For this post, choose one of your signpost observations which caused
to gain some insight into the book or has some meaning for you. Use
your signpost observation to explain your insight into the book.
For
instance, in the "Again and Again" section, you may have noted that
Holden keeps mentioning that Jane keeps her kings in the back row of her
checker board. This observation then prompted you to think about a
possible theme in the book. For this blog post, write about your
thematic idea and discuss how you see it affecting other parts of the
book.
In the "Again and Again" section, Holden brings up the color red very often. By him bringing up this same color over and over again I see it affecting a part of his life that we haven't been introduced too yet. In the ending of the book maybe he will tell us a story of his childhood of either him getting hurt and the red symbolizing blood, or something else interesting like that. Also, in the book, the red hunting hat is mentioned a lot. This red hunting hat might symbolize Holden's individuality as a person. Maybe he is trying to just be unique, because he doesn't bring the hat up much, only is some special occasions.
ReplyDeleteIn the Contrasts and Contradictions section. Holden has a very negative view on life. He thinks bad of most people and usually observes all their negative traits. When Holden is with Jane he doesn't do this. Holden really enjoys his time with Jane. i think this will affect the theme of the book because Holden and Jane's relationship may get better or worst throughout the story. Losing Jane could destroy Holden which would effect the plot of the story greatly.
ReplyDeleteFor the "Again and Again" signpost, we had discussed in class how it seems that the color red has a certain significance. For example, Holden's hunting cap is red, and that seems to be his favorite thing to wear. Also, in the scene with Jane, a single tear is shed from her eye and drops onto one of the red squares of the chess board. Then after she had finished crying she went inside and put on a red and white sweater. All of these things have to do with the color red and that makes me think there is some kind of symbolism. Maybe the color red symbolizes all the most important things in Holden's life. I guess we will have to read and see.
ReplyDeleteIn the book J. D. Salinger has Holden bring up a lot of past memories that he can explain very vividly. A "Memory Moment" that Holden has in chapter 11 consists of him and Jane. He has a couple, the first one is an encounter with her step father but the other one that I found interesting was the flashback he had of them sitting in the movie theater together, holding hands. He talks about how when him and Jane held hands it felt so right and it didn't matter if she had sweaty hands she was just so beautiful to him. I think this connects a lot with Holden's character. He has this image of Jane that is held on such a high pedestal in his mind nothing she does is wrong. Like we were discussing in class Holden loves to grasp onto people he believes are pure. To him Jane is purer than anyone. We keep seeing more and more insight into Holden's past with Jane and the way he talks about her seemed to really open up my eyes to the type of person he is. I think that Holden's obsession with Jane and peoples impurities will be a very big part of the plot later in the story. All of these stories with Jane seem to be doing a lot of foreshadowing for the end of the story and I am excited to see where Salinger is taking us.
ReplyDeleteUnder the "Tough Questions" section of the signposts notes for Catcher, Holden asks Jane a question that seems to affect her in a bad way. Her step-dad comes out onto the porch where she and Holden are playing checkers and asks her where the cigarettes are, she didn't answer him at all and he kept asking. After she left, Holden saw a tear drop fall on the board. He then proceeds to ask her, "if Mr. Cudahy... had ever tried to get wise with her." She said no but it seemed he didn't believe her. Holden said "She was pretty young, but she had this terrific figure..." Which means that the alcoholic step dad could have sexually assaulted her or inappropriately done something to her.
ReplyDeleteContrasts and Contradictions:
ReplyDeleteHolden Caulfield is a very strange character and he is very hard to understand. A signpost connection that I had found was that Holden presents himself as very tough, pushy and secretive. His actions conflict with the way he really feels towards things. For instance, on page 43, he had got into an argument with Stradlater about homework. Holden wrote Stradlater’s assignment for school but had ripped it up due to a comment Stradlater had made on it. That led into a fight between the two of them. Holden did not seem like the “fighting” type but when he is in a confrontation, he will own up to what he believes in. Another example is from page 79 when he was kissing Jane all over. He claimed that she was squirming and moving around so he couldn’t reach her mouth, but I believe that he was actually nervous to try to kiss her on the lips. Personally, I believe Holden is very sensitive on the inside but he doesn’t want to show his real emotions towards things. The two scenes from The Catcher in the Rye are great examples of Contrast and Contradictions.
Using Contrast and Contradictions, it is very easy to observe that Holden’s outlook upon life is not very positive. He also pays a significant amount of attention to very small details about anything, especially people. Holden on multiple occasions, picks a person apart through all of the characters about them that he does not appreciate. But when it comes to Jane, he consistently implies that she is beautiful, and has just about nothing negative to say about her, which is very uncommon for a character like Holden. This being said, Holden must really value her or have a strong connection with her, or something that was not yet revealed to the reader.
ReplyDeleteIn the signpost “Again and Again”, Holden often talks about his brother Allie and his baseball glove. Him mentioning this so much causes me to wonder what is significant about the baseball glove and why Holden finds it important enough to talk about repeatedly. For example, when Holden says “Anyway, that is what I wrote Stradlater’s composition about. Old Allie’s baseball mitt.”(39) Further into the text Holden then refers to his brother as being a “nice kid”. I find this very strange because it is one of the first times we hear Holden talk about someone in his life in a positive manner. I was then able to assume that maybe Holden didn’t always have a negative outlook on the world and that his negativity could have been caused from having to deal with the death of his brother. This then affects how Holden acts throughout the story and how he sees’s things in life. The reason he talks about his brother “again and again” could be because he misses the way his life use to be and he loves to reminisce about the few good times in his life.
ReplyDeleteThere are many symbols Holden Caulfield, in the Catcher in the Rye, mentions that allows the reader to have further insight into the story. For example, I noticed “Again and Again,” Holden continues to bring up the color red. His red hunting cap, Allie’s red hair, the red checkerboard square, and the red and white sweater. The color red can symbolize many feelings and emotions, from love and happiness to death and blood, Holden uses red to exemplify his insecurities. Holden’s favorite red object is his hunting cap, “I’d put on my red hunting cap when I was in the cab, just for the hell of it, but I took it off before I checked in.” (61) Holden persistently puts on his hunting cap when in privacy. The cap gives him reassurance and safety like all the other red objects he mentions, yet he never lets the public see it. In spite of his arrogant attitude the reader can understand how Holden is socially challenged and struggles with functioning in society. Holden’s obsession for red reflects the theme of the story, he is trying to find his place in life with the people around him. J. D. Salinger is foreshadowing the end of the story and the color red allows us to infer what might happen.
ReplyDeleteA signpost that I recognized in "Catcher in the Rye" is a memory moment, but also an again & again, which is Holden's brother Allie. Holden brings up his brother Allie, who died when he was younger of leukemia, quite a bit. Along with Allie being brought up, he talks about his baseball mitt which has poems written all over it in green ink. He says that he doesn’t trust many people with the glove, so not a lot of people see it. The only person other than family who did see it, that we know of, was Jane. He trusted her enough, and opened up enough, to show her an object that meant a lot to him. I wonder what the significance is with the baseball glove? Was their favorite game to play baseball? Or was that Allie’s favorite possession? Whatever the reason is, it has some form of symbol to Holden that is brought up multiple times throughout the book. He also seems to bring up Allie a lot and how much of an interesting person he was. We know that he had his baseball mitt with green ink on it, he was left handed, and had red hair. These are special characteristic to point out about someone. So therefore Holden idealizes his brother Allie as this special one of a kind person. Most people feel this way about people who are usually older than them. But Holden was a couple years older than Allie, so it’s interesting to hear someone praise their younger brother the way he does.The two of them had a unique bond and it’ll be interesting if we find out why he feels this way about him.
ReplyDeleteI found something in the "contrasts and contradictions" section. Holden is usually an immensely negative person. Holden looks to find the smallest, most nitpicky things about people. When he is with Ackley, Holden says that on Saturday nights, rather than go out, will "...stay in his room and squeeze his pimples..." (Salinger 36) and when he talks of Selma Thurmer, Holden says that, "She had a big nose and her nails were all bitten down and bleedy looking," (Salinger 3). But, when it comes to Jane, Holden finds her to be immaculate. When Jane starts crying, Holden was “kissing her all over”(Salinger 79). Holden is in love with Jane and can’t hold his feelings back. This is why he is constantly repeating that Jane keeps her kings in the back. Holden can’t forget Jane, and surely would be devastated if he were to lose her.
ReplyDeleteThe signpost that I chose was a memory moment, it was when Holden talks about how he used to hang out with Jane. He focuses on Jane keeping her kings in the back row and Jane and him holding hands. Holden describes how Jane held hands perfectly and this is an example of him focusing on small details. He seems obsessed with these small things, which might get him in trouble further in the book. Holden always finds something wrong with a person and is very negative, but with Jane she seems like someone who he thinks is perfect like his sister. The people that he thinks are perfect are the ones important to him, so I think that if he finds out Jane is not as perfect as he thinks this could also make himself get into trouble.
ReplyDeleteJ. D. Salinger’s, “The Catcher in the Rye” contains a variety of themes, motifs and symbols. In signpost, “Memory Moment- Flashback”, Holden’s memory of his brother, Allie’s glove is symbolic. Holden is trying to deal with the loss of his brother. The mention of the outfielder’s glove is a symbol of individualism and uniqueness. Holden vividly recalls Allie’s glove, “he had poems written all over the fingers and pocket and everywhere. In green ink”( 38). In this scene Holden is remembering the unique qualities of his brother, he was left handed, enjoyed sports and poetry, he was intelligent and likable. These traits made Allie an individual. The situation itself is also unique, the loss of a younger brother to leukemia, trying to cope with the loss and Holden’s attempt to be normal and fit in. He agree’s to write Stradlater’s composition in an attempt to fit in. Wanting to fit in is not unique; however the ways in which he attempts to do this are. Stradlater belittles him for the content of the composition and all Holden is trying to do is remember his brother, Allie.
ReplyDeleteHolden's near-obsession with Jane keeping her kings in the back is fascinating. He is obviously fond of Jane, but he continuously brings up this specific fact about her.This may be an expression of Holden's obsession with Jane herself, who he seems to idolize as someone who is truly pure. He thinks more highly of her then anyone else he has spoken of thus far, and this alone may make a gigantic impact throughout the rest of the novel. Holden may subconsciously compare everybody he meets with Jane, negatively affecting his ability to interact with others. The idea of Stradlater doing anything of a sexual manner with Jane makes him angry, enough to attack Stradlater, someone he knows he has no chance of beating in a fight. Any situations similar to this could spell trouble for Holden. Stradlater was a friend, so he didn't retaliate too harshly. However, if someone else were to retaliate, chances are it would be in a decidedly unfriendly manner. Holden's obsession might cause trouble for him in the future,
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, there are many symbols, some harder to find than others, that could suggest a theme or multiple themes of the overall book. In the signpost notes, "Tough Questions", Holden seems to wonder what really happened between Jane and her step dad, but as the reader it also makes you think about what could have happened to her, as well. Jane's step dad came out smoking a cigarette on the porch where Holden and Jane were sitting. Between the both of them, there was exchange of words which suggested that Jane's stepdad, Mr. Caudahy, was an alcoholic or had a drinking problem. Jane started crying when her step dad brought up something, and Holden comforted her. Holden got very upset when he brought up the thought of Mr. Caudahy getting "wise" with Jane, which could possibly imply he sexually assaulted or raped her; maybe even worse. Unfortunately this question was never answered for Holden or us, as the reader, which makes it a tough question.
ReplyDeleteA very important scene in our story so far is a “Memory moment’. In chapter 11 Holden recalls an experience he had with Jane. He starts off by saying she isn’t the most beautiful girl, but she's gorgeous to him. He goes into detail about all these weird little quirks about her, she's muckle-mouthed, and that she never really closed her mouth all the way. This alone shows this sort of recurring theme of obsession that we continuously see throughout the story. Then Holden brings up the afternoon that they got close to necking but, then something got in the way. This occurs a lot within our story to. Holden acts like he was going to do something but magically something gets in the way. He wanted to kiss Jane on the lips it just didn’t end up that way. Holden constant comes up with excuses like that. It makes you wonder if he is just talking himself up. He thinks he can do these things but to the people around him he is just acting crazy. Holden wants to punch people straight in the face, but he can’t stand the sight of their faces in fights so he can’t do it. Holden seems to hate the idea of “crumby” things but then brings up doing said crumby things with many girls. This theme of contradiction comes up many times in our story and it along with obsession can describe Holden and who he is as a character.
ReplyDeleteHolden, in The Catcher in the Rye tends to have a lot of "Again and Again" moments from our signpost worksheet. One of those is the constant mention of his younger brother, Allie and his baseball glove. Obviously because he's brought up so many times it must somehow link to the way he behaves. I believe the death of Allie has caused him to alienate himself from society, which stems his hated for it. Relationships, intimacy, and sexuality are the problems Holden faces relating to his alienation. Both physical and emotional relationships offer Holden an opportunity to break out of his isolated shell, although he never follows through. They also symbolize what he fears most about the adult world: complexity, unpredictability, conflict and what I believe is the most he fears, change. As he demonstrates, when he has a mental breakdown as he was talking with Sally. Since people are unpredictable, they challenge Holden and force him to question his senses of self-confidence and self-worth. For certain unspoken reason, seemingly stemming from Allie’s death, Holden has difficulty dealing with this kind of complexity. As a result, he has isolated himself and fears any sort of intimacy. Although he encounters opportunities for both physical and emotional intimacy, he gives up these opportunities them all, wrapping himself in a cynical armor Even though, Holden still desperately continues searching for new relationships, always detaching himself only at the last moment.
ReplyDeleteContrast Contradiction: When Holden donating 10 dollars which adjusted for inflation is around 125 dollars it is surprising to us as readers. Holden throughout the book is cold and selfish to most everyone except his sister and Jane.
ReplyDeleteContrast Contradiction: When Holden donating 10 dollars which adjusted for inflation is around 125 dollars it is surprising to us as readers. Holden throughout the book is cold and selfish to most everyone except his sister and Jane.
ReplyDelete