In a well-worded paragraph of 300 words, evaluate your own character and describe a time (or times) that you have ever resembled Holden.
MARKING SCHEME:
Analysis is thoughtful and explores the significance of the topic:
10 12 14 16 18 20
Quotation is included and supports your analysis:
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Mechanics are fluid and sophisticated; Wording is formal.
5 6 7 8 9 10
ayy lmao
ReplyDeletegot eem
ReplyDeletegot eem got eem got eem
ReplyDeletegot eem? got eem.
ReplyDeleteHolden Caulfield doesn't want to grow up, he admires the innocence of children and wants to protect them from growing up as well. It's evident that he doesn't want to become an adult because of his fear of adult experiences like responsibilities, sexual experiences and many more examples throughout the book. When Holden is in the museum he says "The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish.." his love for such a place represents how he feels about his life, he doesn't want anything to change or move. I relate to Holden a lot in that way, going into grade 12 it's time for me to become more responsible for myself. Soon enough I'll be driving by myself, maybe even living by myself once i graduate and turning 18 means I'm responsible for myself. It worries me a lot because I rely on my sister and my mother to help me with things I'v never done before or don't understand. Growing up is scary for me because I'm expected to know how to live by myself when I can barely keep my room clean. Just like Holden, I would prefer to keep things how they are now; not having to worry about bills, groceries, a full time job or much of anything besides my school work. Although it would be nice to have all that freedom, I'm not the kind of person that can do anything and everything alone without someone there to help me through it. I hope that unlike Holden, I don't become isolated and depressed because of these thoughts and that there are people there for me.
ReplyDelete-London MacIntosh
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ReplyDeleteIn the classic novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, written by J.D. Salinger in 1951, the main character; Holden, has a mental breakdown. He yells at his date; Sally, saying he wants to move out and live together in the country. This is mostly because he’s drunk, but even so, there’s still some relatability in his words.
ReplyDelete“Look … Here’s my idea. How would you like to get the hell out of here? Here’s my idea. I know this guy down in Greenwich Village that we can borrow his car for a couple of weeks. He used to go to the same school I did and he still owes me ten bucks … Then, when the dough runs out, I could get a job somewhere and we could live somewhere with a brook and all and, later on, we could get married or something … No, there wouldn’t be. There wouldn’t be oodles of places to go to at all. It’d be entirely different … We’d have to downstairs in elevators with suitcases and stuff … And I’d be working in some office ...” (131-2).
Holden wants to move away from his surroundings, hoping to find a paradise in a far off land, no where near where he is right now. If I were to be honest, I’d say that I also think of stuff similar to this from time to time. When I feel pressured to do tests and exams, or when I have piles upon piles of homework. Whenever I’m tasked with a certain responsibility, knowing that I’m going to have to undergo boredom and stress for such trivial requests. Whenever I don’t want to do things that I believe are worthless in the real world, I always dream of leaving this place and moving out to the country. Most likely becoming a farmer. Maybe a dairy farmer, or a wheat farmer, or a farmer that does everything and specializes in nothing. Yeah, living in the countryside as a farmer sounds nice.
-Kyle Kingsland
Holden isn't a normal teenager, but I wouldn't say I haven't felt some of the same things as him. He expresses his hate for phony people and his utmost distaste for “stupid girls” but the main thing I can relate to that I learned he fears is growing up. “Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that’s impossible, but it’s too bad anyway.” Holden expresses here that he wishes everything could stay the same and that as he grows older he wouldn't have to forget or replace the memories he has already made. I can relate to this because I don't want to grow up or forget the things as a kid that made me a kid. Holden is a teenager basically trying to stop all the other teenagers and teach them not to grow up either but he is trying to stop something that he can't stop. This is where I am different then Holden and realize reality for what it truly is. So I am the same but am different because of this. Another reason I am the same is because of our equal hate of cliques. “Everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques. The guys that are on the basketball team stick together, the Catholics stick together, the goddam intellectuals stick together, the guys that play bridge stick together. Even the guys that belong to the goddam Book-of-the-Month club stick together.” I personally would say ninety nine percent of high school is based on cliques and I hate it because it doesn't allow people to socialize and interact enough or experience the things us high school kids should experience.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Finlayson
Self reflection
ReplyDeleteI am like holden for a few reasons. One of those reasons is that he thinks the future is way too close and i agree with that. I think that the future is way too soon and you spend your whole teenage years preparing for it. They tell you that you have until grade twelve to know what you want to do however you need to know in grade nine. You need to know in grade nine because there are certain courses you need to take to get into college or university programs. The courses you need to take may be for grade twelve but there are classes to take to get into those ones. I, like Holden feel like your whole childhood is spent being prepared for your future and being an adult. Another way i am like holden is because both of us are very done with school and growing up. He runs away from his problems to a different city and if i could do the same then i would. Neither of us like to deal with things which makes us both sad or angry a lot of the time. Like Holden i can find faults with absolutely everything and everyone. When he meets up with Sally he says he wants to be with her forever basically but he also finds something wrong with everything she says. I do that when i talk to people also, my mind won't just let somebody say something without me analyzing it all and ending up way off topic and distracted from what is actually being said. I also have commitment issues, so does Holden. He has a problem committing to girls, school and anything really. He doesn’t even let people become his friend he just finds things wrong with them and i do that too. A final reason i am like Holden is because i will not sleep with a hooker.
Tanna Brown
JON SNOW DIES
ReplyDeleteHolden's biggest fear in the novel 'Catcher In The Rye' is the future. Throughout the whole book he isn't trying to find himself or what he could be. Holden looks at the world like it is a place built for children and everyone grows up to fast and he is the one to catch them before they waste their childhood. He never comprehends the fact that people move on and grow up, he lives like he will stay young forever. "I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all." He looks at this the wrong way in the sense that these people don't need help because they are in school, they have a job, they are moving on from high school and are turning the page to start the next chapter in their lives. We discover early on that Holden doesn't want to grow up, has no interest in a relationship and he never makes any progress towards his future career even after being kicked out of school. Holden just wants his life to stay exactly how is it forever and that is the part that i can relate to. Personally I am terrified of the future because next year i have to decide what I would like to pursue in post secondary and I feel as if i don't even have a clue. There is so many options and so many different ways to go about your life after high school and sometimes just the stress of thinking about it can feel like it’s eating you alive. Right now I don't want to go into grade 12, I don't want to make big decisions that will affect me long term and I would rather my life stay the way it is like Holden does. But I also realize there will come a day where I can't rely on anyone to do anything for me and one day I will be off on my own. All these years of being taken care of will come to and end and I will be forced to move onto the next chapter. Hopefully I embrace whatever opportunity comes my way and find a way to make the best out of every situation life throws at me. But the number one thing is to stay healthy and take care of myself first so that way I don't become lonely and depressed. In ten years the last thing I want to be doing is sitting in a mental hospital telling people how I got here.
ReplyDelete-Cruise Perna
In my life, there have been decisions I’ve made that I wish I had thought about more. At times, my judgment can be off and my id would take over. This happens to Holden also. He thinks mainly about himself and doesn’t put much thought into doing anything productive. There are times when I’ve lied to my parents just to have fun for one night, where the events happening during that night could affect me in the long-term. Holden has a golden opportunity to finish his high school studies at a top private school, which would benefit him greatly in the future, but he blows it off since he isn’t enjoying it. This is exemplified when he says, “It's really too bad that so much crumby stuff is a lot of fun sometimes” ( Salinger 62). This shows that Holden doesn’t want to continue to move forward in his life, and wants to be young forever, so he leaves and has a good time for a short while. Holden doesn’t think about his future, and doesn’t want to, but if he worked hard in high school, and had not dropped out, he would have had long-term happiness instead of just the short-term joy of being a teen. I, myself, have sometimes just thought of being short-term happy. I don’t realize that I really need to work hard now, and focus now, so I can live a happy and successful life in the future. For example, going out on a night when I should probably be doing school work, and being somewhere, where only trouble is waiting to happen, could affect me long-term. I have had those Holden moments throughout my teen years, the difference is, I’m able to reflect on them and learn from my mistakes. Holden on the other hand, is quite careless. Holden reveals that he prefers to be on his own. At times when I’m unhappy, I’ll get the same feeling. In reality I am a people person and enjoy good company. As my teen years are coming to an end, I want to enjoy them, but at the same time do everything I can to work towards becoming an adult so I can live a happy and successful life.
ReplyDelete-Ravi Dwivedi-Leng
Catcher in the Rye Self Reflection
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking of Holden Caulfield and how we relate, not one particular moment came into mind, but collective moments coming together in the form of my life. Once the naive innocence of childhood was lost and the perpetuating philosophies of life took over, Holden and I have seem to made a lot of similarities in our viewpoints towards existence, society and ourselves. Holden has a great distrust in everything and believes that things are always there to hurt him. He sees things very negatively and lets those negative thoughts significantly influence his mood, “but I keep thinking about it anyway, when I get very depressed” (Salinger). The entire book shows Holden’s thought process, which usually makes him feel worse. The overthinking we both share ends up putting us into a bad place, swarming us with negative thoughts. Thought processes are sensitive things that need to be treated with delicacy and care, and when that is not handled properly, it can lead to our own demise. I often let my mind wander to think about different parts of myself and my life, and creating negative, imaginary scenarios, just like how Holden pretended to be shot at multiple times throughout the novel. We create these negative thoughts which we let take over our minds and affect our being, and most importantly, and we carry the negative thoughts into our daily lives. Another main theme in the book that reflects through Holden and I is the longing for childhood innocence. Childhood is a sacred time where one is still protected from the corrupt brutality of society, and one’s self. In a few short years, that innocence is lost as one grows up and understands the flaws in the world. Holden witnesses childhood innocence, especially through his siblings Phoebe and Allie, and how easily that innocence can be taken away. He wants to let children remain in their blissful innocence and keep them away from the pain and despair of adulthood. Holden beautifully explains how he wants to act as a saviour for children and keep them protected from the world.
"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. [...] And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all” (Salinger).
This longing for childhood innocence and wanting to keep that young hope alive in children is something we both strongly believe in. I wish to go back to the simplicity of being a kid and not worrying about growing up, and keeping childhood innocence alive in the kids I know. After exploring Holden Caulfield and the themes of the novel in better detail, I am able to comprehend the story from a new perspective. I understand the key messages of Catcher in the Rye, such as ourselves as our own enemies and longing for childhood innocence, and I can distinctly see many parts of myself and my life through Holden and his beliefs. Exploring his complex character and relating him to my own self has been an eye-opening experience that gives me the knowledge to understand this seminal classic novel, and myself.
Seager Wakil
"Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?"
ReplyDelete"Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess."
"You will," old Spencer said. "You will, boy. You will when it's too late." (2.64-67)
I feel as if Holden and I are alike for many reasons but this quote connected with me more than the rest. I get asked this question quite often by my parents and family and my response is very similar. Of course I feel concern for my future, I care it's just that these are supposed to be the best years of my life, my youth. But there are way too many decisions to be made and way too much pressure on me to “apply myself” in school and set myself up for a bright future. I get told all the time by my teachers that I'm a smart kid that I just need to apply myself and I would get good grades; but those people don't get that I care more about using my youth to the fullest than getting my homework for that night done. In twenty years I would rather be able to say “remember that time” then “I wish I didn't stay home that night” because the people that don’t use their youth while they can are the ones that look back and think “what if” that isn’t me. I’ve seen what growing up does to some people; takes their freedom and their brighter side that they had when they were younger. If that is going to happen to me i at least want to have memories to look back on and good friends to share those memories with. I guess what I’m trying to say is that me and Holden are alike in ways but the main thing that we share in common is that neither of us really want to grow up. I feel he is more scared and I just don’t want my youth and my good time to end.
cade scott