The Catcher in the Rye is a book by J.D. Salinger. It talks about a teenage boy who has mental issues. He is never happy because he thinks everybody is phony. His parents do not care at all about him, and that makes him very sad so he gets expelled from all school. The only person that understands him and can give advice is his sister, Phoebe. A Tpassage were we can see that connexion between Phoebe and Holden is when he buys a gift for her and he uses a time to think about her “The first record store I went into had a copy of “Little Shirley Beans” (p.128). The point of interest is that in this scene, Holden tries to make his sister Phoebe happy because she is always by her side to understand his problems; so he wants to thank her. “Boy, …show more content…
It is one of the only things that he does with his heart because he isn’t usually happy; he complains all the time. I chose this passage because when Holden mentioned “The Shearly Beans”, I felt that represented childhood and innocence. This song is important to Holden because he hates phony people but, for once he appreciates the voice of the singer: she is not phony. When he is saying that he loves the singer Estelle Fletcher he uses a hyperbole to exaggerate his loving for the lyrics. The dramatic interest is that the song of the recorder never ends and when he breaks it. Those passages symbolize that he doesn’t want his sister to grow up, he prefers her being a child and innocent because he takes the time to care about her and to do things with her. Holden loves kids and/or innocence people. We could see it, when he asks the car driver “where do the ducks sleep in winter ?”. A second example is when holden tries to protect the children from the bad word “Fuck you” on the wall. Then, when he walks with the record, he breaks it in several pieces. I think that it shows how every kid become a teenager once in their lives. Because it is broken there no song anymore and that represents growing up. Holden is scared to lose Phoebe when she starts to grow up, he loves her now because she is
Holden’s fear of change is obvious when he says, “It’s an old but terrific record” (128). Holden sort of has an obsession with old stuff. I think he like old things because it takes him back to his golden days where he was with his younger brother Allie, and that is the time he wishes would not change. Holden is willing to pay five dollars to get the record because it reminds him of himself. Holden says, “It was about a little kid that would not go out of the house because two of her front teeth were out and she was ashamed to” (128). Holden most likely likes the song because like him the girl is afraid of the changes of growing
Very early on in the book, Holden says,“I’m quite a heavy smoker, for one thing--that is, I used to be” (Salinger 5). Holden goes on to smoke and drink dozens of times throughout the book, both of which are behaviors that should not be occurring in his childhood. Holden does not see this as a sign of maturity (or immaturity), but he continues to judge others throughout the book based on their actions and appearances. Part of the intro to EDEN’s song relates well to this, “But everything I said, it went unheard/And everything you saw, with eyes straight blurred/Became our downfall/But you say I drink, and I smoke, and I talk too much” (EDEN). The difference between Holden and EDEN’s song is that EDEN knows that his behaviors are troublesome, and he is singing to someone about whom he cares, begging for forgiveness. He also says that he has been showing signs of his insecurities, but that she just failed to pick up on them. Holden is showing these same signs, but there is no one to pick up on them because he is alone for most of the book, and on the rare occasions where he is not, the people with whom he interacts do not know him well enough to care. Keeping with the theme of music, a song of Nelly’s, “Just a Dream,” also contains themes embodied by
Holden imagines himself saving all the children from falling off the cliff by standing on the edge and watching for any children on the verge of falling. This symbolizes how Holden wants to stop the children from falling into adulthood. On top of the
Holden’s best friend is his wise and likeable little sister Phoebe. When Phoebe is first introduced, Holden makes a point to note how she is different from kids her age. She is intelligent, “You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She’s really smart. I mean she’s had all A’s ever since she started school.” (75) Obviously Phoebe cannot be the average 10-year-old if a sixteen-year-old boy seeks solace in her company. Phoebe is so intuitive, meaning Holden can bring up and topic and she can pick it up instantaneously. She knows exactly what her big brother desires to be told even if he refuses to admit aloud. Holden describes Phoebe as emotional, at times too much, and creative. She displays these characteristics through stories about the orphan, ‘Hazle’ Weatherfield (76.) Another example of her empathic, nearly psych, nature is when she guesses that the reason Holden was home early was because he was expelled. Of course when her fear is confirmed, she has a meltdown claiming that, “Daddy’s gonna kill you,” over and over again (182-183.) Throughout Catcher in the Rye, Holden is seen not having anyone truly care about where he will end up as a young man that is until Phoebe illustrates the intense devotion and admiration she has for Holden. Once Holden resolves to running away from New York and starting a new life out
❖ This is significant because it’s clear that Holden wants to shelter Phoebe from the pain of growing up. He doesn’t want her to have to deal with the phonies of the world.
In the excerpt from chapter twenty-three of Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden is with with his little sister Phoebe and suddenly starts to cry uncontrollably. Phoebe tries to comfort him by putting her arm around his neck even though she seems a bit scared. This passage shows the relationship that Holden and Phoebe share with one another. To prove this, Salinger uses character relationship and visual imagery in order to illustrate to the readers the love they have for each other. In the beginning of the excerpt Holden lets the readers know that he is with Phoebe, then later on in the passage we are shown the relationship they have with each other when “she put her old arm around my (Holden’s) neck” (line 6).
The story goes on to explain the painfulness Holden is going through when he is facing growing up, he is scared to grow up and doesn’t want to see other children have to go through it so instead of trying to help himself he reaches out to others and tries to save them from the pain. I believe growing up is one of Holden’s biggest struggles in the book because in every part of the book he is faced or mentioning something that has to do with getting
Holden admires the record mainly because it’s not “cutesy”, even though the record is about a child; he refers to it as being sung in a Dixieland and whorish way. I think his main reason for liking the record is because it’s unconventional, by buying the record he is trying (too hard) to not be a phoney. Though it is strange that
Phoebe asks Holden what he wants to do with his life and Holden’s only answer is to mention a lyric from a poem, “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye.” Holden says he pictures an enormous field of rye on a cliff full of playing children. The image is symbolic of Holden’s desire to stop or prevent the children from falling off the cliff into adulthood. This represents Holden’s aspiration to save both himself and other children from growing up. Phoebe replies that the actual lyric is, “If a body meet a body comin’ through the rye.” Holden’s misinterpretation emphasizes both his desire to shield children from the adult world, and his misunderstanding of just how innocent the world of children
As Holden’s story comes to a close, he accompanies his younger sister, Phoebe, to the
Before Holden breaks the record, he speaks to Luce, a former classmate whom Holden sees as mature about sex. Holden is curious, but also confused about sex, like a child. When he asks Luce about sex, Holden passes it off as trying to be mature, but what it really shows is that deep down he is not ready to grow-up. Luce repeats that he doesn’t want to have a “typical Caulfield conversation” and asks him “When in hell are you going to grow up?” (146). Holden is trying to understand adulthood, but he is not ready to grow-up because of his immature behavior. He then drops the record, symbolizing his loss of innocence, depicting his fear that adults are “phony” and when he ages, he will be as well. His collection of the broken pieces of the record are not only representative of his fear of leaving childhood, but his fear of Phoebe leaving childhood. After he drops the record he says the pieces “weren’t any good for anything, but I didn’t feel like throwing them away” (Salinger 154). This is symbolic of Holden’s childhood innocence ending, but his refusal to enter into adulthood and trying to hold onto every piece of childhood he has left. When Phoebe then takes the broken pieces of the record and keeps them, Holden feels a sense of calm because he feels that even if his innocence is gone, he can still preserve his sister’s. Holden hopes that the record will remind Phoebe of him even when he is
When Holden sees a little boy singing to himself in the street, he begins to reflect on his own childhood, and the thought of being so young and pure, causing him to feel less depressed. He takes note of the family's disregard for the child as the boy walks out onto the street rather than the sidewalk. He also brings up that the parents were “walking” and “talking,” “not paying attention to their kid.” Holden gives the impression that he feels badly for the minor since he has no one watching him, however he also shows a hint of jealousy. Holden wants the boy to stay unadulterated and innocent. He does not want the boy to feel pushed by societal pressures into becoming someone he is not. He also wishes that he too could resemble that same spirit,
The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by J.D. Salinger. It is narrated by Holden Caulfield, a cynical teenager who recently got expelled from his fourth school. Though Holden is the narrator and main character of the story, the focus of Salinger’s tale is not on Caulfield, but of the world in which we live. The Catcher in the Rye is an insatiable account of the realities we face daily seen through the eyes of a bright young man whose visions of the world are painfully truthful, if not a bit jaded. Salinger’s book is a must-read because its relatable symbolism draws on the reader’s emotions and can easily keep the attention of anyone.
When Holden arrives, he finds Phoebe sleeping in D.B.’s room. "Holden!" she said right away. She put her arms around my neck and all. She's very affectionate. I mean she's quite affectionate, for a child. Sometimes she's even too affectionate. I sort of gave her a kiss”(161). When Holden arrives at his home for the first time since he left Pencey, he is tightly embraced by Phoebe, who is very happy to see him. Phoebe is the only person who loves Holden unconditionally. Phoebe is able to love Holden even when he makes poor decisions. Here we see how important to she is to him and he is to her. In this situation, Phoebe is very affectionate towards Holden because they love and appreciate each other would be when she sees her child after a long time. Phoebe and Holdens conversation changes very rapidly, from catching up to a deep, confrontational conversation lead by Phoebe. "You don't like anything that's happening." It made me even more depressed when she said that. "Yes I do. Yes I
Most people that Holden talks to or even that he sees upsets him. This is bulkly made up of adults though. Children is the one thing that Holden seems to enjoy. The person he thinks about a lot of in his life is his sister Phoebe. Holden says," The kid was swell... he had a pretty little voice too...his parents paid no attention to him" (Salinger 150). It shows Holden's first reaction is that he enjoys the child, while the parents pay no attention to their kid's singing. Then when he goes to give the note to the office of Phoebe's school and passes the curse words that someone wrote on the wall, he immediately starts to try and get it off. Holden