Ch.21 Phoebe Caulfield

In this chapter, Holden decides to sneak into his apartment to see Phoebe, his little sister. He sneaks in, and once he gets to D.B's room, he wakes her up so they could talk. As we all know, Holden has been thinking about talking to Phoebe for a very long time now. This proves that he actually missed her, even more than he misses his own parents. Before he wakes her up, we learn a lot more about Phoebe. We learn that she sleeps in D.B's room because she likes the space, we learn that she's a very organized person, she's really smart, she's in a school play called The Christmas Pageant, and we also learn that she constantly changes her middle names when she writes them down. When Holden wakes her up, she's very happy to see him, and she immediately tells him about many things that happened while he was gone. But later, she figures out that Holden was kicked out of school, even though he never really said it. How do you think she knew this? And why do you think she got so upset when she learned this, saying "Daddy's gonna kill you."(pg. 165) over and over again? Try to think from Phoebe's point of view. Do you think she feels sorry for Holden? How would you describe her relationship with her siblings, especially Holden?

Ch. 21 Blog Post

Ch. 21 is the first time we get to meet Holden’s sister Phoebe, and we also learn some more about his family. Holden describes his mother as a very nervous person who stays up all night smoking cigarettes. She has the ears “like a goddamn bloodhound. His mother also won’t let them play the radio while the car is in traffic, suggesting she might have a problem with small, still spaces. His brother D.B is writing another movie set in Annapolis, Maryland.  Phoebe is energetic and affectionate, but she also displays some Holden like qualities. For instance, while watching a movie with her friend, she says the mother would “lean all over me and everything and ask Alice if she felt grippy. It got on my nerves. “ She also gets angry at Holden very quickly and starts shouting when she comes to the conclusion that he got kicked out of school. Holden calls her “a true madman.”  This shouting frustrates him and eventually he gets up to leave, but before he goes, Holden grabs another pack of cigarettes. “I was all out, “ he says.  Is J.D Salinger only talking about the cigarettes here, or something more about Holden emotional vertigo? Do you think the cigarettes symbolize anything in this chapter? As for Holden’s family, how are they similar and different to him, and how do you think this has contributed to his current emotional state? 

CH. 14- Why Should I even be alive?

            Chapter 14 starts and Holden is still very confused about mindboggling questions that he cannot comprehend by him self. Even after he tried to vent to a prostitute who was “a lousy conversationalist” (p.96) according to Holden in chapter 13. But back to chapter 14, there was one paragraph that stuck out the most to me. That paragraph would be the very last one in chapter 14.

            In this paragraph Holden contemplates suicide in kind of a sarcastic tone. He starts of talking about how he wants to jump out the window but the way I inferred him as saying it was in a nonchalant voice. He follows that up by saying he probably would of done it, but he would have had to be sure that someone would cover up his body when he landed. And to me that is just bizarre of anyone to say because normally from what I have heard is people commit suicide and leave things behind like notes so that people will remember them. And Holden just wants to disappear after he commits suicide and have no trace of left of his existence. Lastly he says “I didn’t want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory.”(104) And I feel as though if you were even contemplating suicide in the first place, you would not even be thinking about little things like that, and you would be thinking about why your even about to do such a horrific and selfish thing to yourself and others. What would you think about suicide, if you were Holden?

Ch. 21 Returning Home

Chapter 21 begins with Holden Caulfield returning home to the sight of no parents and his sister Phoebe sound asleep. He begins to go through  her belongings such as school work. Holden enjoys seeing her work. After his curiosity dies down, Holden wakes Phoebe. She awakes in great joy to the sight of Holden's face. Home two days early, Phoebe becomes suspicious. "You didn't get kicked out or anything, did you?" Holden responds saying they let us out early but she doesn't not believe him. "Daddy'll kill you" she says. If his little sister is acting in this way, how do u feel his father will respond when he finds out Holden was kicked out of school? Holden talks of going to Colorado to work on a ranch as a job, but promises to keep in touch with her. Why do ya'll think Holden decided to come home early?

Chapter 18- War

Holden starts off in chapter 18 calling up an old 'friend' and then he goes to the movies. He sees movie about a British man who comes home from war and lost his memory. The point is it is a sappy movie in Holden's opinion and he thinks it is very phony. But after the movie Holden starts thinking about war. We learn that his older brother D.B. went to war. We also learn that Holden does not like the fact that if you are drafted for the Army you have to be in it for a long period of time. Holden also mentions he hates the thought of being in the Army with phony guys and being forced to stare at the back of their necks when they are in line. This is another of Holden's weird ticks, it is a bit strange that having to stare at someones neck would bother Holden. his older brother D.B. told him he hated the war, but it obviously made a big impact on his life. Holden also says he likes the book called, The Great Gatsby. This is surprising because The Great Gatsby is known for having phony characters. What do you think Holden's views are on the war? Why do you think staring at the back of peoples necks bothers Holden? Why do you think he likes The Great Gatsby but not the war movie?

Ch.20 The drunk jouney

In chapter 20 Holden is at Santon hotel bar and has finished meeting and talking with Luce. Holden is very drunk in the beginning of the chapter and simply has no idea what to do. Suddenly he gets the idea to call up sally. He then proceeds to have one of the worst conversations in the book making a total fool of himself. Holden just keeps yelling at Sally that he wants to go over and help her trim her Christmas tree Christmas eve. Sally knows Holden is drunk and tells him to go home and go to bed. Finlay she ends up hanging up on Holden. Holden goes to the bathroom to wash up when he talks to the piano player who also tells Holden to go home and get some rest. Holden gets his coat and hat and decides to head to the park to see the if the ducks are there. On the way he breaks the record he bought for phoebe. Holden gets to the park and looks around for the ducks at the pond. Soon however, he gets extremely cold and starts to think what would happen if he got pneumonia and died. Then he talks about all his relatives having to go to his funeral and how much he would hate it if they came. The one sentence that seems odd to me was "I felt sorry as hell for my mother and father". This setence stood out to me because it is one of the only times he has said a nice thing about his parents. The Holden goes on to tell us about how he hates cemeteries and about allies grave. Holden tells us how his parents put flowers on Allie's grave and that he hates when it rains when they visit Allie's grave. Holden says "It was awful. It rained on his lousy tombstone, and it rained on the grass on his stomach. It rained all over the place". Finnaly Holden gets the idea to go and see Phoebe and leaves the park going to his house.

Why do you think Holden would call up sally that night for such a wierd reason? Why wouldn't he call Jane? Why do you think Holden would fell sorry for his parents if he died? Also what do think is so bad about the rain on Allie's grave

Ch. 17: Phony Actors and their Masks

In Chapter 17, Holden takes Sally on a date to a theater show. The particular show they saw feature the Lunts, a famous acting couple. After the first act, Holden describes to us his weird obsession with the phony-ness of actors. He even has trouble explaining it. This isn't the first time that holden has talked about his dislike of actors, and definitely not the first time he has talked about his hatred of phonies. In chapter 16 when Holden is buying the tickets for the show, he tells us about how he not only dislikes movie actors, but stage actors as well. Here's what he tells us:

• They never act like people
• Some good actors do slightly act like people, but not in a way that's fun to watch
• Actors that are really good, know they're good, which spoils it

In the show he takes Sally to, Holden has problems getting interested with the characters. But he tells us that the Lunts are different from other actors because they didn't act like people or actors. He then goes on to contradict himself about how they were too good at accurately portraying people talking and interrupting each other which, in turn, made them not that good because they would start showing off. I'm just sitting here reading this trying to understand what it really is that Holden is trying to say. There is a reason that J.D. Salinger includes this mild rant about the Lunts. Holden says that they're so good that they know they're celebrities and they start showing off.  Holden just flat out can't accept anyone being something that isn't themselves. Even if actors portray people, they are still acting. Something that holden can't get over. It's almost as if the Lunts put on a mask when they go on stage, and Holden fails to connect with them as they're characters because he knows what's behind the mask, people who he thinks are full of themselves, phonies. The picture to the left shows drama masks, commonly used symbols for theater. While the origin of these masks is completely unrelated, I can't help but look at them and think of Holden. While he's in New York he seems to wear the happy mask around other people and strangers. Whether it's trying to have fun and dance with girls and have drinks or trying to have a good time with people like Sally, he acts like nothing is bothering him. But because we're in Holden's mind the whole novel, we know which mask is really how he is feeling. He actually takes off his happy mask and expresses his real thoughts at the end of the chapter (which I won't get into because Caleb's got it covered). 

Why do you think Holden doesn't like actors? Do you agree or disagree with me? 

How do you think the masks pictured above relate to Holden? Why does Holden choose to wear the happy mask around New York? Which mask really relates to how he is feeling?