A little more rye

Mr. Antonelli "... Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior..."

^My favorite quote in the book. If you start looking for perfection in humans you're going to continually end up disappointed. And as you get used to finding flaws it becomes easier and easier to do so, eg. Mr. Antonelli stroking Holden's hair makes Holden so uncomfortable. That instance also demonstrates that the same search for perfection creates a very cynical individual. It becomes difficult to socialize and live within society in general IE

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn't have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody. ... and then I'd be through with having conversations for the rest of my life. ... they'd leave me alone"

After he leaves Mr. Antonelli's, Holden pretty much decides that communication in general is futile. He is done with the ways of the world, very much like one Christopher McCandless, though he's not thinking on a transcendentalist level so much as a romantic one.

And all romantics have to stop smelling the roses and accept concrete, garbage and human error eventually...

Phoebe, Allie, and Holden's view of Childhood

Holden identifies childhood with innocence. It is the only time when the corruption and 'phoniness', somewhat inherent in adulthood, are absent. Children are happy and mad for all the right reasons...

Holden talks endlessly about his younger siblings. In fact they are the only characters in the book (along with Jane, who we'll get to later) who he never equates with phoniness. And I think the lack of negative qualities has very little to do with the characters themselves but the negative connotations Holden Associates with adolescence and adulthood.

We could place symbolic meaning upon Allie and Phoebe. Allie could be innocence lost - symbolically through his death - I think that kind of speaks to the inevitability of corruption and perversion in the course of human life. Allie was never really exposed to either of these things but he still inevitably succumbed to death... This is a difficult point to articulate precisely.

Phoebe could be the remaining bastion of innocence - something Holden can hold onto - the idea that there are still good, genuine and pure things in the world. A kind of all hope is not lost sort of thing.

And then there's Jane, who I believe falls into this same category, despite her age. Holden's thoughts regarding her are limited to the past, where she was an object of innocent affection, very different from the perverted, sexual relationships he perceives and expects now. I think Holden cuts off his repeated attempts to contact Jane because he does not want to acknowledge the fact that she might have changed.

And finally there is the museum. "Some things you ought to be able to put in a box". Innocence, purity, and the ignorant freedom of childhood.

Since that discussion we had in class about marriage I've been thinking quite a bit about said institution and so far I haven't come up with anything warranting it's existence.

If two people love each other, why do they need a public declaration of their commitment? Is it not enough to say 'we're in love witch each other'?

Aside from the tax benefits and the negative stigma associated with relationships out of wedlock I don't see any real benefit to marriage.

Is love not enough?

So I'm posing the question outwards here, what is the purpose of marriage? I know it's tempting to say that's just the way it is but lets try to avoid that.

For starters let me assert that marriage predates recorded history - the original concept is not tied to a particular identifiable religion or culture. It's more or less universal too.

There must be something obvious.

Incase no one's done it already, i'd like to point out that 23 episodes of good anime were created largely around this quote - "I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes" from catcher in the rye. 'The Laughing Man', antagonist of the Ghost in the Shell series, is obsessed with Catcher in the Rye. It's pretty famous as anime goes.

Case for Holden and Bipolar

1) His obvious depressive symptoms
- Especially near the end of the book, he openly states that he's depressed (sadness)
- Insomnia
- From his venture to Agerstown he does not eat for a full day - until breakfast with the nuns (Lack of appetite, appetite fluctuations)
- Holden does not follow through with his intentions or fails to act upon them entirely (indecisiveness)
- At Pencey Prep Holden does not perform according to his potential, because he doesn't want to (lack of motivation)

there are plenty more - I found a link to the beck depression inventory here I think holden would score pretty high.

2) Manic episodes: The one I have in mind is the conversation he has with Sally Hayze at the ice rink diner - his sudden desire to marry/run away with her. His infatuation with a girl he does not particularly admire isn't so unusual, but the sudden onset is a bit disturbing. Other episodes could include breaking the windows of his garage, and his sudden decision to travel to New York - obviously not very well thought out.

I'd say it's pretty clear. Get that kid on some mood stabilizers.

I generally disagree with the notion of specific changes leading from "childhood" to "adulthood". Associating maturity and immaturity (or any other quality) to specific age groups, is simply inaccurate. Those kinds of changes are ongoing. They can occur individually at any time in a persons life, or not occur at all.

So then, I'm going to approach this question a bit differently.

One of the key ideas Holden seems to be struggling with is Purity, or rather Impurity. He perceives the vast majority of the world to be impure or corrupt, labeling people and things as phonies. This struggle is also internal, as on some level he recognizes that he is plagued by the same flaws he sees in everyone else (specifically when he spends several paragraphs describing the way he sometimes thinks about doing crumby things with a girl).

In some senses Holden's ideation is extremely mature, he recognizes the differences between love and lust and realizes that the former is preferable for its authenticity. The overwhelming orientation of society however, and even a part of himself, is directed the other way - and Holden will continue to struggle until he comes to terms with his own humanity in this sense.

Candlemaker in the Lye

This is my Catcher in the Rye blog for Mrs. Jorgensen's American Literature Class. Me being Alex Prinsen.

After reading chapter's 1-7 I still don't give two shits about Holden Caulfield. My guess is he wouldn't give two shits about me either: Aside from the fact that he's simply a collection of I's and me's in a piece of classical literature called 'Catcher in the Rye' he doesn't feel very strongly about anything. He frequently contradicts himself, with intermixed feelings of contempt and pity for the people around him. The only strong feelings he posesses are similar aversions to Sex and Aging. More complex human affairs make him uncomfortable, I wouldn't be surprised if he kills himself at the end of the book, but that would be too gimicky for a classic.