For this post, choose one of your signpost observations which caused
to gain some insight into the book or has some meaning for you. Use
your signpost observation to explain your insight into the book.
For
instance, in the "Again and Again" section, you may have noted that
Holden keeps mentioning that Jane keeps her kings in the back row of her
checker board. This observation then prompted you to think about a
possible theme in the book. For this blog post, write about your
thematic idea and discuss how you see it affecting other parts of the
book.
Repeatedly in "The Catcher In The Rye", Holden calls people phonies. He says this mainly about adult characters that have some sort of authority over him. People like the headmaster, Mr. Spencer's words, the students at Pencey Prep, and many other things, he implies or just flat out says they're phony. I find this very ironic however, because Holden multiple times lies about his age, name, and several other things. In chapter 8, Holden says to Mrs. Morrow, "'Rudolf Schmidt,' I told her. I didn't feel like giving her my whole life history. Rudolf Schmidt was the name of the janitor of our dorm." Holden lies because he "did not feel like giving his life story", but why can other people not have this excuse too for their so called "phony" actions? This theme of phonies and people being fake I think will keep being repeated throughout the book because it has been very consistent up to this point. I think that eventually Holden's actions of being phony will give him trouble. Maybe he will have to take a step back and just look at the problem he has, instead of criticizing others. Holden might be subconsciously judging others and their problems because he is too scared to look at his own. He is quick to give an opinion even when he does not really know someone. The people that he calls "phonies" might not even be as phony as he says they are.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I have noticed so far in reading “The Catcher in the Rye”, is that Holden is very drawn to a girl named Jane Gallagher. When she is first brought up in the earlier chapters, Holden cannot seem to think about anything but her and he repeatedly asks about her. Right then it is clear to the reader that she was an important person in his life and most likely will be appearing in the book in the future. In general, Holden is a very negative character with a unique perspective on the world. He believes that most people are phonies and only in this life for themselves. However, whenever the thought of Jane comes to his mind, all those negative feelings seem to almost disappear and she is all that is on his mind. We see this multiple times, like at the phone booth when he trying to decide who to call, and the idea of calling her comes to his head more than once. There are also several flashbacks of Holden and Jane with each other and the awkward relationship they share. The subject of Jane also brings on the themes of love and intimacy. The whole idea of sex seems to make Holden uncomfortable, but he confessed that Jane was different from other girls and he had strong feelings for her, so these themes will most likely be addressed further in the story and Holden will start to leave his comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteThe signpost I choose is Memory Moment. How I related this to “ The Catcher in the Rye” is when Holden mentions his deceased brother Allie. He remembers this because when Stradlater asks him to write a paper for one of his classes that describes something in great detail, he thought of Allie’s old baseball mitt, which had poems written all over it. In his memory it is clear that he is very fond of Allie. After Allie dies Holden was deeply affected because he stated that he broke a bunch of windows with his bare fist. I feel like he might have done this because he did not know what else to do with his emotions, so he turned it into anger. I believe he still does not know what to do with his emotions. I feel like that could be a theme in the book. Not letting the past dictate the future. I feel like this traumatic event could have something to do with his current status. He clearly has grief over Allie’s death because he mentions him again in chapter fourteen. He says that he feels really bad for a time in his childhood when he did not allow Allie to come with him to a friend’s house. This shows that he still has Allie on his mind. Maybe he feels regret for some things that he did to Allie as a kid that he can not make up for now because he is gone. So I think that Holden’s memories of Allie could represent something along the lines of not letting go of your past. Maybe Allie’s death was to complicated for him to deal with. He has proven that he is confused by the concept of growing up, and perhaps because of Allie’s death he is afraid of the adult world and all of its confusing and complicated things that can happen. Death is a complicated thing so he may want to try to protect himself from those kind of situations.
ReplyDeleteSo far, in “the Catcher in the Rye”, Holden seems to describe things, or even activities to make us seem like he has experienced them himself. For instance, pages 62 and 63. Throughout those two pages, Holden states that he is “probably the most sex maniac you ever saw”, then he says that sex is something he just doesn’t understand. There are two signposts that could be described for these two pages; “Again and Again”, and “Contrasts and Contradictions”. Again and Again could be explained because Holden keeps using the word “crumby” over and over for an adjective on him describing sexual activities from the guy’s side and the girl’s side. I feel that more and more in the book, Holden will describe certain things to make us think Holden has experienced it himself, when he really hasn't. Now, these two pages also contain “Contrasts and Contradictions”. Holden saying he doesn't understand sex, and that he doesn't believe in sex, then these two pages he says he's a sex maniac, and tells us what happens, and how the girl or the guy happens to feel during that time. I also feel that situations using contrast and contradictions will show up throughout the book, more than they have already. Holden seems like the kind of person, who I feel doesn't really know what he thinks, or what he knows.
ReplyDeleteIn the book “The Catcher in the Rye,” Holden brings up his dead brother Allie multiple times. Holden talks about Allie when he is doing the descriptive essay as well as when he is talking about Jane in chapter 11. This is important to the book because Holden seems to have been changed by his brothers death. You can infer his brothers death is important when he talks about Allie to Jane. Holden says “She was the only one, outside my family, that I ever showed Allie’s baseball mitt to, with all the poems written on it.” This means that he does not like to tell other people about important parts of his life and would much rather keep to himself. This is a shame because if he told more people about his brother's death, they would better understand him. Holden telling other people about Allie could also help him get over his death, which seems to bother him throughout the book thus far. This also shows that Jane is very important to him. Allie is not only talked about repeatedly, but is also part of a memory moment. Holden first brings him up when he is writing the paper for Strandler. He then describes him in great detail which shows how much he cared about Allie. It is important that he brings Allie's baseball glove with him to the dorm and then to New York City. This continues to show how Allie's death has affected his life and that he still thinks about Allie. I believe that as the book progresses, we will learn more about his brother and how this death in the family has changed Holden into being the person he is.
ReplyDeleteThe sign post “Again and Again” seems to show up a good amount throughout the book. This happens because Holden is very repetitive. He will say or do something over and over and sometimes will not even realize it but we, the readers, do. One thing Holden does “again and again” is basically not reaching a goal he has knowingly or unknowingly set. What I mean by this is that he will have this idea or goal to do something and he will try but he just doesn't quite get there. For example when he goes in to punch Stradlater and sort of misses him and also when he was kissing Jane everywhere on her face but her lips and when he tried to he just didn’t quite do it. Another example is when he is trying to call this girl ,when he first gets to the hotel, to try and get her to come over but it just doesn’t quite work out. I feel this “Again and Again” moment shows how Holden's life is just trying to get to a point but not reaching it and I feel like this ties to the rest of the book because it shows how he is not good with moving on and getting to a new chapter in his life. Another “Again and Again” moment with Holden was the scences about the ducks. He brought the ducks up to two cab drivers, so far. He basically asked them where the ducks go when winter comes and what do they do. The first cab driver didn’t really care and kind of ignored Holden but the second cab driver was really into it and got worked up over it. I think these scenes also tie in with Holden’s struggle to move on. I think the ducks symbolize moving on and Holden is asking because he doesn't really know how to do it and he's not sure how he’s going to get to the next part of his life. He is wondering how the ducks do it. How do they move on.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, "The Catcher in the Rye" there were a vast amount of memory moments that were noticeable and seemed to have meaning to me. One memory moment in the book that really stuck out was when he talked about how him and Jane, the girl he has feelings for, almost "necked". This seems important because when Holden gets deeper in depth to that day we discover something that leaves us thinking about Jane and her family.
ReplyDeleteDuring this scene Holden talks about how they were just hanging out and playing chess at her house to start off. He always brought up her characteristics and what she likes to do when she plays chess including keeping the Kings in the back of the board. After a while, Janes stepdad had interrupted their game when he came in and asked her where they kept the cigarettes in their house repeatedly yet Jane did not reply once and acted as if no one was talking. Holden described him as looking run down and not caring about anyone else but himself unless he needed something that he couldn't find on his own. Once he left, Holden knew something was wrong but when he asked what that was about, Jane still did not reply. Shortly after he had slid closer to her and she immediately started crying. As we kept reading, we still don't know what that was all about but Holden suspects that the stepdad had taken advantage of her in some ways. He didn't dare to ask her about anything knowing whatever it was, was too hard to talk about.
This part of the book seems like a very important memory moment because it described to the readers, what Jane's life is like more into depth and left us hanging with what the exact problem was.
The signpost I have chosen is Memory Moment. There have been moments in "The Cather In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger where Holden Caulfield, the main character thinks back and shares past events which help in learning about who he really is. For example he has many flashbacks and memories of when he was with Jane Gallagher. He seems to have very strong feelings for her and he is always thinking about her. She is very important to him. Holden has many moments where he thinks about the people he really cares about. He also thinks about Allie, his younger brother who died. Allie's death seems to traumatized Holden. He talks about Allie all the time. To remember him always he carries around Allies old baseball mitt everywhere, the mitt represents his love for Allie. The mitt shows the uniqueness of his brother and he uses this as a way to help him cope with the loss of his brother. Clearly, there are flashbacks of old memories throughout the book that help to better understand Holden's story and his journey
ReplyDeleteIn “the Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger Holden always has flashbacks of his brother Allie who had passed away. Holden was very close with Allie and was crushed by his passing. Holden describes the night of Allie’s death on page 39 with the following, “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.” This quote helps prove that Allie’s death caused Holden a lot of damage. He literally goes crazy and punches through multiple windows until his hand breaks. This leads into me thinking that Allie’s death and Holden’s inability to handle it caused him to act the way he does. He never recovered from the damage dealt by Allie’s death and that caused him to develop his pessimistic and broken view of the world and the people in it. The death could be why Holden is so critical on everyone and everything. This “Memory Moment” has given me insight into Holden Caulfield and how he struggles to cope with Allie’s death.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Catcher in the Rye” Holden shows lots of emotion when he speaks about his deceased brother Allie. This Memory moment begins when Stradlater, Holden’s roommate asks him to write a descriptive essay so he can go on a date. Holden writes about his brother Allies baseball mitt. Holden explains that his brother had died from leukemia when he was 11. Holden was very attached to his brother and explains how nice and intelligent Allie was. The night of Allies death Holden broke all the windows in the garage. I believe he expresses his anger in a violent way because he feels like he has nobody to express his emotions to. The death of Allie damaged Holden in many different ways. Allies death changed Holden and affected his life. I believe that Holden didn’t understand why such a good person would die so young. This could be one of the main reasons why Holden says he had a lousy childhood. Also it could be why Holden always is so critical of people because he compares their personalities and features to Allie. I think that Holden’s main problem is coping with his brother’s death and not being able to express his emotions to others. This Memory moment helped me understand why Holden acts and expresses his emotions the way he does.
ReplyDeleteIn the book "Catcher in the Rye" Ive noticed "Again and Again" and "Memory Moment". First "Again and Again" occurs because Holden constantly talks about things and pretends as if he has experienced the subject in his own life. For instance he talked about sex and being a "sex maniac" when in reality he hasn't experienced anything like that in his life. Also in the book Ive noticed a "Memory moment" when Holden expresses a lot of emotion when he talks about his brother Allie who passed away from leukemia when he was 11. When he shows his emotions for Allie with the baseball mitt and such things it really shows a side of holden that isn't often revealed. The "Memory Moments" and "Again and Again" really change the perspective on Holden and the book so far.
ReplyDeleteEarly on in “The Catcher and the Rye”, Holden reveals an important factor for his life choices. In the first chapter he says, “I don't care if it's a sad good-bye or a bad good-bye, but when I leave a place I like to know I'm leaving it. If you don't, you feel even worse” (Salinger 7). This quote provides insight that Holden, “again and again”, finds difficulty in transitions. I believe that Holden’s struggle with change and his unwillingness to move on from the past is a main theme that will affect other parts of the book. For instance, perhaps Holden will not depart from his bad habits and never confront Jane about his love for her. I wonder if Holden will be able to start making constructive relationships with people. Holden doesn’t say many positive things about his family. Instead, he focuses on the sad memories, such as the night his brother Allie died. Perhaps the death of his brother came quickly and he didn’t have a chance to say a proper good-bye. I think the recollection of Allie is the main reason that Holden has difficulty moving on from his past. Another example of Holden’s trouble with transition is his fixation on the ducks in Central Park. The ducks must migrate south for the winter, therefore adapting to a new environment. However, Holden wants to remain the same and struggles with transition. Each year the ducks leave Central Park and return when the warm weather arrives. I think the ducks symbolize hope for Holden’s future. He will be able to maintain a good balance of his memories from the past, but also develop into a young man with a bright future.
ReplyDeleteIn the book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger Holden says he would do a lot of things but then when the time comes he gets nervous and scared.He tries to act like a super cool guy but then whenever anything happens he freezes up and makes an excuse of why he didn’t do it. Holden wants the reader to believe him. I think that Holden is more insecure than he leads on. When he says he wants to punch Old Stradlater in the face but then when he tries to he barely connects, and then makes up the excuse that he punched him with his right hand and he can barely make a fist with that hand. I think even if that was really the case Holden could still have hit him in the face not just glanced it off his head. Or Holden would just have used his other hand if he really wanted to punch Old Stradlater. I think that Holden is just scared of doing anything that could really change or impact his future. Holden just likes everything to stay the same. Another example is when he was with Jane and Jane started crying and apparently she would let him kiss her everywhere except her lips. Holden is just scared and nervous of really doing anything that he would have to commit to, he was scared to kiss her on her lips because that would have changed their relationship. I think that there isn’t anything that made him this way, it’s just his personality. Through the book I believe that later in the book Holden will actually follow through with something that really matters to him and it will change the way he acts and perceives the world, it will change the book.
ReplyDeleteFor my “Catcher in the Rye” signpost writing I chose the Tough Question Section. My question was did Mr. Cudahy molest/rape Jane? In the book it heavily suggests this occurred with the signs it gives. Such as Jane not responding to Mr. Cudahy when he speaks to her, and not even looking at him for that matter. Also, Mr. Cudahy being an avid drinker, and walking around his house in his underwear. And finally Jane beginning to cry when Holden asks her what is wrong. The book never says what actually happened to Jane, but the reader is able to make inferences by the way she acts. And it is my belief that Jane in fact was molested by Mr. Cudahy.
ReplyDeleteNo rape
DeleteIn the story "The Catcher in the Rye" Holden has many memory moments with Jane. In chapter 11, One day, Jane and Holden were hanging out and playing a nice game of checkers at Jane's house on her porch. Her step dad came on the porch, clearly looking like an alcoholic and asked Jane if there were any cigarettes in the house. Jane did not have the best family. She didn't answer her step dad when he asked twice where they were. So he went back inside and Jane wouldn't even answer Holden when he asked her what was going on and why he acted that way. Jane started to tear up and a single drop went onto one of the red squares that she rubbed away. After, Holden went over to comfort her and she cried even more. Holden then started kissing her everywhere except the mouth. She didn't really let him get to the mouth for whatever reason. This shows that Jane had been going through tough times in her life that she didn't want to talk about. Jane was not interested in Holden kissing her all over her face. Something might have happened with Jane and her step dad in the past they may have affected her to act this way. She might have been embarrassed because Holden saw what state her step dad was in and the things he asked Jane in front of Holden.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger a signpost that I chose is again and again. The books main character, Holden, mentions some ducks in a pond. He wonders about where they go during the winter time. Holden exclaims "...does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by thenselves, go south or something?" (Salinger, 81-82) Holden is asking if someone/something will change him, or if he needs to change himself as a person. I think that Holden is trying to learn something about himself, and by finding out the answer to where the ducks go, he could find out how to change. When Holden mentions this to Horwitz, Horwitz goes on about the fish in the lake, and how they have to stay there. "The fish don't go no place. They stay right where they arem the fish." (Salinger, 82) This could imply that he shouldn't have to change, and should stay as the person he is.
ReplyDeleteWhat I noticed while reading “The Catcher in the Rye” is a scene that can be categorized as a words of the wiser scene. When Holden is talking to the cab driver about the ducks and how they know when to move. Holden seems very worried about how they know it is time to move on or if a truck comes and gets them. While it may just seem as though that Holden cares about the ducks this scene gives insight to Holden himself and how he does not know when it is time to move on. Holden asks the cab driver about this and the cab driver just tells him about the fish and how they stay where they are year round. This scene shows two polar opposite personalities with the cab driver acting like the fish and staying put and Holden knowing that he has to move on but does not know when.
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ReplyDeleteWhen i was reading "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger a moment that seemed to really give a lot of insight into the book and Holden himself is when he has a "memory moment" where he imagines himself with a bullet wound, and he is bleeding out. After the pimp punches Holden in the gut he imagines himself with a bullet wound, he imagines himself bleeding profusely, but covering up his wound, and then walking down the stairs and shooting the pimp. He imagines Jane then "patch him back up" before he bleeds out. I think this moment really shows a insight into Holden's personality. Holden admits to be yellowed bellied or a coward but this scene Holden imagines in his head is who he wants to be, he wants to be a brave scary guy who can shoot a pimp and have his girl "patch him up" again. This scene also comes up again where Holden imagines himself with a bullet wound at bar sitting there bleeding out, with his hand on his wound while everyone one else is fine at the bar. I think these scenes tie back into the main theme of Holden trying to reach his goals but cant. Holden imagines himself as a big tough guy who can get shoot and be fine sitting in a crowd but when reality kicks in his is a coward and acts adolescent by crying and calling names. This scene shows that Holden wants to be the man he imagines in this scene but falls short and is just himself alone in a crowd, not who he imagines.
DeleteI've really enjoyed reading “The Catcher In the Rye” and doing signpost notes has been so helpful to me with really looking back at things that happen the book and analyzing them down to what they really mean. I couldn't choose just one particular part on my notes to use for this blog post so i decided to tell you about a certain scene that kind of ties some major parts of holden and the story together. In the book, during the scene when Holden was playing checkers with jane, a few interesting things happened. We were introduced to a new character of the name, Cudahy. Jane's step father was obviously not someone who she highly appreciated. He walked into the room where her and Holden were playing checkers and he asked her where the cigarettes were an she didn't even turn her head or respond to him. This tells us that there is something that happened between jane and her stepfather that the author of the book is not telling us. We can assume that jane was molested by Cudahy because Holden did say that she had a nice body but we don't really ever know for sure. This falls under the tough question category because it is a tough question for the main character Holden but also for the reader as well. Holden often talks about Jane never moving her kings out of the back row, this is an again and again moment. This to me symbolizes something about moving on. Holden doesn't know why she hasn't moved any of her kings and he doesn't know when she ever is going to move them (on). kind of like when he asked how the ducks know when to move on. Holden also says they they almost came close to necking. he says that she wouldn't let him kiss her on the lips but it hink that he just didn't because he was too scared. Holden has a way of talking himself up and contradicting himself. When he talked about punching that kid (i forget his name) he said that he missed him by a little but if he had hit him it would have really hurt. this is funny because it is very similar to the necking situation where Holden was actually just too afraid to do it.
ReplyDeleteIn “Catcher in the Rye” a memory moment that really stuck to me was with Jane. Holden was spending time with Jane playing a game. Her step dad arrives and asks her a question however, Jane stays silent. Her step dad repeats the question but she refuses to answer again. Holden was curious as to what was going on with her behavior around and towards her step dad. When Holden asks what the problem was, she ignored the question. When Holden went to comfort her, she burst into tears, Holden started to kiss her everywhere but her mouth. He didn’t care to ask her anything else, he suspects something in Jane’s past, involving her step dad, haunts her still.
ReplyDeleteThroughout my readings of “the Catcher in the Rye”, I had noticed that Holden tries many different things to get his mind off of Jane, which can be characterised as an “Again and Again” signpost. For example, on page 63 Holden says “I started toying with the idea while I kept standing there, of giving old Jane a buzz...I went over to the phone and gave her a buzz. Her name was Faith Cavendish…” As you can see from this quote, Jane Gallagher is constantly on Holden’s mind. It’s almost as if he’s trying to find excuses not to talk to Jane. Holden was about to call Jane, but then decided to call Faith instead because he wasn’t “in the mood”. This shows that Holden is trying to fill the gap that was left in his life when he drifted apart from Jane. Another example of this is when he organizes a date with Sally Hayes. I believe Holden is looking for girls to sort of take Jane's place in his life. He wants someone close who treats him exactly how Jane treated him. On page 105, Holden explains “I thought of giving old Jane a buzz, to see if she was home yet and all, but I wasn’t in the mood...I gave old Sally Hayes a buzz.” What you can infer from this quote is that, again, Holden is looking for somebody to fill the role of Jane, and this time it’s Sally, whom was a very old friend of Holdens. Although Holden doesn’t specifically say all of this stuff in “the Catcher in the Rye”, as a reader, I analyzed his thoughts and developed the idea that he is trying to replace Jane in a sense.
ReplyDeleteHolden is a main character in the book “Catcher in The Rye” by J.D Salinger, he is a difficult and unusual character. One thing that is noticeable in the “again and again” category is how Holden perceives people. Since the beginning of the book the reader would notice this. He constantly only points out the negatives in people and rarely points out anything positive, and in some cases when he does point out the positives he then covers it with a negative comment. I feel like this might have something to do with the fact that he is unsuccessful, and that he might only point out negatives to make himself feel better. Holden does not seem to have a lot of confidence or faith in himself. It seems like Holden is trying to figure out what he is doing but he is unable to place himself, with school and relationships. You can especially notice Holden is not confident in himself because never reaches his goals. He explains that he tries but then he would miss. An example of this is on page 43, Holden speaks, “I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his goddam throat open. Only I missed. I didn't connect.” As a reader you notice this many times, Holden always talks himself up and then when it comes time to follow through with his actions he does not succeed. These again and again moments I have a feeling will keep repeating throughout the book until Holden changes his attitude and how he feels about himself.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Catcher in the Rye” Holden is very repetitive. He uses a few words several times within a short period of time. Words like “phony”, “crumby” and “corny”. Holden uses the word “phony” to describe just about everyone in the world that he doesn’t like, particularly adults. He uses “crumby” to describe Pencey and how people act sexually. “Corny” is used less often than the two previous examples, but still comes up often. “I mean if a boy's mother was sort of fat or corny-looking or something,...” (chapter 2) Holden describes someone’s parents as being corny-looking. I think that Holden uses these few words often for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, I think it shows that he will never be able to change. He continues to use the same vocabulary over and over, even when it does not make sense. I think this is an important theme for the book as Holden may be growing up physically, but certainly not mentally. He has the cognitive function of a ten year old who just learned a new word and wants to use it in every sentence. For Holden, this word is “phony” as everything that everyone does is because they are “phonies”. Holden may never develop if he continues to act like a child and not open up to the world.
ReplyDeleteIn the story “Catcher in the Rye” there are many tough questions asked by some characters that are directed at Holden Caulfield. Early in the book, Mr. Spencer asks Holden “Do you feel absolutely no concern for for your future, boy?” (Salinger 14). This appears to be a tough question for Holden to answer because he first says that he does have some concern, but then a moment later says that there is not too much to be concerned about. Shortly after, Holden makes an excuse to leave. Could this be because Holden is afraid to let go of his childhood and begin to think about moving on to adulthood? Throughout the book, Holden reminisces about his past with family members and old friends, but never truly speaks of what he would like to do in the future when he is an adult. Most people by his age would have a general plan about what they would like do after high school. Later on, Holden began to talk to the cab driver about the ducks and what they do to move on once the winter comes and the little lake freezes over. This could be a way for Holden to indirectly address moving on and venturing into adulthood without having to say it out loud. He’s trying to gather information about the ducks so he can try to figure out how to embrace life’s obstacles for the future. Holden at first avoids the conversation about moving on and his future, but Mr. Spencer’s tough question sits in the back of Holden’s head without a complete answer.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, but I am unable at the moment to label myself as the author. This response was by Ericca Nolan.
DeleteHa! All set.
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