A Milestone Essay

Holden thinks children are authentic and in order to stay authentic in a world full of phonies he seeks to preserve his childlike nature. In chapter 13, Holden talks about the concept of his virginity, he says “If you want to know the truth, I’m a virgin. I really am. I’ve had quite a few opportunities to lose my virginity and all, but I never got around to it yet. Something always happens.”(92). Holden admits he’s still a virgin and to many people losing your virginity is a step to adulthood. This is Holden’s way of trying to protect what little he has of his childhood to prevent himself from becoming an adult. That “something always happens”(92) is his own subconscious telling him to stop and to save this moment for someone who he really likes not a prostitute whom he bought. Holden even says earlier ,in the novel, “I don’t like the idea...I think if you don’t really like a girl, you shouldn’t horse around with her at all”(62). The author is trying to show how kids can avoid being an adult in the real world. Although he tries to protect his youth, Holden also likes to pretend his is an adult. He does things like being an avid smoker, constantly wanting to drink, and wanting to hookup with girls. Doing acts like these: ”After a while I sat down in a chair and smoked a couple of cigarettes.”(63), “‘Would any of you girls care to dance?’ I didn’t ask them crudely or anything. Very suave, in fact.”(70), “Boy, I sat at that goddamn bar

At his age most kids are already sexually active, making them more adult in a way. The reason for this being that they are exposed to many things that younger, and more innocent children are not. With the protection of his virginity comes his innocence. Holden’s innocence is slowly being taken away as the novel goes on. When he goes to New York he is exposed to many things that normal kids are not used to seeing. He sees prostitutes for one thing, people who are the opposite of innocent and clean. Holden also has to be around a lot of phonies who make him realize hat the world isn’t perfect and that people lie and cheat to receive what they want. This is seen with Mr. Ossenburg, who takes advantage of other people while they are mourning their loved ones. He takes their money, which is supposed to go to a grave, but just ends up keeping it and throwing the bodies in a ditch. Holden meets many more phonies, and doesn’t want other children to be exposed to their dishonest nature.

At a bar, Holden finds these women, describing them and typical “phonies.” He ends up dancing with “the blonde one” and teases her, telling her that a movie star was in the room they were. All of a sudden “[he] was sorry as hell [he’d] kidded her. Some people you shouldn’t kid, even if they deserve it” (Salinger 78). Holden is well aware that he has hurt her. He also not admittingly makes a mental not that you cannot do as you please in this world.

In The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, the tone clearly drives the strategy to be logos. Logos is an exceptional rhetorical strategy as it persuades the reader, not through the use of emotions and feelings, but rather through the use of logic and reasoning. There exists an energy in the style in which Gladwell writes that has the power to persuade the audience to believe what he believes in, the Tipping Point. Gladwell does not only give us his theory on how epidemics spread, but uses logos to connect the world we live in to his theory. The author’s use of logos results in a greater impact of the rhetoric.

One main thing Holden is interested in and he makes this clear would be sex. He harassed Luce constantly about questions to do with sex, and was aroused by the sexual behavior displayed at Edmont Hotel. Another example of how Holden gets guilty easily and feels nervous would be when he was alone with a prostitute and got flustered with her sitting on his lap. Holden was quick to

Sex is something he gains new understandings about and he learns that it is something natural, but complex and not all it appears to be. For example, Sunny is a prostitute who Holden calls up to his room out of desperation. He’s so lonely that he’s just looking for conversation, but he’s searching in the wrong place. Holden admits earlier on in the novel, “sex is something I really don’t understand too hot” (Salinger 82). Sunny is young and sees her as a person who needs protection, however he expected someone who is a prostitute to be older. From this situation Holden learns that he needs the moment to be right and an emotional connection to have sex, that for him it is not something that can be casual although for others it might be.

Most Californians are introduced to the California Mission system in one of two ways: in their early education, or when they first visit a mission. Unfortunately, both methods are prone to simplification or bias in conveying the history of the missions. What this has led to is Californians who are ignorant of the history of the land they walk on. Consequently, visitors to the missions treat them as mere tourist attractions, instead of trying to embrace and understand the complex issues the missions represent.

Much later in the book, Holden meets up with an old friend, Carl Luce, to catch up on each other’s lives. Holden attempts to talk with him about sex because it’s the only thing they did talk about when they both went to Whooton, which Holden flunked out of a few years back. Holden tries to connect with Luce by talking about their sex lives and how Holden wants it to be like anything Luce is talking about, but he ends up disappointing Luce into the expectation that he has grown. He reminds him of what Holden needed last time they saw each other, and Holden remembers: “‘You mean go to a psychoanalyst and all?’ I said … ‘What would he do to me? I mean that would he do to me?’ ‘He wouldn’t do a goddam thing to you He’d simply talk to you, and you’d talk to him, for God’s sake. For one thing, he’d help recognize the patterns of your mind.’ … Old Luce. He was strictly a pain in the ass …” (Salinger 192-193). Holden once again shows a lack of wanting to accept and listen to people who are trying to give him advice. He doesn’t want to go to a psychoanalyst and be told what is wrong with him because he cannot accept the painful truth that he is not able to grow up and change how he is, which Luce did do. When Holden says to himself “He was strictly a pain in the ass”, he shows that he doesn’t care what Luce had to say to help Holden. He only cared about staying the way he is and

3. In the beginning of the chapter Holden wanted to be with a girl. He kept trying to get a girl to hang out with him, Holden said “I told him to ask old Valencia if she’d care to join me for a drink” (Salinger 165). This quote shows that Holden wanted to have a drink with a girl. He didn’t just try once, after he tried to be with Valencia, Holden went and called Sally Hayes.

However, he admits that while the couple’s actions are “crumby” (Salinger 81) and crude, he is still aroused and “wouldn’t mind” (Salinger 81) doing it, especially to a girl he is attracted to. While Holden wants to preserve his innocence by not thinking about sex at all, he agrees that he is a “sex maniac” (Salinger 81), and is a fiend about losing his virginity. Holden even goes as far as to make rules for himself. On page 82, he recounts, “I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it-the same night, as a matter of fact” (Salinger). He is slowly losing his innocence, and while he hates to admit it, Holden’s constant thoughts about sexuality is a sign of adulthood. To him, one should only have sex with someone they truly love. Holden is almost proud of himself for having such a morally correct view of sex. This is why he is so riled when he discovers that Stradlater had sex with Jane Gallagher. Holden realized that Jane barely knew Stradlater and felt that he, if anyone, should be dating Jane. His increasing thoughts on sexuality and loss of a conventional or shielded view of sex show that his loss of innocence is apparent.

Holden then says yes without thinking the answer through. This shows that Holden is not able to think anything thoroughly because something is always bothering him. Holden goes to his room to get fixed up and look nice for the prostitute, but when the prostitute comes he then starts feeling uncomfortable. He then tells her that she should leave and pays her. Holden is trying so hard to find himself in this world but can’t.

Many of Holden's experiences parallel the experiences of teenagers today, showing how the people of the 20th century have grown and affected us, a century later. For example, most teens will help others with an assignment if someone needs help, this parallels Holden helping Stradlater with an assignment, " 'Are ya gonna write that composition for me?' [...] 'I will' " (29). In the 21th century, dealing with different "clicks" is something all teenagers have to deal with. There are the popular kids and the kids who think they are big shots, and are better than the rest of the student body. Holden's experience with both Stradlater and Ernest Morrow parallel these experiences of modern teenagers, "You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he's a real hot- shot, and they're always asking you to do them a favor," (27) " 'He's one of the most popular boys at Pencey," (56). But, Holden also has positive experiences that are similar to modern teenagers. Having feelings for someone else and going out on dates encompasses a bulk of both Holden's and today's teenage experiences. Between Jane Gallagher always being on his mind and his double dating experiences with Stradlater, Holden's experiences are very similar to teenagers today, "I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again,"

Nash K. Burger points out in his review of Holden’s story that he is “confused and unsure of himself, like most 16 year olds” (Burger, 1). A good part of the story that supports this statement is how Holden addresses the topic of sex. He says in Chapter 9, “Sex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to God I don’t” (Salinger, 63). Ask any teenager, and they will say either something similar to that, or the pool of opinions will be very mixed.

Later on Holden recalls when he was attending Pencey College how his gloves were stolen by some crook. He continues describing the situation of confrontation hypothetically, at first with assertion and authority. Eventually he admits to himself, “Only, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I’d just stand there, trying to look tough” (Salinger P. 99). Holden goes on to describe to the reader his unaware fear of confrontation and violence, hinting at a dread of vulnerability and a closed off persona, another clear sign of Major Depressive Disorder. When Holden was a younger boy he knew a girl named Jane Gallagher whom he was childhood friends with, they often even held hands and had an emotional bond. Ever since he heard about Stradlator (his old roommate) taking her out on a date he’d been thinking of calling her up. Finally on page 130 he calls her up and her mother picks up. Startled, she hangs up and admits he should’ve asked for Jane, “But I didn’t feel like it. You really have to be in the mood for that stuff” (Salinger P. 130). His inability to feel motivated to make an effort for somebody he once loved shows his social-isolation.

This passage proves that Holden is dissatisfied with the boys at his school, he believes they are fake and he does not social well with them. Although Holden doesn’t want to interact much, when he does end up interacting with people, he usually gets the short end of the stick. For instance he invites Ackley, a boy he meets at Pency Prep, along to the movies, but Ackley won't return the favor by letting Holden sleep in his roommate's bed. ‘“I’m not worried about it. Only, I’d hate like hell if Ely came in all of a sudden and found some guy-”’ (Salinger 49). Another instance is when Holden pays Sunny even though they don’t have sex, and ends up getting scammed. At a young age, Holden lost his younger brother, Allie. This had a huge traumatizing effect on him; Holden felt useless because he was unable to help his brother. Holden turns his emotions into anger; stating that he punched out all the windows in the garage. Another time Holden felt unable to help was when his peer, James Castle, was harassed and bullied, leading to James’s suicide. Holden says, “... and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him”’ (Salinger 170). Holden feels that society had