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 20, 2009

THEMES - SECTION 4

What themes are being explored and developed by the author in this section?
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9 comments:

  1. Adam OkanoNovember 22, 2009 at 5:16 PM

    One topic that is emerging in this section is being independent. Up to very recently in his life, Holden was a rich child who was very sheltered from life growing up. One part that illustrates this is when he finds it odd that someone does not have a maid to answer the phone. It is also evident by the way he so recklessly spends his money, virtually never thinking of saving it. This is due to the fact that when he was growing up there was a seeable limit to the money in his family and so he thinks he can spend it whenever he thinks to. The theme of being unsheltered is also obvious when we see how generally clumsy Holden is on dealing with problems on his own such as when Maurice barges into his room. Holden panics and has no idea what to do. As we progress into the book I think Holden will emerge as a much more independent person.

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  2. Daniel McDonaldNovember 22, 2009 at 11:56 PM

    I agree Adam, this theme of independence is the only aspect of the story that surprises me. This lifestyle of random events is actually very strange to read for people in our society. We are used to living with our parents, which is a lot different than Holden's wandering lifestyle. Nowadays, it would be quite frightening walking and taking taxis around the streets of New York at any time of night, especially when Holden is only 16-17 years old. However, I disagree with your ideas of Holden being clumsy. I am impressed with his abilities to survive on his own with the exception of the Maurice situation. It may be different back in the 50's, but a person like Holden would not be able to survive this easily in New York nowadays based on my experience on the school trip. He would need a wealthy credit card and a lot of luck!

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  3. milenaNovember 23, 2009 at 1:25 PM

    I agree with Daniel. Holden seems very independant, but to an extent. Though he is travelling alone throughout New York, he's not alone very much. He meets nuns in a subway, and talks with them, and gives them money. Also, he goes to meet with Sally. No matter where he seems to wander to, he always seems to want to have some form of human contact. Whether it's wanting to phone someone, hire a prositute, and only talk to her, or meet with an old friend.
    If he is not verbally communicating with some one within the novel, he is always pondering about them, as shown when he was thinking about his old room mate.
    I personally think that he can take care of himself, but something that keeps re-occuring within the movel seems to be loneliness and depression. Perhaps our young character is just trying to find where he belongs, and what's important to him.

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  4. NickNovember 23, 2009 at 1:51 PM

    I agree with Milena. Holden does show lots of examples of loneliness, even though he has lots of friends and acquaintances. Holden is also quite independant, like Daniel said. Most people around Holden's age would go around the city they live in, sleeping in hotels and goingto bars by themself for a few days. I think that Holden doesn't seem to know his place in society yet and maybe by going out on his own like this is his way of experiment all the different opportunities in the world to participate in. Like when he hires a prostitute. By doing that, he was able to see what it would be like to be with a prostitute. Another trait that Holden expresses wouldbe bravery. When Maurice demands him to pay him the extra five dollars, Holden doesn't back down and stands strong against Maurice. I think that Holden has lots of opportunities to explore until he can truly decide where he belongs.

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  5. milenaNovember 23, 2009 at 2:00 PM

    I disagree with Nick. I wouldn't really call what Holden did with Maurice bravery, it's more like stubborness. He puts himself on the line to keep his money, rather than just giving it up. This though, can be taken in many ways. He could either be scared and cowardly and just give up the money, but instead he faught against them. This can be taken as bravery, or pure stupidity.

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  6. Sydney ANovember 23, 2009 at 2:31 PM

    I agree that him standing up for himself to Maurice wasn't the smartest idea. He could have gotten severly hurt, and even though he didn't, he didn't prove anything to them, since they ended up getting the money in the end. I think he's trying to grow up too fast, and trying to be independent at too young of an age. He doesn't understand that he needs to let himself mature over time.

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  7. D.SNovember 23, 2009 at 10:44 PM

    I agree with Daniel and Adam that being independent has been a main topic in these chapters. Not only the theme of being independent is being shown but the build up of Holden’s emotional breakdowns continue. For example in chapter 17 Holden goes on a date with this girl named sally, at the start everything is going swell on their way to the theatre he even makes out with sally. This to me is a sign that she likes him a little and they should enjoy the evening. Holden ends up getting very agitated by the people around him. This leads to Holden ending up getting a little open with sally and rants on about phonies and his old school. Sally even asks Holden to stop yelling, but Holden claims that he wasn't yelling this point to the fact that Holden is unaware of his own agitation. It seems that things are going from bad to worse for Holden in his lonesome world that he has created for himself.

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  8. D.SNovember 23, 2009 at 10:49 PM

    I also agree with sydney that Holden is just trying to grow up to fast. He is trying to skip the natural cycle of growing up and is missing the important lessons learned from being somewhat dependent on someone and having the care and love of others helping.

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  9. steffaniNovember 27, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    Like everyone else is saying, Independance is the theme for this section. He also seems to try to be more mature. He's trying to act 10 years older then what he is. His independance is leaving him a lot more lonesome then he was before.
    I agree with Sydney, he didnt prove anything when he wasn't giving Maurice the money, he was trying to be the more mature one, but in the end, he ended up crying and giving them the money. I think he either trys to hard to grow up, or that he doesnt realize what he is doing at the moment.

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