In The Catcher and the Rye, Holden has a deep distaste for anything in his life. Whether it be his roommate Stradlater or random movies, he spends much of his inner monologue complaining. However, despite his negativity, there are a few people whom he truly cares deeply about, such as Jane Gallagher, Phoebe Caufield and the random nuns he meets in New York City.
Holden admires these people because they don’t care to conform to the status quo. When Jane plays checkers, she doesn’t try to win, but rather lines up all her kings in the back row because she likes how it looks. Phoebe is excited to play Benedict Arnold, the “villain” in her school’s theatre performance, when many other students would hope to get a “hero” role. He likes the nuns because instead of dressing up fancy and seeking validation for doing charity work like all mothers Holden knows, they simply hold up a basket. The actions from all three parties demonstrate a certain innocence, as they act and hold opinions in a way that seems unaffected from the expected norm.
Because of purity Holden senses from these people, he feels a need to protect and help them. In the past, Jane was sexually abused by her stepdad, so when Stradlater refuses to delve into the details of his date with Jane, Holden assumes he raped her and gets into a fight with him. When Holden meets the nuns, he insists on giving them a 10 dollar bill (121 dollars in today’s money). He buys Phoebe a record he thinks she’ll like, and even saves its pieces after it broke to give to her.
Holden’s need to help the innocent stems from Allie’s death. Allie is “immortalized” in Holden’s mind as an individual who never was corrupted by the world. Allie’s opinions and actions were of his own: though he played baseball, he would write poems in bright green ink on his mitt. Holden feels a need to “protect” those like Allie, unaffected by the world, as he still has unresolved grief about his death. I think this sentiment is evident in one of the most despairing Holden moments. In his dialogue with Phoebe, he remarks, “What I have to do, I have to catch everybody [kids] if they start to go over the 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'd just be the catcher in the rye and all.” (Salinger 93). The Catcher and the Rye is what Holden aspires to be: to protect the innocent kids who are at risk of falling into a conformist, draining and ultimately “phony” life.
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ReplyDeleteI think your reasoning for why Holden wants to be the Catcher in the Rye makes a lot of sense. Although I do wonder if Holden was being the Catcher in the Rye when he was trying to talk Phoebe out of fleeing town with Holden? I'm not entirely sure myself.
Great blog! While you talk about Holden liking Allie, Jane, Phoebe, and the nuns because of their resistance to conforming to the status quo, I'd argue that it may be deeper than that. Perhaps being a nonconformist is a symptom of what Holden truly values in a person: ideals based not around logic, or efficiency, (I'm thinking specifically of Jane's checker kings) but a sense of personal, almost "childish" ideals that reflect Holden's view of innocence.
ReplyDeleteI don't dispute the underlying dynamics in Holden's anxieties about Stradlater and Jane, but I do think we need to take care to reflect the true uncertainty and ambiguity of both aspects you mention. In fact, I'd say it's Holden's uncertainty that has him feeling so paralyzed here--he doesn't know what he should or even CAN do, but he knows that both situations with Jane make him uncomfortable. The text does not indicate as an undisputed fact that Jane IS being abused by the "Cudahy bastard" who lives with her: Holden strongly SUSPECTS it, we have that heartbreaking moment when the tear lands on the checker board, but when he asks her, Jane denies everything. We simply don't know--but we DO know that Holden has his suspicions, and that what he can't know for certain really bothers him, to the point where he conceives of himself as "protecting" Jane from predatory sexuality in some way. Likewise, Holden never goes near the word "rape"--and indeed, if Stradlater were to have raped Jane or anyone else at this time while out on a "date," it very likely would go unreported and unpunished. Part of what Holden recoils from is the intuition that ALL male sexuality seems rather "rapey" to him, and everyone around him says that's normal. So again, what torments Holden is the *uncertainty*, which is exacerbated when Stradlater gives HINTS but won't say what actually "happened" on the date. The uncertainty tortures him more than if Stradlater had reported on the date in detail (though readers are glad he didn't!).
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! I think you did a really great job at explaining the very few people that Holden has a soft spot for and how they make him feel. While Holden criticizes other people for being "phonies," I think he also feels sympathetic towards them in a way, because they fell victim to fitting into certain standards and norms for validation. This explains why he cares so much for the people that didn't, because he wants to make sure that he does everything in his power to protect them from falling into the same cycle of "phoniness" and conformity that he sees around him.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee!! Great blog post. When I was reading the book at first, I never thought of Holden as The Catcher in the Rye, but all of your reasons make sense. I definitely agree with you that Holden does want to protect the people that he cares about the most, and as you said in your blog, that definitely could make him The Catcher in the Rye. I also just wanted to point out that I really liked the quote that you picked. Good Job!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of what Holden sees as his role in the world. I think another important experience that led him to adopt this worldview was the death of James Castle. Holden sees James as a martyr, and throughout the book he puts himself in situations where he could be hurt or killed, so that he can stand up for his values of innocence and realness. I think James' death, like Allie's, was very formative when it comes to his view of himself as a defender of innocence.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee! I think your point where you comment on Holden's martyrdom ideology is really important. I also think you are right to pinpoint and connect Holden's worldview as stemming from the death of his little brother, Allie. It really does feel like saving children from falling off of the cliff into adulthood is Holden's way of avenging his brother after his untimely death. Great blog post!
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