Page 1-10: A young guy declines to talk about his personal life, only to mention that he has a brother name D. B., who’s a Hollywood writer. He seem to be mad at his brother because D. B. has went to Hollywood, persuading a career in the wealth and celebrity’s lifestyle. He then begin with his parting from Pencey Prep, Agerstown, Pennsylvania. It was a well-known school that he went to. In the school, Holden wasn’t great student, he was failing almost on every subject. Holden couldn’t leaving without saying goodbye, so he went to his former history teacher, Mr. Spencer, to say goodbye.
Page 10-20: In his room, Spencer tries to talk Holden about his academic failures. Mr. Spencer told Holden that “life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one players according to the rules” (Salinger, 8) which means Holden that must learn to play by the rules. Although Mr. Spencer care for Holden a lot, he only seem to fail Holden. Holden returning to his dorm room before dinner because he didn’t want to listen to Mr. Spencer advice about life. Holden lives in Ossenburger Hall. When Holden sits and tried to reads Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa. He is disturbed by Ackley, a student who lives next door. Holden think Ackley have weird habits and deprived of hygiene.
…show more content…
Holden tried to make Ackley leave, but Ackley didn’t notice the obvious hint. Holden’s roommate suddenly pop in the picture as
In the beginning of the book soon after being told he couldn’t return the following semester he decides to simply leave the school and wander around New York City. In New York, Holden continues to get himself into trouble. For example, he hired a prostitute and did not give her the correct amount of money resulting in her pimp beating him up. At the end of the novel, he made a plan to run away again. Although, this time he decided he would go to a far away place and live on his own in the middle of nowhere.
It’s not that holden couldn’t do the work that he was given, he could just careless about it. He was more into sports like the fencing team and occasionally girls. Holden also thought that “ It was a terrible school, no matter how you look at it.” Which was found on page five, paragraph two. If holden liked the school better maybe he would have applied himself more and actually did the work he was given.
His old teacher is agonizing him about his failures at Pencey. He lectures Holden about how important it is to “play by the rules” meaning that if you want to get somewhere and be someone in life you have to be able to compromise and not think that you are better than anyone else. This conversation implies key aspects of him as a character. His contempt for adults is obvious, which is
Holden says that getting kicked out of school again is no big deal as it is the fourth time, but he uses this as a defense mechanism to downplay his failure. 3. The significance in Holden’s remark about Mrs. Spencer opening the door herself is that it
While some students would actually listen to their teacher's input and apply it to their lives, Holden disregards Mr. Spencer's advice. It seems like education is not on top of Holden's priority list. When it comes to anything that has to do with his education, the reader can see that he does not have much determination. Not putting in effort into things he should shows that Holden is at the point where he no longer cares or has hope in succeeding in many
Additionally, I found the sentence structure interesting here, as a typical human could fit two or three sentences into the one that he wrote. I think an important, revealing quote about Holden occurs during the early stages of chapter 3, when Holden proves his distinct sense of humor while listening to school legend Mr. Ossenburger's speech. "I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into
At first, Holden takes Mr. Spencer's advice as unfair and bias saying, " Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are. " With the intent to benefit Holden, Mr. Spencer harshly responds to Holden’s comment making him feel hurt, and reflect on Mr. Spencer’s words " He said it pretty tough, too, for him."
The beginning of Holden’s journey starts with the innocence and naivety of childhood. Childhood is the stage that ignorance is bliss with no care in the world. Holden goes to a prestigious boarding school for boys and he believes that everyone in that school is a phony in some way. Holden is an observant character as he stays in the background, but he can also cause the most trouble. Like a child, he asks many questions and he is very curious to the point that he can be annoying.
In chapter 2 page 13 Holden says “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That’s all.”. Holden is feeling happy that he is being kicked out of Pencey Prep because he is being surrounded by phonies. Holden dislikes phonies the most. In chapter 3 page 24 Holden says “Ackley!
In Chapter 9-14 Holden Caulfield leaves Penecy Prep and heads to New York City. Where he will stay for a couple days before winter vacation starts and he will head home. Delaying breaking the news to his family he got kicked out of school for as long as possible. These chapters are where Holden’s loneliness becomes abundantly clear. The reader is subjected to many long rants by Holden about the company he wants, though he attempts to settle several times.
As the book starts Holden describes his childhood and how he has been kicked out of several school and once more again from his currently school, giving a sense of irresponsibility and no care in the world. Holden later on mentioned slowly the loss of his brother due to leukemia and how he reacted outrageously by breaking the windows of his garage home. As a reader one would view that behavior as abnormal, but Peter Shaw descried it as a normal behavior for a fictional character in the 1950s and by mentioning that Holden, “is presenting in a somewhat different manner than are the sentimentalized young people in other novels if his period” (par. 3), admitting that Holden was somewhat of an outcast of a character even for its time he is still considered normal. Shaw also challenged the reader’s view of Holden by emphasizing that Holden is not a real person, but a fiction character developed in the 1950s and in fact a mad psychological character is normal and made the reading rather more interesting and acceptable during that time. As readers someone may come across as understanding Holden’s behavior due to a loss and everyone mourns differently and as Shaw said, “ the one period of life in which abnormal behavior is common rather than exceptional” (par.
In this paragraph, the audience hears Holden’s negative immutable perspective about his school Pencey as he seems to not like the school at all, much less the people in it. The author uses words like “splendid” and “clear-thinking” to really express holden’s strong opinion about the guys at Pencey and how they don’t meet the expectations that the school holds. In the beginning of the book the reader is introduced to Mr. Spencer who is one of Holden’s teacher’s. Mr. Spencer comes out as a nice teacher whose only intention is to help Holden and guide him through the misfit of society as he realizes that Holden needs a hand to hold. Salinger writes, “Game, my ass.
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Mr. Antolini gives Holden Caulfield advice when he is at one of his lowest points. Already aware of Holden’s mental state and position on school, he quotes Wilhelm Stekel, a psychoanalyst, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” (Salinger 188). Although Holden fails to grasp Mr. Antolini’s message, the quote applies directly to his life because of his relationship with death as a result of his younger brother, Allie’s, death. Mr. Antolini uses this quote specifically because he wants Holden take a step back and try to live for a noble cause instead of resorting to death.
In the beginning of the chapter, Holden arrives at his former teacher’s house from Elkton Hills School, Mr. Ackley who cares deeply for Holden. Holden respects Mr. Ackley because he does not treat him like one of students like Mr. Spencer does. Mr. Ackley gives Holden advice on why he should apply himself into his studies. He sees something in Holden that is different than any other student he has taught and tries to tell Holden that his studies is just not a conformity but a way to develop his ideas. Mr. Ackley believes his constant fall is because he has given up from the world and wants to isolate himself from the environment he is in.
Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he