1. Holden learned at a young age that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Well not exactly. Holden seems to have a lot of teenage problems with members of the opposite sex. When he is in a romantic relationship, she doesn’t know how to interpret the women she dates. On page 92, he says, “The thing is, most of the time, when you’re about to make out with a girl…she keeps telling you to stop. The problem with me is that I stop. guys don’t. I can’t help it. You never know if they really want you to stop, or if they’re just scared, or if they’re just telling you to stop so if you do, you’ll move on, it’ll be your fault, no them. I keep stopping anyway.”
In Chapter Ten, Holden talks about a girl he likes, saying, “I was half in love with her when we sat down. That’s the thing about girls. Any time they do something nice, even if they’re not much to look at, or even if they’re a little stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the beep that you are. Girls… they can drive you crazy. They really can.” Of course they can. Isn’t that part of being in love? Holden doesn’t want to accept that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
2. Holden wore a red hunting cap in New York City to be fashionable. Wearing a red hunting hat in a city is very different, but stylish? As if the cap wasn’t out of place enough, he wears it like a baseball catcher’s cap. Holden isn’t hunting deer or hoping to catch baseballs at Yankee Stadium. If he is looking for something, it is a more perfect world without fakers and materialistic people. That is to say, he is looking for a bridge that takes him from childhood where everything is more innocent and calm to adulthood where the only thing he can count on is change and a world full of phonies, which is his favorite word to describe many . stuff. He knows he has to walk that bridge, but he won’t do it until he’s ready, even if he has to suffer a mental breakdown first. So, his red hat is a symbol of his individuality that he never wants to take off or lose. As he wears his red hunting hat, he feels sheltered from bad weather and stormy adulthood.
3. Holden has goals. You want to do something with your life. he he wants to be a catcher in the rye. Near the end of the book, she confides in her sister Phoebe about her dream in life. When the children run near the edge of a field of rye, he will catch them. He will be a “rye field catcher”. I imagine the salary will be a little less than playing catcher for the New York Yankees. If you really want to know the truth, I guess I’m being a bit sarcastic here. It’s just that we’re nearing the end of Holden’s journey in Chapter 22, and we haven’t seen much progress. Lots of people have given Holden good advice on his journey, from little Phoebe to Mr. Antolini. And we all wonder if it will change. Are you going to apply at school? Is going to graduate? Will his sister and his parents be proud of him one day? How is his life going to turn out?
Holden’s final words are encouraging when you consider how conflicted Holden is about sharing his feelings. He says, “Never say anything to anyone. If you do, you start to miss everyone.” And feeling connected to people certainly beats the feeling that you’re disappearing while walking the streets of New York City, which Holden complained about earlier in the book.
And I have another reason to be hopeful. Sometimes people come into our lives unexpectedly and spread seeds of hope that then blossom in us when we least expect it. Mr. Antolini (on page 188) shares a famous quote with Holden to reflect on his journey: “The mark of an immature man is to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live.” with humiliation”. for one.” Someday those words will bear fruit for Holden.
If you really want to know the truth, I like happy endings. So finally, I know in my heart that Holden grows into a grown man and makes a difference in his life.
Aunt Dolores would have liked that ending too.
