Chapter 12 - 13

Retell: 
On the way to a nightclub, Holden keeps asking the cab driver, Horwitz, about where the ducks in the Central Park lagoon go. The driver gets very angry at his question. In the nightclub, Holden listens to Ernie play the piano where he finds very boring. Holden feels depressed when he listens to the phony conversations around him. He meets a girl, whom D.B used to date with, and he feels annoying and leaves. Holden walks forty-one blocks back to hotel. He imagines a conversation with the thief who stole his gloves in Pency. Holden meets a elevator operator who offers a prostitute for him, Holden accepted. Then, the prostitute, named Sunny, comes into his room and starts seduce Holden by removing her dress and sitting on his lap. Holden feels very nervous and tells her that he can't have sex because he just had an operation on his "clavichord". He pays her money and asks her to leave. Sunny demands more money but Holden refuses her. 

Relate:
I sometime also feel kind of isolated from the rest of the world, because I couldn't understand the way people act around me. For example, my friend and I went to see a speech made by an excellent graduate from our school. That guy was no more than ten years odder than us. He just acted like he was extremely more mature and superior than us. He lectured us like an adult. Even though I admit that he is a genius especially compared to me, he wouldn't miss any chances that he could show off. The audiences were ridiculous and applauding extremely crazy like he had the highest level of achievement that nobody could reach. People are extremely phony and I certainly had the same feeling as Holden has. "people always clap for the wrong things" (84). Holden thinks people are crazy and phony when they are applauding for the piano player who plays terrifically. I can feel how Holden hates those people when they lose their minds. 

Reflect: 
Holden's personality gets developed deeply through his interacting with people. Holden's loneliness and alienation become clear in these two chapters. Holden sits alone in the nightclub and listens to the phony conversation around him. These actions make Holden seem lonely and aliened from the rest of the world. He pretends to be an adult when ordering the drinks, but everybody could recognize that he is just a teenager. Holden tries to get involved and interacts with people, but he thinks people are phony and that makes him uncomfortable. As a narrator, Holden's unreliability continues to grow. He takes many strange actions without any explanation, which shows his unreliable character.  His physical arouse for girls doesn't match his mental emotion when facing a sexual issue. He has a clear problem with handling the issue in the world, which reveals his deep disconnection and isolation. The language he uses keeps criticized and the tone becomes more cynical.The theme is that Holden's loneliness and isolation from the world contributes to his personality and it also reveals his cracked mental health. 

Interesting Questions:
 1: Why does Holden care about the ducks in the Central Park lagoon?
Holden thinks the ducks are lonely and homeless as him. He cares about where the ducks go in winter as if he worries about himself about where he belongs in such a depressing time in his life. 

2: Why does Holden pretend himself to be an adult in the nightclub?
Holden pretends to be an adult and to be mature so that he can perceptively see details behind everybody. The more he pretends to be mature, the more he is actually immature. He has trouble understanding the world so he tries to hide himself by pretending he knows a lot. 

Predict: 
I think Holden will keep having trouble interacting with people. His depression and loneliness bring himself severe mental disease. The distinct behavior Holden has will annoy others and it will cause him more isolated from people. 

Media Component: 



This picture shows a strong feeling of depression and alienation. It makes me feel so depressed. Holden's depression and isolating from the rest of the world give readers a strong impression. People with similar emotions can have more communications by this picture. 

Chapter 8-11

Retell: 

Holden catches the late train to New York where he meets the mother of his classmate, Ernest Morrow. Holden tells lies to his mother about his popularity in school even through Holden dislikes him. Holden gives the mother a wrong name and claims he goes New York for a brain tumor operation. After gets off the train, Holden goes through a long list of names that he wants to call but he fails. He shows his strong feeling of calling Jane. On the way to a hotel, Holden tries to make a conversation with the driver about where the duck go in winter, but the driver is uninterested. Holden feels aroused in hotel and calls a girl he meets in a party for a date, but she refuses. Before Holden goes to a nightclub, he thinks about Phoebe, his younger sister, and describes how she is unusually intelligent and mature which is the similar description that he gives to Aliie. In the club, Holden dances with three girls who are from Seattle. The girls seem uninterested in Holden but look around for a movies star.Holden recalls Jane about the summer that they become closer because Jane's stepfather asks her for cigarettes but Jane refuses to answer him. Holden kisses Jane to comfort her from crying. Then, their relationship turns improved. They hold each other's hand and feel happy. Holden then awakes and suddenly feels upset. 

Relate: 

Holden tells a lot of lies in these chapters especially when he makes up the story to the mother of one of his classmate on the train. I seldom lie to people because I'm uncomfortable with lying, but I certainly lied to someone. She is my friend in China. One day, we went out for dinner together and on the way to the restaurant, we started talking about where we wanted to go after graduated from school. Then she started telling me how she ever went to America and experienced lots of fun in her travel. When she asked me where I'd ever been to, I suddenly felt a bit ashamed because I had not been anywhere. What I did to save my vanity was that I told her I'd been to England and it was an amazing travel. I lied because I didn't want to be embarrassed. However, Holden lies because he likes to so just for fun. "Then I started shooting the old crap around a little bit." (55). Holden tells the opposite fact in order to tease or make a good impression for the mother.  Holden doesn't want to have a deep interacting with the mother, so he lies with no pressure and he seems having a lot of fun. 

Reflect: 
Holden leaves school and starts hanging around near the hotel and nightclubs where he pretends himself an adult. He describes how he interacts with all kinds of people. However, his behavior becomes more and more desperate and we can clearly see his trouble mind even he tries to hide it: calling a girl you never know in the middle night, telling lies to the mother of his classmate and flirting with girls who are uninterested in him. Holden admits that he is a bit different from a normal man by showing that he is never in mood of doing anything, "If you're not in the mood, you can't do that stuff right." (63). I think that Holden never gets in the right mood since his brother died and it may explain his strange behavior.
Holden' narrative sends us a signal that the story is more than what he describes. The strong willing of interacting people reveals Holden's loneliness. The recall of Jane also shows us that Holden is not happy currently. He easily gets angry and depressed but he never tells the reason. It gets deeper in Holden's character development. 

Interesting Questions:

1: Why does Holden lie to the mother of his classmate?

Holden lies with no explanations. He gets used to lying because he does not feel secure to talk seriously with strangers and tries to keep a safe distance from them by telling lies.  

2: Holden seems especially wanting to call Jane, but why he does not call her?

Holden wants to see Jane but he thinks he is not ready to see her. Holden is apparently afraid of meeting Jane because he does not want Jane to see his current situation. 

3: What is Holden's inner feeling when he is dancing with the three girls who are not interested in him?

Holden feels lonely and not being respected by the girls' expectations on the movie star. It reveals Holden's loneliness from deep of his heart.

Prediction: 

I think Holden will encourage himself to meet with Jane because from his memories, we can see his deep emotional connection with Jane. Holden feels happy when staying with Jane because Jane maintains a pure position in Holden's deep heart. 

Media Component (Theme Song):

https://youtu.be/91fcg5X0278

This video is about a song, Alien, by Britney Spears. The reason why I choose it is that the lyrics reveals Holden's inner emotion of loneliness and isolation. When she sings, "There was a time I was one of a kind lost in the world of me, myself and I was lonely then, like an alien", Holden also feels himself disappear when across the road, " After I got across the road, I felt like I was sort of disappearing, ... and you felt like you were disappearing every time you cross a road" (5). The singer and Holden are all kind of lonely and sort of not existing in the world, like an alien. The song is pretty sad and depressing which has the similar feeling as Holden has. 

Chapter 2 - 7

Retell:

Holden goes in to Mr. Spencer's sickroom to say goodbye. Mr. Spencer tries to lecture Holden by reminding his academic failures and forcing him to listen to Holden's terrible essay. Mr. Spencer convinces Holden to think about his future. Holden interrupts Spencer and leaves. Holden sits and reads the book with his hunting hat. Ackley barges in and starts to annoy him by cutting fingernails and squeezing pimples. Ackley lives next door and has disgusting personal habits. Holden contrasts Stradlater and Ackley on their personal habits, showing Stradlater is a "secret slob". Stradlater asks Holden to write a English composition for him. They talk about Jane, the girl Stradlater dates with. Holden and his friends go to Agerstown to see movie. Holden writes Allie into his composition, mentioning that Allie, his brother, is nicest but dead from leukemia two years ago. Holden describes how he breaks the window on the night Allie died. Stradlater is angry at Holden's composition and refuses to talk about his date. Holden insults him and they fight. Holden talks with Ackley and sleeps in the bed of Ackley's roommate. He cannot stop imagining Jane dating with Stradlater, so he packs up and leaves the school in the midnight. He yells to the boys on his floor before leaving. 

Relate:
I think life is a game that people have to play by the rules. Everywhere around the world have its own rules. Playing by rules will keep me on track of my pathway to a better life. There might be some moments that I feel bitter about my life. I'm not good at dealing with family relationships. I remembered once I quarreled fiercely with my mom on the issue of what time should we go to bed. For me, as a young teenager, I demanded to go to bed later around eleven o'clock, but my mom considered more about my health by forcing me to go to bed at nine o'clock. I wouldn't even finish my homework at that time, so I argued and yelled loudly to her and even threw the cups to the ground. However, I was defeated by her stronger personality. I was so depressed like Holden, "I'd only been in about two fights in my life, and I lost both of them" (45). Holden lost the fight with his roommate while I lost on the debate with my mom. It's a kind of feeling that I can't put into words. Only at that time, I can feel the life bitter like Holden's feeling. 

Reflect:

Holden's interacting with peers and teachers does not seem very comfortable. Holden always criticize on the people around him. Holden describes Pency as full of "phonies", including the headmaster. He doesn't want to live in this kind of environment. Holden narrates the story in a cynical voice to shows his strong negative feeling on his surroundings. His language keeps uncivilized by speaking rudely. Obviously, his language shows that he is immature and not ready to get into the cruel adult world. It is the hypocrisies and ugliness of the external world that drags him into the realistic adult world. He dreams that everybody in the world would be innocent and nice as his brother, Allie. However, his ideal world disappears as he gradually loses his innocence when facing the "phonies" around him. Holden tries to create a boundary that could keep him on the safe side when he interacts with people, and that boundary is Holden's lies. As a result, Holden becomes more lonely and depressed. The theme is that Holden's depression and loneliness are not only caused by Allie's death and but also caused by the phonies around him. 

Interesting Questions:
1: Why does Holden become so angry when Stradlater refuses to talk about his date with Jane?
Jane is one of the few people that Holden treats with his true heart. Holden cannot think about Stradlater having sex with Jane because it ruined his feeling on Jane. 

2: Why does Holden yell an insult to the boys in the hallway on his way out?
Holden feels good escaping from this phony environment and his yell is considered as an irony to the boys that are still surrounded by phonies. He is kind of laughing at those boys and tries to hide his loneliness. 


Prediction: 
Holden will probably indulge himself for a while because he is being so depressed and needs to release himself from the phonies arounded. Holden may experience something that will bring him either further breakdown or back to normal.

Media Component:


This is a picture about a person's loneliness and I think it has some sort of connections with Holden. As we can see, Holden is a lonely guy and his peers are not considered as him true friends. Allie's death and the phony external environment causes him to hide himself from others.  Loneliness is a main part of Holden's personality.

Chapter 1

Retell:
In the beginning of the novel, Holden refuses to talk about the story of his lousy childhood but starts with his brother, D.B, who is a Hollywood writer. Then he described how he is being expelled from his school, Pencey Prep in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, because of his failure of four subjects and refusal to apply himself.
On the Saturday before Christmas begins, Holden stands on Thomsen Hill overlooking the football field, where Pencey plays its annual match against Saxon Hall. Holden is the manager of the school's fencing team. They come back earlier from the meet in New York because Holden lost the team's equipment on the subway. He is not interested in the game but just wants to feel some senses of goodbye. He recalls the period when he plays football with his friends even after it grows dark outside.
Finally, Holden goes to say goodbye to Mr. Spencer who is an old history teacher with bad health. Mrs. Spencer greets Holden at the door, and he goes in to see Mr. Spencer.

Relate:
My childhood is quite different from Holden's. I spent all my childhood in China, where the schools were much busier than those in Canada. I grew up in the countryside without any worries and concerns. I did very well on my school subjects and had many lovely friends.
After I moved to a small city, I got trouble with my non-standard pronunciation and the different way I spoke and acted isolated me from others. I always thought a lot when I was alone. There might be a moment that I felt like I was not seen by others, so that I wouldn't be embarrassed by the crazy things that I wanted to do.
Fortunately, I gradually got involved into a group of friends as I practicing language everyday. My childhood was as normal as all other Chinese kid's. I studied and played with friends and I also met several teachers, like Mr. Spencer, who cared my life and future so much.
But the difference was that I appreciated my teachers and was not as sensitive as Holden was.

Reflect:
Holden, the protagonist, is expelled from his school, on account of he flunks four of his five subjects and refuses to apply himself. He lost the equipment of school's fencing team, forcing the team to return earlier from the meet in New York. All these things Holden has talked about made him seem stupid and lack of responsibility. However, Holden tells his story in a very cynical vioce. The language he uses is full of negatives, and he loves using adjectives like: crumby, goddam, lousy and terrible, etc. He likes exaggerating the fact, showing by a quote: "It was the last game of the year, and you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn't win" (Pg #2). People of course will not commit suicide, but his way of describing people's feeling is accurate and funny.
Holden writes his novel by inserting flashbacks. He loves throwing out the results first, and then goes back to explain the reason. The theme is to show how a prep school looks like and how its student, Holden, is a distinct character from others.

Interesting Questions:
1: Why Holden did Holden refuse to apply himself after he failed four of his five subjects?
         Holden did not apply for his subjects because he was not even interested in those subjects and also because of his rebellious in adolescence. As a result of the frequent warnings from his teacher, he decided to take no actions ,causing him to be kicked out from school.

2: From Holden's recall, we know that he once enjoyed football games, but why he was not interest in school's annual football match?
         He enjoyed the periods when he played with his friends. However, he was not interested in the annual football match because he just got kicked out from school and also he lost the equipment of school' fencing team. With many troubles going on, he became a bit depressed.

Predict:

I think what will happen next is that Holden will be blamed by his history teacher, Mr. Spencer because of his failure of his class. The reason why I predict this is that Mr. Spencer is very old and ill, so he must be very strict and traditional on Holden's failure of his history class.

Media Component: 

https://youtu.be/DVMDSmidzIw

Here is a link of a You Tube video about how a day at York Prep school looks like. I choose this video because the story of the novel Catcher in the Rye is also happening in a prep school. By looking through this video, we can get a sense of how prep school is different from a public school. 

Holden's character analysis:
Holden Caulfield is the protagonist of this novel. Holden showed his dissatisfaction with the place he lived in and the people around him. Holden is a very sensitive boy who always has many opinions on things happening around him.
He likes to criticize and exaggerate things that he thinks phony. A quote from the novel, "They advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hot-shot guy on a horse jumping over a horse. I never even once saw a horse anywhere near the place."(Pg #2)  He thought his school is making wrong ads in purpose to attract people and he uses the word," a thousand", to exaggerate the fact in order to further show his opinion.
Holden also likes making conclusions even though he only has one evidence to prove it. He makes a conclusion: "The more expensive a school is, the more crooks it has." (Pg #4), by telling his camel's hair coat was stolen, then he thinks Pencey is full of crooks. He is kind of one-sided but that's how he is.