Week 5: The Catcher in the Rye

So I'm in the middle of chapter 10. Last time I left off at the part where Holden finds out that Stradlater went on a date with a girl he knew. I'm wondering if Holden was really jealous, actually I have a feeling he was. Otherwise, why would he have gotten so mad about it? Anyway, him and Stradlater get into a fist fight and Holden ends up losing and getting a bloody nose. I don't understand why Holden pushes his luck so much. He doesn't seem like that big of a guy and he knew how mad he was making Stradlater, so why keep pushing it? He knew he wasn't going to win in a fight. It's like, "Hey! Look at this sleeping bear, I'm going to throw rocks at it until it wakes up and kills me." C'mon, who would do that?

He uses the words "bastard" and "moron" a lot. After using it so much, wouldn't you want to try and insult a person a different way?

The other thing that I don't understand is why does he consider Stradlater and Ackley his friends if he talks crap about them the whole time. I don't think I have one friend who I talk about like that and still consider them my friend. I understand that he's mad about the whole date thing with Stradlater, but if he was his friend, you'd think he'd kinda brush it off instead of pushing it so far. And Ackley, I understand he's gross and everything but if I had a "friend" that was as gross as Holden describes him, I'd probably lock him in a bathroom and tell him he couldn't come out until he was up to par with his hygiene.

One more thing that I don't understand is, why does Holden go into Ackley's room and just lie there thinking to himself? Why couldn't he have done that in his room? Why go and bother Ackley.

Also, why does he go on and on AND ON about his little sister? I feel like she is the only person that he really TRUELY cares about.  

 

I’ve found I have a horrible time with not only finding time to read, but also staying focused on reading.  Once I finally find time, whether it is in study hall, or sitting in bed, my mind seems to wander off.  If I’m in study hall, the things Holden says will make my mind wander then it’s hard to get back on track.  If I’m sitting in bed, I get distracted by my thoughts, or I get tired and end up falling asleep.  Reading for me is not very entertaining.  No matter what I’m reading, I tend to get distracted or uninterested.  Although I do like this book, it is still difficult for me to stay focused on the book and what is going on in the book compared to what is going on in my head or in the world/ room I’m sitting in.