Opinion: “Finally I got out of bed, with just my pajamas on, and opened the door… Old Sunny and Maurice, the pimpy elevator guy, were standing there” (100-101). Holden should not have answered the door. It was the middle of the night when Maurice and Sunny knocked, and no reasonable person is going to knock on the door at that hour. For Holden to protect himself he should have kept the door closed and locked, not showing signs of occupancy. Opening the door was only asking for trouble, and trouble was what Holden got.
Musing: “While I was in the cab, I took out my wallet and sort of counted my money… I’d spent a king’s ransom in about two lousy week. I really had. I’m a goddam spendthrift at heart” (107). Holden has many bad qualities (his overspending, judgmental attitude, aggravating others, and over individualism) are hidden through his narrating. Since the reader is in Holden’s head, Holden’s thoughts favor himself, and make him seem like a hero in his own eyes, while his attitude traits towards others may seem rude, and overall bad. Therefore the reading has a guessing factor as to is the text straight, or distorted through Holden’s eyes?
Clarifying Question: Why is Holden an Atheist when he believes in Jesus, and his parents were religious?
Opinion: " 'I paid her already. I gave her five bucks. Ask her,' I said... 'It's ten bucks, chief. I told ya that.' " It says something about Holden that he did not just give in and hand over the five extra bucks. Most people would have just said, "Fine" and gave the five dollars to Maurice. This shows that Holden is someone who has a clear sense of what is right and what is wrong.
Musing: "Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell." Although I do not agree with all the things that Holden thinks, this is one that I do agree with. Both Holden and Chris McCandless believed in this. It is the "Mo' Money Mo' Problems" issue.
Clarifying Question: How much money does Holden have exactly? He keeps saying that he has a lot when he talks to people but then he also says that he is running out.
“I can’t always pray when I feel like it. In the first place, I’m kind of an Atheist.” I feel like if he was an Atheist, then he wouldn’t want to pray, that is like the point of Atheism.
“The next thing I knew, he and old sunny were both in the room. They acted like they owned the damn place.” I was glad that these people came back, it taught Holden a lesson. He needs to be responsible for his own actions in the future.
When will Holden finally go to his family and tell them that he was kicked out of school?
Musing - "What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes, when I get very depressed." I think that Holden's depression, and why he's not motivated is a form of grief for his dead brother.
Opinion - " Why should I give her another five bucks?" I said. My voice was cracking all over the place. "You're trying to chisel me." I think Holden should just give them the money. He has enough, and he's obviously terrified. It seems like the best option for him is to not get beat up and give the money.
“I wasn't too crazy about her, but I'd known her for years.” (105) Holden says this about Sally but calls her anyways. He is very lonely and will talk to anyone. “Don't you feel like talking for a while?” (95) Holden says this to the prostitute, because he is desperate to talk to anyone. Why doesn't Holden call Jane? He obviously lonely and wants to talk to her.
1. "Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed you can't imagine." (98) Why is Holden always so depressed? "You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life." I think more of Holden when he talks about Phoebe. I think that it's really nice the way he talks and cares about her so much. 2. Question: Why does Holden use colors to describe feelings?
"But I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases." (108) Why should Holden care about the quality of somebody else's suitcase? "Right that minute, the conductor came around for old Mrs. Morrow's ticket, and it gave me a chance to quit shooting it." (57) Why does Holden lie so much? Does he do it because he is so good at it? Q: Why doesn't Holden tell his family he got kicked out of Pencey?
"You should've heard the crowd, though, when he was finished. You would've puked. They went mad. They were exactly the same morons that would laugh like hyenas in the movies at stuff that isn't even funny.(pg. 84) Holden always seems like he over judges people on the little things they do. Why is it that he does this ? "Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it ? In the spring time and all ? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance"(pg. 81)Why is Holden so interested in where the ducks go in the winter. How could anyone not care or notice that Holden was to young to be drinking when he was at Ernie's ?
Quote 1: "Give her the time in Ed Banky's car?" Why would he ask this question to his roommate who is dating the girl that he likes. It is a very awkward to ask someone since they both like the same person. Quote 2: " He wasa always keeping tabs on who Stradlater was dating, even though he hated Stradlater's guts." He propably is jelous of Stradlater and doesn't really want Stradlater to be in a relation even though Ackley himself is not in one. Question: At the beginning of the book, Holden said that his teachers life was quite depressing. Isn't also pretty depressing that he wanted to pay a prostitute just to talk to him.
" I thought of giving old Jane a buzz, to see if she was home yet and all." (pg. 104) Almost every chapter of the book Holden talks about or thinks about Jane. Any time he is bored or near a telephone he immediately thinks to call jane, yet never does. Holden is obviously in love with Jane, but it seems like he is not to sure how she feels for him.
" 'I don't owe you five bucks,' I said ' If you rough me up, I'll yell like hell. I'll wake the up everybody in the hotel. The police and all ' My voice was shaking like a bastard." Though Holden asks like a big tough guy he is very weak. He does not have the guts to live up to what he says. Holden has a big mouth that has already gotten him in trouble with straddler, and now is getting him in more trouble with maurice.
"Stop calling me Ackley kid, God damn it." Holden annoys people and also does it on purpose which is one of the reasons I dislike him. "You should've seen the steaks. They were little these little hard, dry jobs that you could hardly even cut." Holden complains too much which might be another reason people may find him annoying.
Molly ponders: "We always had the same meal on Saturday nights at Pencey. It was supposed to be a big deal, because they gave you steak. I'll bet a thousand bucks the reason they did that was because a lot of guys' parents came up to school on Sunday." This shows that Holden was really smart. Do you think little things like this were why he didn't like Pencey?
"When I was a kid, I used to walk all the way up to our apartment very frequently." Holden has lots of little weird things like this that make him who he is.
"grand. theres a word I really hate. its a phony, i could puke every time I hear it." This quote shows how short tempered and unreasonable Holden is. Why does Holden hate the word Grand?
"If you want to know the truth, I don't even know why I started all that stuff with her. I mean about going away somewhere, to Massachusetts and Vermont and all. I probably wouldn't've taken her even if she'd wanted to go with me. She wouldn't have been anybody to go with. The terrible part, though, is that I meant it when I asked her. That's the terrible part. I swear to god I'm a madman."
Holden realizes what he did and it was very weird and rash, and I feel like he's starting to realize that he's not thinking straight.
"The only trouble was, her mother answered the phone, so I had to hang up. I didn't feel like getting involved in a long conversation and all with her. I'm not crazy about talking to girls' mothers on the phone anyway."
Why didn't Holden just talk to her for a second or two, ask if Jane was home and then said goodbye?
Why does Holden have these random mood swings all the time?
Opinion: “Finally I got out of bed, with just my pajamas on, and opened the door… Old Sunny and Maurice, the pimpy elevator guy, were standing there” (100-101). Holden should not have answered the door. It was the middle of the night when Maurice and Sunny knocked, and no reasonable person is going to knock on the door at that hour. For Holden to protect himself he should have kept the door closed and locked, not showing signs of occupancy. Opening the door was only asking for trouble, and trouble was what Holden got.
ReplyDeleteMusing: “While I was in the cab, I took out my wallet and sort of counted my money… I’d spent a king’s ransom in about two lousy week. I really had. I’m a goddam spendthrift at heart” (107). Holden has many bad qualities (his overspending, judgmental attitude, aggravating others, and over individualism) are hidden through his narrating. Since the reader is in Holden’s head, Holden’s thoughts favor himself, and make him seem like a hero in his own eyes, while his attitude traits towards others may seem rude, and overall bad. Therefore the reading has a guessing factor as to is the text straight, or distorted through Holden’s eyes?
Clarifying Question: Why is Holden an Atheist when he believes in Jesus, and his parents were religious?
Opinion: " 'I paid her already. I gave her five bucks. Ask her,' I said... 'It's ten bucks, chief. I told ya that.' " It says something about Holden that he did not just give in and hand over the five extra bucks. Most people would have just said, "Fine" and gave the five dollars to Maurice. This shows that Holden is someone who has a clear sense of what is right and what is wrong.
ReplyDeleteMusing: "Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue as hell." Although I do not agree with all the things that Holden thinks, this is one that I do agree with. Both Holden and Chris McCandless believed in this. It is the "Mo' Money Mo' Problems" issue.
Clarifying Question: How much money does Holden have exactly? He keeps saying that he has a lot when he talks to people but then he also says that he is running out.
“I can’t always pray when I feel like it. In the first place, I’m kind of an Atheist.” I feel like if he was an Atheist, then he wouldn’t want to pray, that is like the point of Atheism.
ReplyDelete“The next thing I knew, he and old sunny were both in the room. They acted like they owned the damn place.” I was glad that these people came back, it taught Holden a lesson. He needs to be responsible for his own actions in the future.
When will Holden finally go to his family and tell them that he was kicked out of school?
Musing - "What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes, when I get very depressed." I think that Holden's depression, and why he's not motivated is a form of grief for his dead brother.
ReplyDeleteOpinion - " Why should I give her another five bucks?" I said. My voice was cracking all over the place. "You're trying to chisel me." I think Holden should just give them the money. He has enough, and he's obviously terrified. It seems like the best option for him is to not get beat up and give the money.
Why doesn't Holden ever call Jane?
“I wasn't too crazy about her, but I'd known her for years.” (105) Holden says this about Sally but calls her anyways. He is very lonely and will talk to anyone.
ReplyDelete“Don't you feel like talking for a while?” (95) Holden says this to the prostitute, because he is desperate to talk to anyone.
Why doesn't Holden call Jane? He obviously lonely and wants to talk to her.
1. "Boy, I felt miserable. I felt so depressed you can't imagine." (98) Why is Holden always so depressed?
ReplyDelete"You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life." I think more of Holden when he talks about Phoebe. I think that it's really nice the way he talks and cares about her so much.
2. Question: Why does Holden use colors to describe feelings?
"But I hate it when somebody has cheap suitcases." (108) Why should Holden care about the quality of somebody else's suitcase?
ReplyDelete"Right that minute, the conductor came around for old Mrs. Morrow's ticket, and it gave me a chance to quit shooting it." (57) Why does Holden lie so much? Does he do it because he is so good at it?
Q: Why doesn't Holden tell his family he got kicked out of Pencey?
"You should've heard the crowd, though, when he was finished. You would've puked. They went mad. They were exactly the same morons that would laugh like hyenas in the movies at stuff that isn't even funny.(pg. 84) Holden always seems like he over judges people on the little things they do. Why is it that he does this ?
ReplyDelete"Well, you know the ducks that swim around in it ? In the spring time and all ? Do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance"(pg. 81)Why is Holden so interested in where the ducks go in the winter.
How could anyone not care or notice that Holden was to young to be drinking when he was at Ernie's ?
Quote 1: "Give her the time in Ed Banky's car?"
ReplyDeleteWhy would he ask this question to his roommate who is dating the girl that he likes. It is a very awkward to ask someone since they both like the same person.
Quote 2: " He wasa always keeping tabs on who Stradlater was dating, even though he hated Stradlater's guts."
He propably is jelous of Stradlater and doesn't really want Stradlater to be in a relation even though Ackley himself is not in one.
Question: At the beginning of the book, Holden said that his teachers life was quite depressing. Isn't also pretty depressing that he wanted to pay a prostitute just to talk to him.
" I thought of giving old Jane a buzz, to see if she was home yet and all." (pg. 104) Almost every chapter of the book Holden talks about or thinks about Jane. Any time he is bored or near a telephone he immediately thinks to call jane, yet never does. Holden is obviously in love with Jane, but it seems like he is not to sure how she feels for him.
ReplyDelete" 'I don't owe you five bucks,' I said ' If you rough me up, I'll yell like hell. I'll wake the up everybody in the hotel. The police and all ' My voice was shaking like a bastard." Though Holden asks like a big tough guy he is very weak. He does not have the guts to live up to what he says. Holden has a big mouth that has already gotten him in trouble with straddler, and now is getting him in more trouble with maurice.
"Stop calling me Ackley kid, God damn it." Holden annoys people and also does it on purpose which is one of the reasons I dislike him. "You should've seen the steaks. They were little these little hard, dry jobs that you could hardly even cut." Holden complains too much which might be another reason people may find him annoying.
ReplyDeleteWhere is Holden's older brother
-Bracken
Molly ponders:
ReplyDelete"We always had the same meal on Saturday nights at Pencey. It was supposed to be a big deal, because they gave you steak. I'll bet a thousand bucks the reason they did that was because a lot of guys' parents came up to school on Sunday." This shows that Holden was really smart. Do you think little things like this were why he didn't like Pencey?
"When I was a kid, I used to walk all the way up to our apartment very frequently." Holden has lots of little weird things like this that make him who he is.
Why does he use the janitors name?
"grand. theres a word I really hate. its a phony, i could puke every time I hear it."
ReplyDeleteThis quote shows how short tempered and unreasonable Holden is.
Why does Holden hate the word Grand?
that one is from camila
ReplyDelete"If you want to know the truth, I don't even know why I started all that stuff with her. I mean about going away somewhere, to Massachusetts and Vermont and all. I probably wouldn't've taken her even if she'd wanted to go with me. She wouldn't have been anybody to go with. The terrible part, though, is that I meant it when I asked her. That's the terrible part. I swear to god I'm a madman."
ReplyDeleteHolden realizes what he did and it was very weird and rash, and I feel like he's starting to realize that he's not thinking straight.
"The only trouble was, her mother answered the phone, so I had to hang up. I didn't feel like getting involved in a long conversation and all with her. I'm not crazy about talking to girls' mothers on the phone anyway."
Why didn't Holden just talk to her for a second or two, ask if Jane was home and then said goodbye?
Why does Holden have these random mood swings all the time?