
He knows what he hates and what he wants to give up on. In the first few chapters of the book you get a sense that he really does know what he does not like in a person, in a school, and in talking. He has a strong sense of what he does not like, but it doesn't always seem like he knows or has a strong sense in what he wants.
"They kicked me out. I was supposed to come back after Christmas vacation, on account that I was flunking four subjects and not applying myself at all" (P. 4 Ch. 1)
This quote shows that he doesn't care about things and doesn't mind not coming back to Pencley and doesn't mind that he is failing school. He didn't really like Pencley anyways. He doesn't care about anything, not even his own life.
In Ch. 2, he goes to "Old Spencer's" house to say good-bye but instead got a lecture about flunking History. he doesn't seem to care about school or school work, it seems like those things in life are just a phase and you get over it. He seems like he just wants to be alone next to the frozen pond in Central Park. Holden doesn't care if he becomes nothing but a failure in life and is not succesful.
"My hand still hurts me once in a while, when it rains and all, and I can't make a real fist anymore-not a tight one, I mean, but outside of that I don't care much. I mean I'm not going to be a goddam surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway." Page 39.
The character Holden, kind of lets you in on his personal life in this quote and shows you that he has been through serious things and emotions and isn't just thinking about phonies or hot shots and simple things. In the last sentence of the quote, Holden shows that he thinks about life very realistically, but almost closes his options too fast in lack of self confidence almost or opinioning to quick, saying he knew he wouldn't be a surgeon or violinist.
"I'm the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life. It's awful. If I'm on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I'm going, I'm liable to say I'm going to the opera. It's terrible. So when i told old Spencer had to go to the gym to get my equipment and stuff, that was a sheer lie. I don't even keep my goddam equipment in the gym."
pg 16 ch 3
this quote shows quite a bit about holden. it shows how careless he is because when he is talking about the ways in which he lies his tone seems almost nonchalant. like he doesn't care that he lies. this also shows quite a contradiction in holden. on one hand he is a very truthful person as in he tells the truth about other people quite a lot. but he has this terrific lying skill which he doesn't seem to be proud of, you can tell because of how he says it's terrible. however he doesn't seem to hate it either. like maite said he has some things to hide but having been kicked out of several schools doesn't seem to affect him and he doesn't really care about where his life is heading as he talks quite a bit about with old mr. spencer
"He started walking around the room, very slow and all, the way he always did, picking up your personal stuff off your desk and chiffonier. He always picked up your personal stuff and looked at it. Boy, could he get on your nerves sometimes." (pg. 26 Chapter 3).
I kind of got the impression that Holden is lonely, an outsider. He just got kicked out of the school, and are heading back to New York on wednesday. He certainly spends a lot of time in his room. Ackley always comes and bothers him, he cleans his nails over the floor, he is always picking on his pimples, picking on everything, just talks and talks and he never listens to you. But I think Holden still looks at him as a friend, deep down. Strandlater, that is Holden's roommate, is a selfish jerk. He just cares about himself, litterally.
Holden is kind of a childish sixteen-year-old boy, he says he likes to hoarse around a lot, " I felt like jumping of the washbowl and getting old Strandlater in a half nelson. That's a wrestling hold in case you don't know, where you get the other guy around the neck and choke him to death, if you feel like it. So I did it. I landed on him like a goddamn panther." He also likes to imitate people from movies, he don't like to watch movies, but imitating, which is a little ironic. -People always tells me to act my own age.
Holden, the main character, is a 16 year old junior who attends Prencey prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Within the first five chapters the reader finds out a lot about who Holden is. Firstly, Holden Caulfield has been kicked out of Prencey prep for failing four subjects. He has had a history for leaving his previous schools, and now he has been asked to leave Prencey as well. One can tell that Holden is also very observant. For example, he compares two of his dorm mates. Both Ackley and Stradlater are slobs, but in different ways do they express this. “Ackley was a slob in his personal habits. Stradlater was a secret slob” (Salinger 27). Holden also describes and knows himself very well. He knows his strengths and his limits. He knows and is very aware of himself. He is aware that he could never fight Stradlater, and that his build wasn’t as broad as others. Holden is more of a peacemaker, especially when Ackley talks trash about people who are genuinely benevolent. When referring to Stradlater, “he’s conceited, but he’s very generous in some things. Look. Suppose, for instance, stradlater was a tie or something that you liked. You know what he’d do? He’d probably take it off and give it to you. He really would” (Salinger 25). Another quote that he self-explains who he is, is “im not too tough. I am a pacifist, to tell you the truth” (Salinger 46). Holden is aware, peaceful, honest, but also unsure of his future in terms of education because he can no longer attend Prencey Prep.
"He started ckeaning his goddam fingernails with the end of a match. He was always cleaning his fingernails. It was funny, in a way, His teeth were always mossy-looking, and his ears were dirty as hell, but he was always cleaning his fingernails." (Page 22, chapter 3)
Holden always seems to be commenting on everything a person does that annoys him as Issac said. It seems like most people that he knows he's always talking about the things that that person do that annoy him. Holden also doesn't seem to have many close friends, sure he has a few people he seems to talk to a lot but i wouldn't think Holden considers them friends.
<3 Summer <3
I think that Holden is the sort of person that is really stuck up about himself sometimes and other times he can really disgrace himself. I really think that Holden is fluncking because he a carefree guy. I think this because in the composition he really put his effort into it.("Oh how lovely! perhaps you know my son, then, Ernest Morrow? He goes to Pency." "Yes, I do. He in my class." Her son was doubtless the biggest bastard that ever went to Pency, in the crumby history of the school. He always going down the corridor after he had had a shower, snaping his soggy old wet towel on people's ass.")Quote:p.54 this makes me think that Holden really despised amost everyone that he know. Even his own sister he reaaly just kills everyone with his vanity of not being a jerk. His own sister hated him for not seeing the fact that he is the goddam biggest moron there ever was. I say this because he hates and he never tells the truth. Also he is like the only person thought the whole book that kept hurting people's feeling. Sally was trying to be nice to him and he rejected her with a cold shoudler. I think that over all Holden is a asshole backwards person. he does all the things he hates most. He is the biggest phony that I have evr seen!
“Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.”
"Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it."
Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.
This quote really stood out to me because it shows how Holden is really depressed in life and that he lives in solitude, and this quote reminded me of the poems by Emily Dickinson, and Holden is acting like a nobody and in this case, he isnt on the side of the hot shots. He is failing and he has no companions. He doesn't want to play by the rules, because there are too many rules in life.
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth”.
That’s the first sentence of the story, and already the reader knows quite a bit about Holden’s personality. It shows that he’s rather negative about most things. In my opinion he has a lousy personality (from this first look), maybe that’s what Salinger was going for at first, who knows? Holden’s got a self-depreciating personality shown from his frequent negative criticisms directed at himself. By the way, David Copperfield is an illusionist.
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