Week Two : The Catcher in the Rye

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is getting kicked out of his all boys’ boarding school because of his grades. In the first chapter, he talks about himself and the school in which he attends. The whole first few chapters are very descriptive. But, one thing I really like about this book is I felt like Holden was really talking to me. And, he's also a lot like me in his writing. He'll be talking about one thing, then get off topic really quick, then get off that topic and realize he's off topic, then go back to what he was originally talking about. “I ran all the way to the main gate, and then I waited a second till I got my breath.  I have no wind, if you want the know the truth.  I’m quite a heavy smoker, for one thing – that is, I used to be.  They made me cut it out.  Another thing, I grew six and a half inches last year.  That’s also how I practically got t.b. and came out here for all these goddam checkups and stuff.  I’m pretty healthy, though.” He talks, and talks and talks, and there are times when you just want to ask him, “I’m sorry, where are you going with this?”  But eventually, he rounds it back to his original topic. He's very real, and the kind of guy I'd like to hang out with.  He has a lot of side comments, that if you were in person with him, he’d be saying under his breath.

 

After that, he goes into this spiel about his teacher Mr. Spencer.  Mr. Spencer had asked Holden to come visit him before he left.  Once he gets there, Mrs. Spencer gives him a warm welcome and directs him to Mr. Spencer’s room.  As he walks in, he knows he’s about to get a lecture.  The whole time he is there, Mr. Spencer talks about how Holden needs to get his life on track and makes it a point to Holden that flunking out of as many schools as he has is not a good thing. I liked the way Holden described Mr. Spencer’s age in this part.  He said “He started going into this nodding routine.  You never saw anybody nod as much in your life as old Spencer did.  You never knew if he was nodding a lot because he was thinking and all, or just because he was a nice old guy that didn’t know his ass from his elbow.”  It showed me, how old he was, and made me relate him to a teacher I know.

 

A few other reasons I really like Holden, is because of his language.  I’m a very heavy curser and I use words that I shouldn’t a lot.  But, so does he.  He speaks exactly like me.  I use cuss words when they are absolutely unnecessary.  Just because of the fact that I can.  He’s younger than me, and I don’t know if I cussed as much as he does when I was sixteen, but now, I know I do for sure.  One final reason I’m a big fan of Holden is because we both are liars.  I’m not trying to say that I’m a huge liar and I never ever tell the truth.  But I lie about very small things that are very unnecessary.  He explains it at the beginning of chapter three, he says, “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.  It’s awful.  If I’m on my way to the store to buy a magazine, even, and somebody asks me where I’m going, I’m liable to say I’m going to the opera.  It’s terrible.”  Okay, I’m not that bad, but I do lie about very small, pitiful things.

 

As the story continues, Holden introduces us to his roommate and next door neighbor and then finds out that his roommate is out on a date with someone he is very familiar with.