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Catcher in the Rye English Questions
Hannah Spiegel
1.The character of Holden Caulfield typically evokes strong reactions from readers of Catcher in the Rye: some readers strongly identify with him, while others detest him. What are your reactions? Holden Caulfield is undeniably a confusing character, and it is often hard to tell whether or not he can identify with himself, much less the reader. A lot of who he is evolves from where he came from. Much of the book is Holden describing people he used to know from past schools and experiences he used to have. Holden’s world is almost non-existent, so he depends on his past to help him get through the confusion of his present.
It seems as though Salinger’s purpose in writing this novel was to allow readers also experiencing unfamiliarity in their lives to be able to relate to something. However, it would be very difficult to be able to identify with Holden, because, one could argue, it is impossible to find some aspect of his life Holden does feel a sense of belonging with. No matter how confused one gets with their world, they can always find at least one aspect where they are comfortable. J.D. Salinger wrote the novel so we notice that: Holden feels out of place when at school, when with girls he knows, when with friends and when he is with his family.
It is also, when reading the novel, difficult to relate to Holden, because Holden can’t relate himself to people and use people to carry on in his life. People are constantly moving in and out of his life, and he can’t grab on to them and try to connect himself to them. For, he notices, when he does this he often ends up losing the people he feels connected strongest to. It already has happened to him with both Jane Gallagher and his younger brother, Allie, that eventually he either became out of touch with, or actually lost, the people he was closest too. Most people cannot relate to Holden, because no one has experienced as much loss as he has. And, he is completely unable to pick himself up after he loses someone. Loss devastates him for the rest of his life and ruins every aspect. In this sense, Holden Caulfield is a little too extreme to be able to actually relate to. It is much easier to find oneself, while reading this, to consistently get annoyed by decisions Holden makes and by the types of things he is saying while narrating.
Holden has been expelled from school, yet Mr. Spencer (chapter two) invites him to come see him before he leaves. Do you basically agree with the way Spencer deals with Holden in this situation? If so, what do you like about Spencer’s interaction with Holden? If not, why not?
Mr. Spencer clearly dealt with Holden in the correct manner prior to Holden’s leaving Pencey. Mr. Spencer had Holden actually thinking about what he was doing with his life and why he might be making mistakes that could be crucial to his future. Hearing this from Mr. Spencer probably had a bigger impact on Holden than it would had it been some other teacher in a class he was flunking. It is clear that he feels sympathetic towards Holden, because he knows Holden has a good heart and he means well in any given situation, whether what he does shows that or not.
However, Mr. Spencer also brought him back to reality by reading the essay Holden wrote on the Egyptians, which clearly left a lasting impact on Holden. It made Holden question why exactly he would care so little about his education that he would barely even open the textbook. Holden then finds himself slightly embarrassed and finds an excuse to leave. Mr. Spencer is the first person in the novel that makes Holden question where he is going with his life, if there is absolutely no purpose. With Holden’s running away, he begins to find that everyone else in his life is another reminder questioning him as to what he feels he is going to be able to do with his life.
3.Both Ackley and Stradlater are annoying to Holden in various ways: choose one of these characters and discuss how you would advise Holden to deal with their behavior. Ackley is very misunderstood and just needs someone to listen to him. It would be seemingly obvious to just give him the attention he yearns for, even if the way you present attention is in a negative form. Spend time with him and just try to give yourself a better understanding of who he is. One would probably find that just allowing oneself to try to recognize what sort of problems are aberrant in his life, might better allow one to co-exist with him.
Also, it could be sensible for Holden to try to befriend Ackley. The reader immediately notices Ackley treats Holden very different. J.D. Salinger also shows that Ackley just wants a sense of belonging, similar to Holden. What seems to be the case is that why Ackley fears Holden is because Ackley is a version of the problems that exist in Holden’s life taken to an extreme. Holden thinks of both himself and Ackley as morons, and it is true that both of them do things without thinking of the consequences. It would make sense for Holden to not fear Ackley, because by fearing Ackley it is just making it more obvious that he may indeed fear himself.
4. The novel was published in the early 50s in the United States. To what extent do you think boy/girl relationships, as depicted in the novel, have changed since then, or remained the same? Several aspects have changed about boy/girl relationships since the 1950s, such as the amount of power. A woman was much more vulnerable in any relationship in the 50s. The guy had to always pay for everything, but, in return, the woman could have either been considered his slave and/or his property. Women were not, and could not, be seen as someone in a power position.
Nowadays, dating has become less traditional, so a woman might open up her wallet and pay more often; yet she would also get to have more of a say in what goes on between them. The role of women in society is changing, and women are becoming more powerful people from both a general standpoint and a career standpoint. No longer are women solely expected to be housewives and listen to every demand from their male counterpart, as they were during the time that the novel was published.
As the reader sees with Holden, in the eyes of a male, girls were seen more as ways for satisfying their sexual needs than as actual people. Although, Holden often defies the stereotype that all males see females only as sex symbols, he still thinks about women on a more shallow level too. For example, when Holden was going ice skating with Sally, he randomly told her he loved her. The only reason this idea popped into his head was because he was thinking about how cute she looked that day. He didn’t care about whom she was, he cared about her looks. Nowadays, women would never have to deal with this, because they can feel confident enough to back down when they feel uncomfortable.
5. Holden has three siblings and a very different relationship with each one. Do you think these relationships contribute to his crisis or help him overcome it? Comment in some detail on his relationship with each sibling. It becomes obvious to the reader that his relationships with his siblings are a big part of who Holden Caulfield finds himself to be. Holden doesn’t feel much of a belonging to anything, except he feels like he belongs with his brothers and sister. They help shape Holden’s life in several different ways.
For example, D.B., Holden’s older brother, either helps Holden learn how to be successful or how to mess up his life. He both learns from things he believes that are wrong about D.B., such as writing scripts for movies, and learns from things he finds admirable about D.B, like how amazingly successful he became in his career (especially when it comes to the short stories he had published.) D.B. is a reference Holden is able to use for what to do in his life, and he’s someone Holden can look back on. His older brother, it seems to the reader, was a very important and influential part of his life. They seem to be pretty close, and it is a lot of the reason Holden feels comfortable looking up to D.B. and using D.B. sort of as a resource for what he should do depending on the scenario he is placed in. D.B. often helps him overcome his crises, but because he isn’t anywhere near Holden (since he is in Hollywood and all) it doesn’t seem as though he has as much of an effect on his crises like the other two siblings do.
On the other hand, Phoebe, his younger sister, brings out a more playful side in him, but she also brings out the best in him. She certainly helps him cope with his crises and provides optimism when he doesn’t know it could exist. When he is with Phoebe, he is always more happy than when he is either alone or with some other random person from his past. Salinger purposely lets the reader see that when Holden spends time with Phoebe is when he’s happiest, and, it impossible for him to deny that this is true. One of the most poignant moments in the novel comes when Holden sneaks into Phoebe’s room. From when he is reflecting on children sleeping vs. adults sleeping, until when Phoebe is giddily spilling everything about her life, the reader notices the strong bond between the two of them. Phoebe looks up to Holden as someone who will, despite the fact he is older, listen and respect everything she has to say. Holden looks to Phoebe when he feels like no one else in the world is there for him, and he just needs to find even the slightest bit of having someone there for him.
Allie, out of all the three, definitely contributes to his crises the most. Allie’s death was very hard on Holden and he is suffering without him. Allie was brilliant in Holden’s eyes, not only because he was so brilliant, but he was also a creative and inspiring person. Holden’s fondest childhood memories include many experiences he shared with Allie. Salinger provides one of the most metaphorical parts of the book when Stradlater begs Holden to write a composition about something detailed and passionate, and all Holden can come up with is Allie’s baseball glove. Salinger is proving here that the person he has ever felt closest to and most passionate about was Allie. After Holden lost Allie, everything went downhill and he couldn’t feel passionate about anything anymore. Phoebe, towards the end of the novel, screams at Holden stating that he doesn’t care about anything. Phoebe is correct for the present, but what she doesn’t realize is that it just isn’t possible for Holden to feel passionate about anything; because he fears whatever it is will leave him (Allie, Jane etc.).
Hannah Spiegel
1.The character of Holden Caulfield typically evokes strong reactions from readers of Catcher in the Rye: some readers strongly identify with him, while others detest him. What are your reactions? Holden Caulfield is undeniably a confusing character, and it is often hard to tell whether or not he can identify with himself, much less the reader. A lot of who he is evolves from where he came from. Much of the book is Holden describing people he used to know from past schools and experiences he used to have. Holden’s world is almost non-existent, so he depends on his past to help him get through the confusion of his present.
It seems as though Salinger’s purpose in writing this novel was to allow readers also experiencing unfamiliarity in their lives to be able to relate to something. However, it would be very difficult to be able to identify with Holden, because, one could argue, it is impossible to find some aspect of his life Holden does feel a sense of belonging with. No matter how confused one gets with their world, they can always find at least one aspect where they are comfortable. J.D. Salinger wrote the novel so we notice that: Holden feels out of place when at school, when with girls he knows, when with friends and when he is with his family.
It is also, when reading the novel, difficult to relate to Holden, because Holden can’t relate himself to people and use people to carry on in his life. People are constantly moving in and out of his life, and he can’t grab on to them and try to connect himself to them. For, he notices, when he does this he often ends up losing the people he feels connected strongest to. It already has happened to him with both Jane Gallagher and his younger brother, Allie, that eventually he either became out of touch with, or actually lost, the people he was closest too. Most people cannot relate to Holden, because no one has experienced as much loss as he has. And, he is completely unable to pick himself up after he loses someone. Loss devastates him for the rest of his life and ruins every aspect. In this sense, Holden Caulfield is a little too extreme to be able to actually relate to. It is much easier to find oneself, while reading this, to consistently get annoyed by decisions Holden makes and by the types of things he is saying while narrating.
Holden has been expelled from school, yet Mr. Spencer (chapter two) invites him to come see him before he leaves. Do you basically agree with the way Spencer deals with Holden in this situation? If so, what do you like about Spencer’s interaction with Holden? If not, why not?
Mr. Spencer clearly dealt with Holden in the correct manner prior to Holden’s leaving Pencey. Mr. Spencer had Holden actually thinking about what he was doing with his life and why he might be making mistakes that could be crucial to his future. Hearing this from Mr. Spencer probably had a bigger impact on Holden than it would had it been some other teacher in a class he was flunking. It is clear that he feels sympathetic towards Holden, because he knows Holden has a good heart and he means well in any given situation, whether what he does shows that or not.
However, Mr. Spencer also brought him back to reality by reading the essay Holden wrote on the Egyptians, which clearly left a lasting impact on Holden. It made Holden question why exactly he would care so little about his education that he would barely even open the textbook. Holden then finds himself slightly embarrassed and finds an excuse to leave. Mr. Spencer is the first person in the novel that makes Holden question where he is going with his life, if there is absolutely no purpose. With Holden’s running away, he begins to find that everyone else in his life is another reminder questioning him as to what he feels he is going to be able to do with his life.
3.Both Ackley and Stradlater are annoying to Holden in various ways: choose one of these characters and discuss how you would advise Holden to deal with their behavior. Ackley is very misunderstood and just needs someone to listen to him. It would be seemingly obvious to just give him the attention he yearns for, even if the way you present attention is in a negative form. Spend time with him and just try to give yourself a better understanding of who he is. One would probably find that just allowing oneself to try to recognize what sort of problems are aberrant in his life, might better allow one to co-exist with him.
Also, it could be sensible for Holden to try to befriend Ackley. The reader immediately notices Ackley treats Holden very different. J.D. Salinger also shows that Ackley just wants a sense of belonging, similar to Holden. What seems to be the case is that why Ackley fears Holden is because Ackley is a version of the problems that exist in Holden’s life taken to an extreme. Holden thinks of both himself and Ackley as morons, and it is true that both of them do things without thinking of the consequences. It would make sense for Holden to not fear Ackley, because by fearing Ackley it is just making it more obvious that he may indeed fear himself.
4. The novel was published in the early 50s in the United States. To what extent do you think boy/girl relationships, as depicted in the novel, have changed since then, or remained the same? Several aspects have changed about boy/girl relationships since the 1950s, such as the amount of power. A woman was much more vulnerable in any relationship in the 50s. The guy had to always pay for everything, but, in return, the woman could have either been considered his slave and/or his property. Women were not, and could not, be seen as someone in a power position.
Nowadays, dating has become less traditional, so a woman might open up her wallet and pay more often; yet she would also get to have more of a say in what goes on between them. The role of women in society is changing, and women are becoming more powerful people from both a general standpoint and a career standpoint. No longer are women solely expected to be housewives and listen to every demand from their male counterpart, as they were during the time that the novel was published.
As the reader sees with Holden, in the eyes of a male, girls were seen more as ways for satisfying their sexual needs than as actual people. Although, Holden often defies the stereotype that all males see females only as sex symbols, he still thinks about women on a more shallow level too. For example, when Holden was going ice skating with Sally, he randomly told her he loved her. The only reason this idea popped into his head was because he was thinking about how cute she looked that day. He didn’t care about whom she was, he cared about her looks. Nowadays, women would never have to deal with this, because they can feel confident enough to back down when they feel uncomfortable.
5. Holden has three siblings and a very different relationship with each one. Do you think these relationships contribute to his crisis or help him overcome it? Comment in some detail on his relationship with each sibling. It becomes obvious to the reader that his relationships with his siblings are a big part of who Holden Caulfield finds himself to be. Holden doesn’t feel much of a belonging to anything, except he feels like he belongs with his brothers and sister. They help shape Holden’s life in several different ways.
For example, D.B., Holden’s older brother, either helps Holden learn how to be successful or how to mess up his life. He both learns from things he believes that are wrong about D.B., such as writing scripts for movies, and learns from things he finds admirable about D.B, like how amazingly successful he became in his career (especially when it comes to the short stories he had published.) D.B. is a reference Holden is able to use for what to do in his life, and he’s someone Holden can look back on. His older brother, it seems to the reader, was a very important and influential part of his life. They seem to be pretty close, and it is a lot of the reason Holden feels comfortable looking up to D.B. and using D.B. sort of as a resource for what he should do depending on the scenario he is placed in. D.B. often helps him overcome his crises, but because he isn’t anywhere near Holden (since he is in Hollywood and all) it doesn’t seem as though he has as much of an effect on his crises like the other two siblings do.
On the other hand, Phoebe, his younger sister, brings out a more playful side in him, but she also brings out the best in him. She certainly helps him cope with his crises and provides optimism when he doesn’t know it could exist. When he is with Phoebe, he is always more happy than when he is either alone or with some other random person from his past. Salinger purposely lets the reader see that when Holden spends time with Phoebe is when he’s happiest, and, it impossible for him to deny that this is true. One of the most poignant moments in the novel comes when Holden sneaks into Phoebe’s room. From when he is reflecting on children sleeping vs. adults sleeping, until when Phoebe is giddily spilling everything about her life, the reader notices the strong bond between the two of them. Phoebe looks up to Holden as someone who will, despite the fact he is older, listen and respect everything she has to say. Holden looks to Phoebe when he feels like no one else in the world is there for him, and he just needs to find even the slightest bit of having someone there for him.
Allie, out of all the three, definitely contributes to his crises the most. Allie’s death was very hard on Holden and he is suffering without him. Allie was brilliant in Holden’s eyes, not only because he was so brilliant, but he was also a creative and inspiring person. Holden’s fondest childhood memories include many experiences he shared with Allie. Salinger provides one of the most metaphorical parts of the book when Stradlater begs Holden to write a composition about something detailed and passionate, and all Holden can come up with is Allie’s baseball glove. Salinger is proving here that the person he has ever felt closest to and most passionate about was Allie. After Holden lost Allie, everything went downhill and he couldn’t feel passionate about anything anymore. Phoebe, towards the end of the novel, screams at Holden stating that he doesn’t care about anything. Phoebe is correct for the present, but what she doesn’t realize is that it just isn’t possible for Holden to feel passionate about anything; because he fears whatever it is will leave him (Allie, Jane etc.).