Catching Jane

 

                  Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel that speaks great volumes of the human mind and its subconscious feelings.  By entering the mind of the rebellious Holden Caufield, the reader is able to understand and empathize with Holden’s thoughts and emotions.  One characteristic of Holden, his tendency to wander off into long digressions, particularly enables the reader to further analyze and evaluate his thoughts.  Although these digressions may often seem inane and irrelevant, they reflect greater themes and ideas that are prevalent throughout the novel. Furthermore, these digressions provoke many of his feelings, and can be connected to many of his actions.  Such an example of this is Holden’s conversation with his sister, Phoebe, and the tearful outburst of his friend, Jane Gallagher.  Although these digressions seem completely unrelated and quite irrelevant to the story, their broader, deeper meanings explain some of Holden’s ambitions and opinions.  In this case, these two digressions can rationalize and justify Holden’s desire to protect Jane Gallagher.  His deep yearning to be a catcher and savior of innocent people causes his obsession to watch over Jane.  By connecting several larger, more apparent themes of the novel with these smaller, more obscure digressions, the reader can expose the roots of Holden’s inner thoughts and decisions.

One of the most meaningful digressions in the novel describes Holden’s goal in life.  This digression, which is enveloped in Holden’s conversation with Phoebe, explains one of his ultimate aspirations.  When Phoebe asks Holden what he would like to be, he responds:

Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some games in this big field of rye and all.  Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean-except for me.  And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff-I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them.  That’s all I’d do all day. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.  I know it's crazy. (173)

From looking at this quotation from a broader standpoint, Holden aspires to save children from their falls.  His goal in life is to be there for people when they are falling.  Furthermore, falling can be interpreted as not only physically descending down from an area, but also falling in a sense of one’s emotional and mental state of mind.  “A fall” can be classified mentally as one having a mental breakdown, or just losing one’s sanity                  In addition, as a fall can be interpreted as more than a physical concept, “children” can also be interpreted further than its literal meaning.  A prevalent theme throughout the novel is Holden’s affection towards children.  This is extremely important, being that Holden, for the most part, is a very hateful person who often classifies others as “phonies”.  However, in children, Holden sees a purity and innocence in them.  They are not like the unscrupulous adults that Holden faces in his life.  Holden clearly shows his fondness towards children when he helps a little girl tighten her skates near the mall.  When describing the girl, Holden says, “She was a very nice, polite little kid.  God, I love it when a kid’s nice and polite when you tighten their skate for them or something.  Most kids are” (119).  In the simplest of senses, Holden undoubtedly expresses his fondness for children.  From his judgment, a child’s personality completely differs from his definition of a phony.  From this, children become a symbol of purity and innocence.  Thus, in Holden’s explanation of wanting to be a “catcher in the rye”, children are a symbolism of innocence and purity.  He wants to save the innocent and pure from their falls.

                  Furthermore, Holden’s motivation to protect Jane Gallagher can be derived from his ambition to save the innocent from their falls.  From the start of the book, it is clear that Holden has a special love for Jane.  In his many digressions about Jane, from the way she plays checkers to her dancing ability, to the countless times Holden wants to call Jane, it is evident that Holden has an obsession for Jane.   Also, the fact that Jane was only one of three people that Holden had in his address book shows that Jane is an important part of his life.  However, a connection between several digressions in the novel gives a reason to why Holden wants to protect Jane.  In Holden’s description of her, he says that her childhood was “lousy”.  Although Holden does not give a full explanation of why her childhood was lousy, he does show some of its affect on Jane.  After an awkward interaction between Jane and her stepfather, Holden says, “Then she really started to cry, and the next thing I knew, I was kissing her all over-anywhere-here eyes, her nose, her forehead, her eyebrows and all, her ears-her whole face except for her mouth and all” (79).  In this situation, Jane has had her fall.  She has mentally broken down and is bawling right before Holden’s eyes.  Holden’s sees this opportunity to be a “catcher in the rye”, and comes to her rescue.  He does this by consoling her and kissing her.  In this, he hopes he can save her from a fall.  Furthermore, in the way Holden describes Jane, with the stories of her checkers and dancing, she is portrayed as pure and innocent.  From what the reader knows of Jane, she does not possess any traits that would make her a phony.  Thus, Holden grows a strong love for her.  Jane is the innocent child that Holden desires to save from her falls.  She is the perfect person for Holden to save and reach his personal goal.  Holden then continues to try to protect her, even at Pencey Prep.  Once Holden suspects that his roommate, Stradlater, has slept with Jane as he attacks him.  His desire to defend her is based on his ambition to protect the innocent from falling.

                  Finally, from another perspective, Jane’s tearful outburst can be also related to Holden’s hatred in phonies.  Jane’s stepfather, Mr. Cudahy, is seen by Holden as a sleazy “booze-hound”.  It is not likely that Holden has much respect for him, as he asks Jane if Mr. Cudahy had ever mistreated her.  Although Jane denies it, Holden is still suspicious.  Holden says, “She was pretty young, but she had this terrific figure, and I wouldn’t’ve put it past that Cudahy bastard” (79).  Throughout the novel, it is a common theme that Holden abhors certain qualities in people.  These qualities often cause Holden to call these people “phonies”.  To Holden, Mr. Cudahy represents a sleazy drunk that has possibly mistreated Jane.  Being that Jane is possibly a victim of such a bad person, this makes Holden love her and want to protect her even more.  The more he suspects that Cudahy is a bad person, the more he wants to shield her.

                  From connecting evidence from different digressions, the reader is able to discover new meaning to Holden’s mind and his motivations.  As Holden tells Phoebe that he wants to be a “catcher in the rye”, the reader can relate this concept to saving innocent people from their falls.  In addition, as Holden tells of his awkward night in kissing Jane, the reader can further see that this is related to saving Jane from a fall, which leads to Holden’s desire to protect her.  Jane’s stepfather can also be seen as a person that Holden would want to save her from.  These inferences better illustrate Holden’s reasons in his actions, which lets the reader understand him as a character even more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alec’s Movie and Holden’s Life

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel about a confused and troubled character named Holden Caulfield. In the course of the novel, Holden digresses on seemingly random and   irrelevant topics. However, after examining the text more closely, it is evident that all the digressions actually have relevance to the rest of the story. One of these detours occurs when Holden is waiting to meet with Carl Luce. He has just gone to see a movie at Radio City to pass the time. The movie is about a man named Alec who comes back from the war with a limp, a cane, and no memory. Eventually Alec meets a girl and plans to get married to her. At the last moment, Alec’s fiancé from before the war sees him, and recognizes him. At first, Alec doesn’t remember his fiancé or his family, but after a cricket ball hits him in the head, he remembers everything and is left with a dilemma as to which girl he should marry. He eventually chooses the girl he met after he lost his memory but everything turns out happily anyway. This digression is important to (the rest of) The Catcher in the Rye, because it serves as a mirror of Holden’s life and what is happening in it.

                  First, after Allie dies, Holden is shattered and depressed. He punches all the windows out of his garage, and spends time in the hospital while he misses Allie’s funeral. This part of Holden’s life corresponds to the movie scene when Alec comes home from the war and is limping and needs a cane. “He comes out of the hospital carrying a cane and limping all over the place” (138). Alec’s limp signifies Holden’s mental injury from the loss of his brother. Alec’s cane represents Holden need for the support of those around him.  Also, when Alec comes back from the war, he has lost his memory. This represents how lost Holden feels without his brother Allie. “[Alec] comes out of the hospital [...] not knowing who the hell he is” (138). An example of Holden not knowing who he is, is when Phoebe tells Holden that he doesn’t like anything. Holden is unable to defend himself and name something that he does like, because when Allie died, the person who Holden liked to talk with, and do things with the most, was gone. “You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things. You don’t” (169).  Without Allie, Holden doesn’t know what or whom he likes anymore, because Allie was always the person who shared those things.

The second part of the movie that mirrors Holden’s life is when Alec meets a new girl and falls in love with her immediately. “They fell in love right away, on account of, they’re both so nuts about Charles Dickens and he helps her run her publishing business” (138). This is like Holden’s life when he meets Jane. They develop a caring relationship, and enjoy the same books. Holden and Alec both find comfort and solace in the women they meet. In the movie, Alec has just come back from the war broken and with no memory, but he meets a girl who helps him get through things. When Holden is sitting in his hotel room after his encounter with Maurice, the thought of Jane comforts him: “Then I’d crawl back to my room and call up Jane and have her come over and bandage up my guts” (104). For Holden, thinking about Jane comforts him from his thoughts of suicide, and being beaten up and robbed.

                  Next, in the movie, it talks about how Alec’s girlfriend isn’t making much money in her publishing business, because her brother has recently returned from the war. He is spending all of their money on alcohol to take his mind off his problems from the war. “She’s not doing so hot because her brother’s a drunkard and he spends all their dough” (138). This parallels Holden’s life because Jane’s stepfather is also a drunkard who will only talk to Jane if he wants something from her: “I didn’t know him too well or anything, but he looked like the kind of guy that wouldn’t talk to you much unless he wanted something off you” (78). Jane’s stepfather will only talk to Jane when he wants his cigarettes or something else, and it seems like the drunkard brother would only want to talk to his sister when he was asking for money. Both drunkard characters cause pain and trouble for the two girls, and they are similar in that way.

                  A fourth example of a connection between the movie and Holden’s life is when both return to their senses after a physical or verbal collision. Alec gets whacked in the head with a cricket ball and experiences total recall. “One day, some kids are playing cricket on the lawn and he gets smacked in the head with a cricket ball. Then right away he gets his goddamn memory back”(139). Holden becomes more like his old self after a fight with Phoebe. When Holden is losing control and yelling at Phoebe, he tells her to shut up, which he rarely does. When she gets upset with him, he realizes what he has done and wants to make up for it. “Listen do you want to go for a walk? [...]. Do you want to take a walk down to the zoo” (208)? He is extremely angry with Phoebe and keeps making her cry. “ That made her cry even harder. I was glad. All of a sudden I wanted her to cry till her eyes practically dropped out. I almost hated her” (207). When he realizes what he’s doing, it’s like the cricket ball hitting Alec in the head, Holden snaps out of his stupor. Although Alec and Holden have different ways of reaching their recoveries, they both reach a turning point for the better.

                  The final connection between the movie and Holden is that both stories have happy endings. Alec ends up marrying the girl he met after the war, but his fiancé from before the war isn’t upset because she finds her own husband. Essentially, the movie has a happy ending where everyone gets what he or she wants. “It ends up with everybody at this long dinner table laughing their asses off” (139).  In Holden’s story, there are subtle changes that show improvements in Holden’s unstable life. For one thing, he makes up with Phoebe and decides not to run away out west. Hopefully, this means Holden has put the idea of going west, pretending to be a deaf mute, marrying a deaf mute, and hiding his kids somewhere, out of his mind. Finally, Holden has at least indicated that he hopes he will be able to succeed in his new school, which would definitely be an improvement over his previous attempts at being a student.

                  Holden’s digressions represent a critical part of understanding The Catcher in the Rye on a deeper level than just the literal one. Although their meaning can be easily overlooked, they provide insight into what Salinger is really trying to say about Holden and the rest of the novel. Without the movie about Alec, some details about Holden could be overlooked. For example, the fact that Holden’s story does in fact have a relatively happy ending, could be easily missed if not for the obvious happy ending in the movie. Once there is a happy ending in the movie, it seems like Salinger is hinting that the end of Holden’s story might also have a happy ending upon closer examination. Despite the seemingly random content and timing of Holden’s digressions, they all serve a purpose in explaining Holden’s life, and making the details more clear. The movie about Alec seems like two pages of unnecessary detail about what movie Holden saw. Actually, Salinger used the movie as a roadmap to explain Holden’s story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Holden Caulfield

 

              In The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the difficult life of Holden Caulfield unfolds.  Holden is a lazy student who is continually expelled from an array of schools and finally runs away to New York City.  After a horrific experience, the boy returns to his home, seeking comfort with his sister, Phoebe, who relates to her brother the plot of a movie she had seen earlier on the very same day.  This film, titled “The Doctor,” is about a “doctor in Kentucky and everything that sticks a blanket over this child’s face that’s a cripple and can’t walk.  They send him to jail and everything” (162-3).  Indeed, the short description of t! he  film, “The Doctor,” enriches and deepens the reader’s understanding of Holden.  Firstly, the doctor’s character can be closely linked to that of Holden, and furthermore, the sick child who must suffocate foreshadows future events in Holden’s life.  Finally, the fact that Holden never actually listened to his sister explain the movie plot tells much about Holden’s impatience as well as his limited relationship with his family.

              The controversial doctor described by Phoebe shares many of Holden’s characteristics.  The doctor is portrayed at first as a soulless and evil monster who kills innocent cripples without a conscious thought.  As a result, one would assume forgiveness could never be granted to such a man.  Still, “this child that he stuck the blanket over its head comes to visit him all the time and thanks him for what he did.  He was a mercy killer” (163).  The cripple remembers her life and realizes the doctor saved her from much grief and suffering.  Resembling the doctor, Holden likewise seems to never be  appreciated by society.  He is ridiculed by his teachers, siblings, and parents, as his sister says, “Daddy’s gonna kill you” (165).  Moreover, like the doctor, Holden cares deeply for the underdogs in society.  Whether it is the poor ducks in the winter or the underprivileged prostitute, Holden cares about their future and state of suffering more than he is concerned with the average “phony.”  By seeing this parallelism in the characteristics of Holden and the doctor, the reader can readily realize that Holden would have killed to help another just as the doctor had.  This connection predicts that in the later occurrence when Holden sees a swear marked on the wall, he will erase it.  Holden will do anything he can t! o  protect the naïve, just as the doctor would do anything to relieve the young cripple of her suffering.  Thus, the reader learns much about Holden from comparing the story of his life to that of the doctor’s. 

             In addition, the closely related story of the sick cripple foreshadows Holden’s future ideas.  The cripple is a girl who cannot walk or perform the basic functions of life.  She is physically sick and constantly hurting.  By relieving her of life, the doctor saves the girl from an eminent doom of life in pain.  There becomes a difficult dilemma as the movie plays on, as Phoebe relates, “a doctor isn’t supposed to take things away from God” (163).  The result is a delicate balance which can be paralleled by an idea of Holden’s.  The girl represents the children in Holden’s dream of his future  profession, as he declares, “I keep picturing all these kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all.  Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around-nobody big, I mean- except me.  And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff.  What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff” (173).  The children represent lost ones who are crippled in a sense that they may fall at any moment.  Instead of letting these kids face the dangers of their perilous days, Holden would rather catch them and intervene in their life.  One could acknowledge that God wishes for the kids to fall, to lose their innocence, yet Holden, like the doctor, tries to play the role of savior whenever he is capa! ble of  doing so.  In this way, the story of the cripple foreshadows Holden’s dream profession of catching kids before they fall. 

              Finally, the reader learns much about Holden’s patience and family relationships through the context in which Phoebe relates the story of the doctor.  As Phoebe recounts the movie she saw to her brother, Holden remains uninterested and aloof.  Instead of focusing on the story his sister describes, the boy worries himself with other issues.  Holden tries to speak, saying, “Listen a second.  Didn’t they say what time they’d-” (163).  Uninterested in the movie plot and impatient to learn the time when his parents would return home, Holden never hears the actual story of the doctor who kills his patient.&nbs! p;  Holden has waited to see his sister and is very excited to have reunited himself with her, as he says, “I felt swell for a change” (159).  Still, Holden simply loses his patience for his sister who continually interrupts him, and he feels that what he has to say is of more importance.  This action is hypocritical for Holden who continually disrupts others.  At one point, Holden calls Sally at a very late hour.  Although Sally could not come to the phone, Holden selfishly begs her grandmother to wake her, saying, “‘Wake ‘er up!  Wake ‘er up, hey.  Attaboy’” (150).  Holden feels it is fine to interrupt Sally, yet when he has a question of importance for Phoebe, he beli! eves it  cannot wait.  Thereby, the reader learns much about Holden’s impatience through the context in which the story of the doctor is presented. 

                 In all, the movie plot of “The Doctor” enhances the reader’s understanding of Holden by not only having connections between the doctor and Holden as well as parallels between Holden’s future dreams and the cripple, but also adds to the reader’s understanding of Holden’s family life.  J.D. Salinger proficiently adds this important digression in Holden’s story in order to help the reader gain a deeper look into Holden’s rich character.  Instead of merely stating Holden’s character for the reader, Salinger guides the reader with provocative departures from the central topic, adding to the interest of his world-renowned novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

 

 

 

 

Holden and David Copperfield

            “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 childhood was like and and how my parents were occupied before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap.”  (1)  So begins J.D. Salinger’s classic novel The Catcher in the Rye.  Some may believe that Salinger chooses David Copperfield as a reference here simply because the character David Copperfield was an orphan. It is quite probable, if not definite, that the true reason for this book’s mentionting is because there are multiple similarities between the book and Holden’s life.

          Both of theses classic works of literature are Bildungsroman, or coming of age novels, told in the first person by an older proantagonist, relating his earlier life. Beyond this surface connection, it is easy to see many more parallels in the plots. Early in both books we see the boys at boarding school. Holden’s story uses his school, Pencey Prep, as the original setting. As for David, he is sent away to school after an argument with his stepfather turns violent. Both boys arrive at school and take a general dislike to the staff, especially the headmaster. Holden relates:

          “Old Selma Thurman  ?  the headmaster’s daughter  ?  showed up at the games quite often […] What I liked about her, she didn’t give you a lot of horse manure about what a great guy her father was. She probably knew what a phony slob he was.”  (3)

David also dislikes his headmaster, Mr. Creakle, who inspires fear in the hearts of all the boys. David and Holden both attend multiple schools, as well. David goes to Canterbury after leaving his first school and Holden attends and leaves Pencey, Elkton Hills, and the Whooton School

          Another similarity between the two boys is their families. Both have brothers who die. David’s beloved stepbrother dies early on in the novel while

Holden’s brother’s death is not mentioned as part of the story but both the boy (Allie) and his untimely end are reffered to quite often.

          Because both books are Bildungsroman, both mention the main character growing up and trying to appear manly. In both cases, their efforts are thwarted. David takes a “seat of honor” (Sparknotes 33, by Sara Davidson) on the London coach but is forced to surrender it to an older passenger. When Holden goes to the Edmont Hotel’s Lavender Room he tries to order an alcoholic drink but is stopped by the waiter.

          “I ordered a scotch and soda and told him not to mix it  ?  I said it fast as hell because if you hem and haw, they think you’re under twenty-one and       won’t sell you any intoxicating liquor. I had trouble with him anyway, though. ‘I’m sorry sir,’  he said, ‘but do you have some verification of your age? Your driver’s license perhaps?’ ” ( Salinger 69)

He is also constantly telling people that he is older than he is. One example would be when he is with Sunny the prostitute and claims to be twenty-two. She catches him though and retorts with “ ‘Like fun you are.’ ” (Salinger 94)

          Perhaps the most important plot similarity that can be drawn between these two books is the issue of character development. We see David and Holden grow and mature throughout the book, learning from other characters and experiences valuable life lessons.

          Apart from plot connections, many of the characters in these two books mirror each other. Firstly, there are the main characters, Holden and David. Both young men tell their stories to us from a childlike perspective although both are older when the story is being told. Both boys are avid readers. David turns to books as his only comfort from his evil stepfather Mr. Murdstone and Holden mentions quite a few books he’s read, such as Return of the Native, Out of Africa, and Human Bondage. David and Holden share the talent of being good writers. Holden fails every subject but English, which he does well in. Infact, his roommate Stradlater even asks Holden to write a composition for him, knowing of Holden’s skills. David is able to profit off of his talent by writing magazine articles and later moving on to be an author. The two boys even share similar surnames.

           Another two characters who are alike are Stradlater and Steerforth. Again, both have similar names. Stradlater and Steerforth have similar relations to their respective proantagonists. They are somewhat friend and somewhat foe and tend to take advantage of David and Holden. Both are described as good looking and charming, but we as readers know that neither is up to any good.

           Because of the innumerable similarities between these books, some of which I have neglected to mention, it is possible that the earlier influenced the later. Both books have an innocence that countless readers of both books have enjoyed. It is this feel, this inexplicable essence of the book that binds them closest together.

 

 

 

 

Melting Away

 

                  Digressions, digressions, digressions…  For most reflecting on J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the first things that come to mind are the endless amounts of digressions throughout the novel.  During the book, Holden Caulfield, a troubled teen, takes the reader on a long journey in search of his true self.  Whether or not each and every digression that Holden makes is pertinent to his coming of age story is for the reader to decide.  Some think that Holden’s vivid descriptions of a funny looking red hunting hat and his inane thoughts about ducks in Central Park are just arbitrarily placed in the true plot for sheer amusement. However, if you just as much as peek beyond the surface, you will soon see that everything is in fact there for a reason. There is one instance in particular that leads the reader to believe that every minute detail serves a purpose.  Towards the beginning of the novel, Holden reaches his large hands outside into the bitter cold and packs a hunk of newly delivered snow into a single snowball.  This snowball may seem rather trivial to the untrained reader, but it actually plays an incredibly important role in the story and it informs the reader that Holden is headed for a breakdown.

Following the creation of the snowball, Holden contemplates whether to chuck it somewhere among the undisturbed winter wonderland that lies before his eyes.  After toying with the idea of throwing the snowball at a parked car across the street, he refrains:

I started to throw it.  At a car that was parked across the street.  But I changed my mind.  The car looked so nice and white.  Then I started to throw it at a hydrant, but that looked too nice and white, too.  Finally I didn’t throw anything.  All I did was close the window and walk around the room with the snowball, packing it harder. (36)

As Holden stands at the window unsure of whether to throw the snowball, he is on many levels just like this snowball.  This snowball is picked up and taken away from the world it knows, the world it is familiar with.  Holden, who has lost his brother and is practically friendless, also feels that he is alone in the world, with no one to turn to, nobody to relate to.  Although people are often around him, everyone seems so far away, just as with this snowball; despite the fact that its home is only feet below it as it lies in Holden’s hands, it is an outcast.  The snowball is now in the form of a sphere and it cannot just fit back in with its fellow snow.  This is similar to how Holden feels; he sees himself as being so different from everyone else.  Without him, the world seems so calm and undisturbed.  It occurs to Holden that this outcast of a snowball would cause an undeserved burden on the peace and quiet of the surrounding world, as would he himself. 

By throwing the snowball into the world, Holden would move the perfectly arranged snow out of place and perhaps blemish the smooth layers of unsullied powder.  Holden sees that just as the snowball is stuck outside of its home unsure of how it got there, he is stuck outside of the world that he aches to be a part of.  He yearns for friends, for anyone to talk to, but he cannot seem to find anywhere he fits in.  Several times throughout the story, Holden comes right out and says how lonely he is.  “I felt so lonesome…I almost wished I was dead” (48).  Holden wishing that he is dead is a hint to the reader that soon enough, this state of loneliness and isolation will threaten both Holden’s and the snowball’s lives.  The fact is, this snowball cannot survive astray from its surroundings.  Without its fellow snow around to nurture it and contain the cold it needs to survive, the snowball will melt away.  There is a parallel between the snowball melting away when it is not under the right conditions and Holden having a breakdown when he is so distant and removed from the surrounding world.  Holden travels from school to school and he cannot find the happiness that he seems to have had in the world he knew before his brother’s death.  Like the snowball, these conditions will cause Holden to melt and breakdown. 

Holden is hesitant to put the snowball back in the world where it belongs due to the disturbance that he believes it will cause.  Instead he makes the decision to take it with him on a bus, where, as much as he may want it to survive, it will surely melt away.  This is Holden’s way of showing that he is making a subconscious decision to isolate himself from the world he craves contact with because he does not want to be such a disturbance.  As Holden gets on the bus with the snowball and chooses to seclude himself from the world, something gets in his way.[i]  The bus driver tells him that he needs to put the snowball back outside where it belongs.  Holden, who is so strongly opposed to messing up the nice and white snow arrangement, just wants to keep the snowball with him.  In attempts to convince the bus driver to leave him and the snowball alone he says, “I told him I wasn’t going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn’t believe me though” (37).  The bus driver is persistent and makes Holden get rid of the snowball and put it back where it belongs.  By doing so, the bus driver saves the snowball from melting just as Phoebe, Holden’s little sister, rescues him from a complete emotional meltdown that he experiences later in the novel. 

This is where Holden’s encounter with the snowball ends.  The reader can assume that the snowball is returned to its home and gradually eases its way back into the display of newly fallen snow.  However, the symbolism and foreshadowing that this incident provokes continues throughout the remainder of the novel. To some inattentive readers this “snowball incident” can be seen as an insignificant digression that is simply meant to entertain the reader as Holden waits for a friend to get ready to go out.  Whereas to the more discerning and conscientious reader, Holden’s encounter with this snowball sets the stage for his breakdown that is to occur soon after the incident.  Although seemingly small, the snowball scene is a red alert, and it is meant to warn the reader that Holden is in deep trouble and about to fall.  The incident also informs the reader that although Holden may breakdown and fall, someone will catch him, as the bus driver did for the snowball.  The reader now knows that someone will surely be there to help Holden and keep him from melting away.[ii]

 

[1] Although Holden gets on the bus with two schoolmates, he continuously criticizes them, as he does to everybody, and thinks about how much he dislikes them.  Despite their physical presence, he is still as alone as ever because he isolates himself from connecting with them in fear that he will be a disturbance to the world that seems to be doing just fine without him. 

 

[1] Without reading past the first couple dozen pages of the novel, one can predict the essence of Holden’s story, from him being an outcast like the snowball to his meltdown and rescue, just by reading an analyzing the short, yet meaningful snowball situation.

 

 

 

Holden – Hero or Zero?

Holden’s duality in protecting and violating innocence

In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, its author J. D. Salinger portrays the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, from two very different and seemingly conflicting sides. On one hand, Holden is fanatical about the protection of innocence, zealously attempting to shelter all kids, and especially his sister Phoebe, from any knowledge which might compromise their naïveté. On the other hand, Holden himself is repeatedly revealed to be experienced and knowledgeable in worldly matters. He frequently swears, drinks, and smokes, sharply criticizes everyone he sees, and generally does not get along with the world. Although these two aspects of Holden’s character may appear to be mutually exclusive, they are actually in harmony. In fact, because Holden lost his own innocence so thoroughly and so early in his life, he becomes captivated with the idea of guarding it in others. Salinger depicts this numerous times throughout the novel, for example in Holden’s anxiety about Jane, Holden’s protection of Phoebe, and Holden’s general fury at the exposure of children.

During the opening of the story, Holden is concerned about Jane’s safety as a young woman, saying “I kept thinking about Jane, and about Stradlater having a date with her and all. It made me so nervous I nearly went crazy” (34). However, Holden describes himself as a “probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw” (62). He often speaks as if he has had plenty of experience with girls. Seeing the extent of his and others’ unscrupulousness, he wants to protect Jane’s virtue. Partly this is because of Jane’s habit of “ke[eping] all her kings in the back row” (44), which, to Holden, embodies her blamelessness and makes him want to shelter her from both the evils of others and from the darker aspects of himself.

Similarly to his shielding of Jane, Holden also tries to guard Phoebe. So when, after deciding to run away, he finds out that Phoebe is insistent on going with him, Holden is greatly upset. He has no problem with running away himself, since he has already decided that he simply can’t fit into society and lead a normal life. However, he realizes that his attitude has influenced Phoebe to reject her naïve contentment with life. He is shocked, repeating “I thought you were supposed to be in a play in school and all” (207). To Holden, Phoebe’s participation in the school play is a symbol of her involvement and success in ordinary life, which he cannot fit into. His sudden understanding of how he is taking away from Phoebe exactly what he wants to protect in her immediately alters his mind about running away himself.

Not only with Phoebe, but with all children, Holden is upset by their exposure to any knowledge that he considers mature information. Even though Holden himself swears almost continually throughout his narrative, he is infuriated when he sees some vulgar graffiti, namely the expression “fuck you” on the wall of Phoebe’s school. He thinks:

…how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them… what it meant, and how they’d all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever’d written it. (201)

Apparently, Holden isn’t at all shy to say “what the hell”, but is extremely troubled by the “fuck you”. Perhaps this is because he thinks that the mystery of the meaning of the latter expression would impact children in a different way; the process of discovering its significance, more than the actual use of obscenities, disturbs Holden.

Once Holden comes across still more similar graffiti, even engravings, of the expression, he gradually comes to realize that however much he might want to, he cannot erase all the obscenities in the world, symbolic of the fact that he cannot save all of the children in the world from harm. He sees that the phoniness around him and the faults within him are irremovable, and that he will just have to manage to live in the flawed society as it is. So the two facets of Holden – protection and violation of innocence – first help make him try to preserve innocence in others, and then to appreciate people’s independence in exploring the world. He says “the thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but its bad if you say anything to them” (211). The reader is left contemplating some personal choices. How should one act: younger than one’s age, older than one’s age, or in between? What, exactly, is acting one’s age?

 

 

HOLDEN AND THE HAND—LOVE AT ITS CLEANEST

 

                  Perhaps if every male in the world were more like Holden Caulfield our society wouldn't be so goddamn corrupt.  It sounds odd: this is the same Holden who considers himself a “sex maniac” (62) and tells girls he loves them just because they happen to be so gorgeous in little black coats and berets.  Yet there's something more to J.D Salinger's epic character in his novel The Catcher in the Rye—something wonderful.  When considering the power of a 16-year-old boy's hormones, satisfaction in a “terrific” hand to hold and a touch on the back of the neck illustrates a perfectly favorable personality somebody many tend to hate because of obvious things, like rudeness and self-righteousness.  A comparison to the epic band the Beatles, encouragement from an unconventional soul named Jane Gallagher, and a maturing idea such as that of the protection of innocence prove Holden to be much more likeable than he first appears.

                  The Beatles nailed it.  That much has been said and agreed upon, pretty unanimously, since the legendary band's prime.  What a  bold thing it is to do to try and establish a reason for their success, as the issue is rather delicate and myriad opinions concerning it have developed, but here is a guess that is humble yet resolute: it was because of one little single called “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”  When every other band was singing lustfully about wanting sex and drugs and claiming dirty things about girls, the Beatles just take a hand and want nothing more.  Every successful love song recorded since can be traced back to “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and many still pale in the significance of the original.  To quote Lennon and McCartney directly:

“And when I touch you I feel happy inside.
It's such a feeling that my love
I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't hide.”

They realized something critical—that going all the way is totally and utterly overrated.  That one can touch another and know what love is and feel no need to go any further.  The Beatles have this feeling that they can't hide, but that they show through such simplicity as the sincere and fragile and pure act of  interlocking fingers.  Holden gets this.  Holden barely even knows that he does, but he does, and it only makes him brilliant.  He is so different from guys like Stradlater who would probably laugh at Holden's satisfaction with hand-holding, who can't tell 'Jean' apart from 'Jane' and who just take hands to pull the rest of the body closer.  Him and the Beatles look at the world through rare pairs of eyes.  They are sensitive eyes, and patient ones.  One who never regularly strikes the reader as particularly sensitive or patient, Holden, shows a pleasant change in his character when considering girls and sex and love.  And as the venerated band followed his legacy by a decade or so, it was not an inspiration that emerged from their cheery vocal harmonies and comforting offbeat lyrics that led to the refreshing variation in Holden's character, it was Holden himself.

                  Jane's touches have an ironic effect on Holden.  It is a beautiful thing the way he gets excited over such simplicity, because when it often takes much more to impress him, this wonderful,“muckle-mouthed” (79) creature stimulates him just by contact of the nerves at the tips of her fingers.  Holden reminisces on the time that he “felt this hand on the back of [his] neck, and it was Jane's” (79-80), with more affection in his voice than when he discusses  the several moments during which he says he just missed have sexual intercourse.  While it is acknowledged that he feels for others in the pure and youthful community, subtle interactions with Jane fulfill Holden's own desires to be the same.  In this situation at least, he is not edging towards hypocrisy.  Sweet to children, he wishes for a kind of sweetness himself.  When so many girls linger within his reach he can't stop thinking about the one girl that makes him want to slow down and stick with her hands for a while.  He says:  “That doesn't sound like much, I realize, but she was terrific to hold hands with” (79).  He denies its importance out of a reluctance to admit that it means so much more to him.  Holden may be tempted by sex.  There is all the evidence that someday he wants to do it regularly, but, at least for now, it's almost as if he's mothering himself, slowing himself down, preserving his own innocence. 

                  Sally Hayes and Sunny the prostitute mean adulthood to Holden, whereas Jane, suddenly lowly in comparison, symbolizes a slow sexual maturity.  Sally and Sunny and many others would have willingly interrupted the strengthening of his boyhood.  Holden, resisting that appeal, yearns for Jane anyway.  The reason for his undistinguished and seemingly senseless desire is as follows.  Jane is the only girl Holden has ever known that could help Holden find his place in the world.  Holden is unable to satisfy either the position of  immature adult or old-acting child.  He both refuses to be treated like a boy and is terrified of the isolation and bitterness of growing up.  Jane, in somewhat of a parallel situation (hence her disinterest in moving the kings, her sort of “adult checker pieces”), is willing to slowly guide Holden over the edge of the field of rye so that he is prepared for the fall when he gets there.  Holden and Jane have, rather unknowingly, the same ethics, the same belief that the propagation of innocence is crucial.  Thus, Jane, accompanied by dawdling touches and child-like policies, is capable both of saving Holden and protecting the general purity of the deteriorating world, and, thus, Jane is everything and all he wants.

                  A misunderstood teenager with a record of harsh accusations and unfortunate decisions, Holden may not really be such a bad guy.  Sure he judges and insults and criticizes, his rude mouth and mind shadowing his true feelings, but he does have an awfully big heart.  Like the Beatles, like Jane Gallagher, Holden has this idea in his head that slowing the quickening journey into adulthood will lead to the happiness of everyone.  No matter how realistic that may be, it is a lovely idea.  It expresses loveliness in someone who is mostly recognized for being terribly unlovely.  Even today the act of hand-holding has been overlooked.  It has not been appreciated to the length it deserves.  It brings out real intimacy in people—more intimacy than most think; more intimacy than going all the way sometimes does.  If every male in the world were more like Holden Caulfield, the world probably would be less corrupt.  Many new problems would arise, but at least women would be respected.  At least women would be appreciated, feel like they mattered to men. Then, they could finally look into his eyes and glimpse a hint of happiness at their touch.