SECTION 6 POSTS

Section 6 Posts are now available. You may go to "Older Posts" to reach Sections 4 and 5 and can continue to post there until Sunday, Nov. 29. Be sure to catch up if you are behind in your posting. I will be assessing the posts AFTER the 29th.

Catcher has been banned from many schools for its language and content. What's your opinion?

Friday, November 13, 2009

CHARACTERS - SECTION 2

This is where you talk about and analyze characters OTHER THAN HOLDEN. What you can include are Holden's feelings about, observations of and reflections on the many characters he meets throughout the novel.
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18 comments:

  1. SofiaNovember 14, 2009 at 4:18 PM

    I enjoy the character choice of Stradlater, from what Salinger describes him as he is a lot different than the characters we have been introduced to. He is the popular guy at school, that fits into that mold very well the way he is introduced. All his comments aren't as negatives like Ackleys and Holdens.

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  2. RityNovember 14, 2009 at 10:19 PM

    I also like Stradlater, like you said, he's not quite so negative, & doesn't let things bother him for very long.
    I liked when he & Holden had their brawl, & Stradlater blooded him up a bit, but clearly felt bad after. Like when he pleaded with Holden to stop making his remarks so he wouldn't have to punch him again, because he sincerely didn't want to hurt him anymore.

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  3. allieNovember 15, 2009 at 1:13 AM

    In chapter 5, we get intodruced to Allie, Holdens younger brother who died of leukemia. I'm sure everyone else is thinking the same thing, but im going to say it; I think that all of Holdens anger and frustration comes from losing his brother and not having someone to be there from him when he messes up. To me, Allie was like a rock that Holden leaned on.
    When Stradlater doesn't like the composition that Holden wrote, it was like Stradlater was saying that Holdens feelings arent good enough and because he felt that way, it made Holden rip it up and walk away.
    So, I think the focus of all Holdens anger is from his past, and especialy from Allie's death.

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  4. SofiaNovember 15, 2009 at 3:36 PM

    I agree with what Allie is saying, his brother was very important to him. Now he is acting out against the world and is very negative. He's trying to keep a little bit of his brother alive by wearing the red hat, just like his brothers hair. Holden wants to be unique and special, something he has never been in life.

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  5. BlairNovember 15, 2009 at 7:07 PM

    Stradlater is kinda stuck up and looks down on the young ones and thinks he is the best in the world.Also i think there next store neighbour Ackleys kind of a creep and likes to keep to himself and seems like he dont take crap from no one.

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  6. CamNovember 16, 2009 at 8:25 AM

    I really like the character of Holden's brother Alli. All though you don't actually meet him he is an interesting character and is still an important part to the story. You can tell Holden really loves his brother and misses him. This helps to understand Holden and maybe why he is so negative.

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  7. CamNovember 16, 2009 at 8:42 AM

    I liked the character of Stradlater because he seems to be your typical nice guy. Although he is a bit of a "dumb jock" he seems to be reasnobly agreeable with. When Holden and Stradlater fights, Stradlater is just defending himself and even tries to stop the fight if Holden says he will not keep going. Stradlater is a bit stuck up and rude to the younger kids, but he is no different then anyone else in the school or even high school today.

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  8. CamNovember 16, 2009 at 8:45 AM

    I agree with Sofia about Holden's brother. I think is negativity is somewhat due to his brothers death. I also agree with what she said about him wearing the red hat to represent his brother's red hair, along with trying to be a unique person. When Holden talks about his brother's baseball glove he is trying to keep the memory of his brohter alive and in a way, he is still with him through things like the glove and what he has done.

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  9. michael-gallagherNovember 16, 2009 at 10:25 AM

    I agree with everyone who said that Holden's brother meant a lot to him. Holden admitted that they offered him help in that hard time but he didn't take it. He probably had a special relationship with his brother that he thought nobody would understand and it was gone forever.

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  10. michael-gallagherNovember 16, 2009 at 12:06 PM

    I noticed that Stradlater, Ackley and Holden all talk the same way. They're always swearing and stuff and act like they're smarter than the other two. I would assume that Holden was the first one to talk like that and that the other two picked it up as they got to know Holden.

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  11. michael-gallagherNovember 16, 2009 at 12:10 PM

    I like the character Jane Gallagher, she seems to be pretty interesting. I hope we actually get to meet her later on in the story. She has a really great last name aswell.

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  12. AnonymousNovember 16, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    In these chapters it is really obviouse that Holden has strong feelings towards Jane Gallagher. It seems to me that Holden takes offence when he calls her Jean, because he knows that Stradlater doesnt really care who she is, while he really does. You can really tell that Holden has feelings towards her because he talk about many memories he had in the past about her and he mentions many little details. Like how Jane liked to keep her kings in the backrow when playing checkers.

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  13. JakeNovember 16, 2009 at 8:18 PM

    I agree with Blair about Stradlater. Stradlater is very vain and mainly just cares about himself. He is also a bit manipulative. Although Holden realizes what he is doing Stradlater tries to flatter him when trying to get Holden to do his work. He's only looking out for himself and doesn't mind inconveniencing other so that he gets what he wants.

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  14. steffaniNovember 16, 2009 at 10:21 PM

    I agree with what Sofia said, its refreshing to have Stradlater a character in this book because he is never negative, unlike Holden and Ackley. He is alot different from the rest, he knows what he wants, and he goes for it. Although, he is a Narcissist which might get annoying after a while, its nice to have someone that actually cares about something. It seems he has a good life ahead of him, and at this point of the book, Holden is the complete opposite. He doesnt seem to really care about anything, or as it seems he doesnt with his attitude towards school and such.

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  15. ZachNovember 16, 2009 at 10:47 PM

    In chapters four to eight we are introduced to Mal Brossard, Allie, Jane Gallagher and we learn a lot about Stradlater. Mal is one of Holden's few friends at Pency and that's all we really learn about him. Jane is this random girl that Stradlater is trying to get with but it turns out that she knew Holden. She doesn't do anything physically in these chapters but she definitely gets Holden as excited as a little girl getting to meet the Jonas Brothers for the first time. I'll talk about that more under Holden's section of the blog. Learning about Allie was easily the biggest part of all the chapters and the book so far, but all I have to say is that he noticeably meant a lot to Holden and the unfortunate death of Allie has affected Holden's personality ever since and will forever. I thought Stradlater was the most interesting character in the last few chapters of reading due to the fact we found out a bunch about him. When Holden called him a hot shot I wasn’t sure if he actually was because of two reasons. First, Holden defended him when he was talking to Ackley, saying that he was a good guy and all. Second, we all know that Holden is somewhat of a negative person so I thought he may have just been being himself and making a smart ass comment. But, I was completely sold when I discovered that Stradlater always shaves twice because he is so into himself. Also, he showed his cockiness when he asked Holden to do his English composition. On top of that when Holden was done writing his paper, Stradlater yelled at him and called him stupid because he wrote it about a baseball glove. Stradlater is clearly not a very intelligent person, at least at school. It was interesting learning about but honestly I am not a fan of him

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  16. twNovember 16, 2009 at 11:22 PM

    Jane gallagher is a unquie character in the book. But unfortunalty there hasn;t been to much talk about her. But hopefully we find out more about her.

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  17. AmirPNovember 16, 2009 at 11:35 PM

    Well what interested me was more Ackley do to the fact he is not very talkative and disrespectful of other people. He showed in this chapter that he was very religous and very protective about his believes when Holden questions him when he was trying to sleep. He tends to show a Side of not caring for other people and things and shows a side of caring for his thoughts his beleives and his morals. Even though its hard to see that with his attitude towards many he comes to contact with.

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  18. Marc..November 26, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    I find that Holden is a bit on the weird side and he is always lying to everybody. Also his roommate Stradlater is a bit full of himself asking people to do his work for him and how he brags about all the girls he's been with. His neighbor Ackley is a bit odd and i think he is disgusting not brushing he's teeth and how sometimes he should learn to take a hint to leave someone alone when they wanna be alone.

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