The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger Essay Example

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger Essay If you really want to hear about it, the first thing youll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I dont feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth (1) David Copperfield covers the majority of Copperfield life from child to adulthood but Holder is saying that he isnt going to do the same (presumably he doesnt want to or doesnt think it necessary) he Just tells the reader about his present experiences. The whole team ostracizes me the whole way back on the rain. It was pretty funny, In a way (3). Holder watched the football game alone far away from others, Justifying the fact by stating that his fencing team ostracizes him on the train. l was trying to feel some kind of a good-by I dont care If Its a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I Like to know Im leaving It. If you dont, you feel even worse. (4) Although Holder was being kicked out, and did not care much about being kicked out, he felt he needed some sort of goodbye before he left. Because he dislikes the feeling of leaving without anyone noticing him leaving at all. We will write a custom essay sample on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer He doesnt care if it is good or bad, he Just wants to be recognized. People never notice anything (9) Holder believes that people dont notice anything, especially about him. He states that people say he should act his age, when In reality he believes that he acts older than his age. Im Just going through a phase right now. Everybody goes through phases and all, dont they? (15). Holder went to say goodbye to one of his teachers Mr.. Spencer, but soon after being lectured onto applying himself, Holder grew tired of hearing Mr.. Spencer and was making excuses to what was going on. Holder just anted to ease his way out of the conversation and get out of Mr.. Spencer home. Im the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life (16) She wouldnt move any of her kings. What shed do, when shed get a king, she wouldnt move It. Shed Just leave it In the back row She Just liked the way they looked when they were all In the back row (32). Holder is most definitely a Compulsive Liar, and one can even say he has some sort is heading. Holder was worried when Seedeater told him he was going to go on a date with Jane who is a girl Holder played checkers with when they were kids. He knows a lot of mall things about her and seems to admire her small attributes, such as leaving her kings in the back row. I didnt throw [the snowball] at anything, though. 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 didnt throw it at anything. All I did was close the window and walk around the room with the snowball, packing it harder (36) Holder tried his hardest to throw the snowball but refrained due to the fact that everything looked so ice. Holder wasnt afraid of getting caught, but was afraid of hitting such a beautiful looking thing. White is also the color of innocence. Holder could not hit the innocent car or fire hydrant. Holder eventually gave up and went on the bus with the snowball, but the bus driver made him throw it out because he did not believe that Holder would not throw the snowball. You dont always have to get too sexy to get to know a girl (76) Holder believes that he knows Jane Gallagher Like a book. He believes that you dont have to be super intimate to learn about a girl, and that he earned a lot about Jane Just from being close and sports. You think if theyre intelligent and all, the other person, and have a good sense of humor, that they dont give a damn whose suitcases are better, but they do. They really do (109) Holder believes there is some sort of superiority that others feel Just due to the fact of have a better suitcase. He believes that those that are intelligent and have a good sense of hu mor should not care about something simple such as a suitcase, but that in reality they actually do care. That even the smartest and funniest people want to be above others. God, I love it when a kids nice and polite when you tighten their skate for them or something. Most kids are. They really are (119) This quote shows Holders affection towards the politeness of small things appreciated by children. Even the smallest things such as the tightening of a skate can make the smallest child have the brightest face. Holder believes that this is something that is lost in older generations of people. Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and Just leave them alone. I know thats impossible, UT its too bad anyway (122) Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobodys around-nobody big, I mean-except me. And Im 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-I mean if theyre running and they dont look where theyre going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. Thats all Id do all day. Id Just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know its crazy, but thats the only thing Id really like to be. I know its crazy (173) Holder is not a fan of change, he wishes most things would never change. He knows that it cannot happen, and change is all around us, but he cannot face the fact that even he is changing. Wants to save all the kids from falling. But in reality he doesnt want to save them from falling and dying, he actually is trying to convey that he wants kids to not go through what he is going through. He wants the kids to not fall to his level. He wants to catch them and make them understand there is more to life then Just running. The kids are running, no idea where they are going, Just like Holder was naming the streets, no idea where he was going. Holder is at the cliff himself, trying to stop others from falling like he almost did himself. l had this feeling that Id never get to the other side of the street. I thought Id Just go down, down, down, and nobodys ever see me again. But I kept going. I was sort of afraid to stop, I think (198) Holder was afraid of disappearing, even though he was afraid that he would disappear, he would continue walking. While walking he saw his little brother, and Holder would continuously beg his brother to not let him disappear and eventually thank him. Then the next block came and the same thing happened. Holders past was trying to make him not leave, but Holder kept walking. Eventually, Holder stopped, but was too far. He made the decision to never return back home again. If you had a million years to do it in, you couldnt rub out even half the Buck you signs in the world. Its impossible (202) This shows Holders hatred towards immaturity and how hes grown and changed over the time in the book. Earlier in the book Holder would have simply ignored the signs on the wall, but now he wishes to remove all of the signs of immaturity in the world. Thats the nice thing about carousels, they always play the same songs (210) The fact that carousels always play the same songs reminds Holder of his past, and brings back some of his fond memories of when he was a child. l felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around It was Just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all (213) All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid shed fall off the goddamn horse, but I didnt say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for 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) Although Holder can be quite unhappy at most times, it seems that he gets much Joy out of his little sister. He really admires his little sister, and seeing her happy is one of the small things that brings him true happiness. Holder believes that the kids should learn on their own, and not be restricted by others without trying themselves. He believes that if you fall off the horse by trying to Arab the ring, you know not to do it anymore, and telling them to not do it will Just tempt them to do it themselves. Dont ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody (214) When you start talking to others about someone or something, it will remind you of the fond memories and times you had with them, and make you miss them. This is exactly what happened to Holder. Even though so much bad happened and he was so depressed at times, he still misses it all. A lot of people, especially this one I go back to school next September. Its such a stupid question, in my opinion. I mean how do you know what youre going to do till you do it? (213) Holder thinks the question that the psychoanalyst asked him was stupid, because how is one supposed to know what will happen until you do it. That is why Holder has such experience. Holder has gone throughout the city and experienced things that many of us have not and probably will not experience, such as the death of his sibling to even almost buying a prostitute. People can read this book and think they read in-between the lines but they will never understand Holder or what he went through completely.