The Catcher in The Rye: Initial Impressions
When I began reading The Catcher in The Rye, I had high expectations for the entire idea behind the story line and especially the characters because it is a very well known book. The book is narrated by a seventeen year old boy named Holden Caulfield that has a bit of an attitude and an attention problem. Holden is definitely a different type of book character than I am used to. Most of the books I read have a main protagonist and a main antagonist but somehow Holden is the personification of them both. My initial reaction to Holden's character was that he was spoiled and hypocritical. Holden is also very judgmental and tends to get off topic and branch off into different tangents. Holden's tangents often cause him to seem like a poor judge of character because he jumps to conclusions very quickly resulting in him being seen, to me, as a biased and unreliable narrator. Even on the first page of chapter 1, he shows some of his negativity by using judgmental words like, "crap", "touchy as hell", "madman", and "crumby".
Holden is definitely a very blunt character and most of his personality traits either cause the reader to strongly dislike him or question his motives. For example, whenever he addresses Ackley, Mr. Spencer, or Stradlater, it was interesting to read what he was thinking about during his conversations whether he was judging that person, retelling a story, or going off on another tangent. I also noticed that Holden has a narcissistic self-confidence about him. For example, in the first chapter he is on top of Thomsen Hill looking over all of the "fake and phony" society watching the football game which is symbolic of him putting himself up on a pedestal. The way Holden describes himself, with a red hunting hat, a skinny tall body, and a smoking problem, I wanted to know more about him because so far it seems like he doesn't carry himself the way he boisterously talks. He also contradicts himself often usually when he is specifically picking on a single attribute. "That's something that drives me crazy. When people say something twice that way, after you admit it the first time." he was thinking this to himself while talking to Mr. Spencer but he later goes on to contradict himself by repeating statements several times. Holden also shows the attributes of an immature and spoiled child, but at least he can admit it "...I have a lousy vocabulary and partly because I act quite young for my age sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I'm seventeen now and sometimes I act like I'm about thirteen." Overall Holden is a very interesting character, an unreliable narrator, and a pessimist but I believe he may have good intentions.
While I find your thoughts very interesting, and I understand them; I feel a little different about him. I do agree that he is judgmental and can be hypocritical, but I don't agree that he is a pessimist. He's just lost and a little mentally disturbed from his past. There is more to him than just his attitude and I feel as if that is a very important part of this story.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I found your post to be interesting to read since it was composed of numerous references to symbolic metaphors as well as character traits that I've never seen in Holden until now. For instance, referencing Holden on top of the hill during the football game resembling the idea that Holden puts himself up on a pedestal was a great addition to your post. I found your post relateable since I personally saw some of the character traits you've mentioned in Holden's character.
ReplyDelete"Holden is definitely a very blunt character and most of his personality traits either cause the reader to strongly dislike him or questions his motives." I disagee with this, because his blunt personality is the main reason I love his character. I also disagree that he's a pessimist, I see him more as a realist.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that Holden is trying to be an outright pessimist and an overall douche. He is just misunderstood at this point, and may have some sort of mental disorder. I agree with Dustin, he may come off as a pessimist, but I think he is just being a realist because he is in a pretty crappy situation.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how you described Holden as a protagonist and an antagonist. I'm not sure what you were directly meaning by that, but it makes me think of him fighting a battle against himself. I do agree with you that he contradicts himself a lot, always complaining about what someone else did but he acts the same way as them. Also I agree with you when you said that he is immature but at least he admits it. When I was reading, I thought the same thing about him admitting his faults.
ReplyDeleteI'm this post you bring a lot of good points and ideas that I didn't think of like how think that Holden is playing both parts of the protagonist and the antagonist. That an extermely interesting idea that I didn't think of myself. Also, I definitely do agree with you with having high expectations for this book since it been such a popular book but I can't help to think that this book isn't living to those expectations so far. I agree with you saying that Holden's character will either cause you like him or dislike him, I fall towards with not really liking him because like you say he has a blunt personality and he's very hypocritical. Overall good post (:
ReplyDeleteI think it's very interesting how you identify Holden as both the protagonist and the antagonist of the story. While I agree that he has some bad and some good traits and behaviors, I disagree that he's a bad judge of character. I think Holden calls it as he sees it, which makes him a good judge of character and a good narrator. He includes things about other characters that most other narrators would not include. Overall, I thought you had many valid points and some good examples, such as Holden putting himself up on a metaphorical pedestal.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Holden is an unreliable narrator. He would branch off into different tangents causing him to appear as a poor judge of character. I also agree that he is very blunt. Holden jumps around from topic to topic, while being completely blunt. I do see where you are coming from with the "narcissistic" example of him on top of the hill. However, with my knowledge about narcissism I wouldn't label it as that. Overall, this post was very detailed and well written! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI think your blog is well laid out, I can easily understand your ideas and from here, I can say I agree with you saying "Holden also shows the attributes of an immature and spoiled child." Your points for that were very strong: Holden having a bad vocabulary, and judging Mr. Spencer for repeating lines over and over.
ReplyDeleteWhile mentioned in the comments before, I must also add that it is definitely an interesting perspective of seeing Holden as protagonist and antagonist. Furthermore, your analysis of Holden not carrying "himself the way he boisterously talks" is spot on. Now can you tell me why?
ReplyDeleteAs I stated early in my post, I believe that Holden has a narcissistic way about him because of the metaphorical pedestal. In the book whenever he is talking to a person is usually judging them and by not applying those judgements to himself, he is building himself up to be mighty and powerful and that can do no wrong,or at least, that is how I interpreted it. During his conversations whether he was judging that person, retelling a story, or going off on another tangent he never outright says what he is thinking.
DeleteI like your perspective on Holden, and your blog was very well laid out. It was easy to keep up with.
ReplyDeleteEven though everyone is saying it, your idea on Holden being both the protagonist and the antagonist is so spot-on and is a very unique way about thinking of him. I also really noticed how he would criticize someone and then display the same character trait in himself, and I found the hypocrisy sad. Your blog is so cute- Please teach me how!
ReplyDeleteHolden's hypocrisy is definitely one of his downfalls in the book so far and we see a lot of immaturity within that as well. He says he dislikes fake people, yet he is fake to Stradlater and Ackley and bounces back and forth between liking and disliking them. I think your post had good logic, however, I would have liked to see an example of Holden repeating himself as further evidence of his hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you say holden is a narcissist, the way he can't see his own hypocrisy proves this. I think your reply to scalia is spot on in explaining this.
ReplyDelete