Although many of the things Holden does aren't things I necessarily would, the core of his personality allows me a very empathetic relationship with him.
The main idea we're given about Holden from these first four chapters seems to be that he has distanced himself from the rest of society: while everyone else is off playing some "game" or just acting nice and genial, he's one of the few who don't adhere to the rules of society. He does sloppy work, is totally unmotivated, and doesn't care at all when he's scolded for these things. His teachers realize he has a lot of potential, but getting him to actually act on that potential is difficult.
While I definitely have a bit more of a work ethic than Holden, I feel like I never really try my best at much, and I don't really care about that. These days I'm starting to get a little more scared about my future and what will come from my laziness though; something Holden doesn't seem concerned about at all at the moment.
Two sections I really enjoyed:
1. Ackley. I was actually laughing out loud at Holden's assessment of his personality: how he would make people say things twice just to sort of tick them off and stuff. For some reason I found that pretty funny.
2. When Stradlater mentions Jane and Holden gets really excited that he might get to see her again, but in the end he's too apathetic, lazy, and under that just too nervous to go talk to her. I think that said the most about Holden's personality as of yet.
All in all I definitely like it so far. I don't know if I should like it as much as do right now, heh. But Holden is definitely an interesting character, and there's gotta be some reason the book's famous, right?
I agree with your assessment of Holden's character thought I do disagree when you say that he does not care at all. I think from Holden's conversation with his teacher that Holden realizes that there will be consequences to his actions and I just think that he doesn't want to face those consequences.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to hear you are enjoying this book. It's one of my favorites because it's so different than any book I've read, yet, so many books after it took from it. I think you have a solid grasp of Holden - his humor and sarcasm, his general lack of motivation, and most importantly, his sincere care for things that mean something to him. I, too, find myself laughing at some of the most random times - I think because I'm flabbergasted by how human and real he is.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Can't wait to read more :)
I agree with you about Holden, he's a guy who does what he wants to, and doesn't follow the rules. I also agree with his lack of motivation, but I think that in the subjects he's interested in, he has a lot of motivation, like in Language Arts with the compositions. His work and motivation seem to vary with the degree of interest he has.
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