When Holden returns from the Lavender Room, he decides to skip the drinking at the bar and go straight up to his room. He had mentioned he felt lonely and a little depressed. But then, the elevator operator asks him if he's interested in a prostitute. Twenty minutes later, a prostitute named Sonny knocks on his door. She seems naive and nervous, almost as nervous as Holden. This isn't the first time we have seen Holden so nervous when talking to or about a girl. For example, Holden got nervous thinking or talking about his neighbor, Jane. Sonny took off her green dress and asked Holden to hang it up. Holden said it made him feel sad. He didn't want anything from Sonny, he just wanted to talk to her during that time she was in his room. If Holden said he was a virgin, I think he only said yes to having the prostitute in his room so he could have someone to talk to so he wouldn't feel so lonely. Why did the hanging green dress make Holden feel sad? What is the dress a metaphor of or what does it symbolize in Holden's life?
I think the green dress reminds Holden of innocence and purity. Holden tells us he is a virgin and we know he has trouble with letting go of his childhood. Seeing the prostitutes green dress i think made Holden realize she was once pure and innocent too. Holden talks about previous girls and how he's gotten close to losing his virginity but it hasn't happened which makes me think he is reluctant. The girl he obviously cares the most about is Jane. Judging by his reaction to Stradlater coming home from their date, Holden is very bothered by the thought of Jane being with Stradlater. Holden holds onto his innocence and purity because they bring him closer to his childhood and Allie. In the end almost everything in Holden's life has to do with holding onto innocence and memories of his little brother.
ReplyDeleteHolden references that Sunny takes off her green dress "all of a sudden." This could be a major factor to why Holden states that he didn't feel sexy. I think that Sunny taking her green dress off so suddenly possibly reminded of how fast his brother died. Not how fast he died physically, but just the emotional toll of not having his brother in his life anymore. Now what made Holden possibly think about his brother after a woman fleetingly took off her dress, I don't have the answer to, because I don't know what J.D. Salinger was thinking(if he was thinking about that at all.) As a metaphor, the dress resembles things being taken so quickly. Its almost like a yo-yo or a mouse trap, once Holden is about to open up with somebody, BOOM, the trap is shut and the string is pulled, cutting off his connection with that person. This metaphor is directly tied to the instant death of his little brother, Allie.
ReplyDeleteI think it really hits home with Holden when Sonny takes off her green dress and asks him to hang it up for her. I think it is such a big moment for him because I believe that the green dress resembles purity. I think that hanging up her dress in a closet is a very powerful image. I feel that Holden putting the dress in the closet is like him saying goodbye to his purity and that it resembles him growing up and distancing himself from the cleanliness of childhood that he adores so much. Holden is always ranting about how much he hates the "phoniness" of the adult world. I think that once Holden meets with Sonny and realizes that he can’t even have a nice conversation with her makes him think twice I think he decides not to have sex with Sonny because he recognizes that he definitely does not love, or hardly even know Sonny, so wouldn’t having sex with her be phony? I think that Holden’s adamant desire to not grow up and become phony keeps him from having sex with the prostitute.
ReplyDeleteI think the hanging of the green dress is something that Holden takes very seriously. I remember him saying that he put it in gently because he didn't want to ruin or wrinkle her dress. I think this is metaphorical of Holden's idea of purity. It made him sad when the lady took off her dress, because she was basically taking off her purity and exposing her body to a stranger. Holden wants everyone to be like Allie and be pure and good. He was sad about hanging up her because it was him basically putting away Sonny's purity. He didn't want to mess it up so he hung it up gently, because he doesn't want to mess up any ounce of innocence that she has. The dress also symbolizes his thoughts of Allie, and how he is being forced to push away (hang up) his feelings about Allie's death. He is just hanging them up and closing the door on them, and he cannot share them with anyone else. No one is willing to talk to Holden about it so he just puts it away just like he puts away her dress.
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