Monday, April 12, 2010
Catcher
So far I'm only a little into the book; however, as much as a find the character to be a stupid kid who purposely fails his classes, I find a weird attraction to his character. His laid back hate-life attitude is appealing in ways and I find that his dialogues have hidden meanings to them and that he is really an intelligent young man beneath the outer layer. Except when he visits his history teacher, Mr. Spencer, he seems as if as much as he talks nicely about a person he finds every fault he can and then critizes them for it. Later I don't know if I can trust Holden due to the fact that he states "I'm the biggest liar you have ever seen". This makes me wonder if what he is actually telling the reader can be really trust worthy in his descriptions of what happens. He also seems to vary his feelings in record times. When he's with Sladlater he is pissed about how he is clean yet secretly not, and as soon as Sladlater mentions he's going on a date with Jane he becomes extremely hyper, but he keeps mentioning that he should go down and say hi, and yet he never does. This reminded my of Dr. House. How he hates life and hates people and seems to have relationship phobia. Almost as if he doesn't want people close to him and realize that he isn't a stupid kid who flunked but a kid who just didn't try. The book keeps leading me back to the idea that Holden is a liar when he starts lying about the lady's kid when he's on the train. What's the use of telling his mom the lies? It seems as if he gets pleasure out of seeing how many lies a person is able to take before they see right through them.
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Yeah, I agree that he is an intreguing character although his attitude seems a little off-putting at times. I think that he has authority problems, though. He obviously doesn't do his own work when teachers tell him to, as if he doesn't want to do it simply because someone above him told him to. Although when his roommate tells him to write the paper for him, he actually does it. Which I thought was strange, since it wouldn't benefit him in anyway. But maybe it has something to do with the fact that Sladlater is on his same authority level or because Holden is afraid of failing at his own work and being ridiculed (but he figures noone will know it was his work and isn't worried about it now) or simply because he is bored. I still can't quite figure Holden out, he is constantly contradicting himself and saying one thing and doing or thinking another thing.
ReplyDeletei agree and i do see the parallels between gregory house and holden caulfield. also i totally agree about the lying. i think he is so painfully insecure that the only way he can feel okay is if he lies and becomes a different person almost so no one ever has to know that he really isn't comfortable in his own skin
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