Marriage Poem

The feeling of your heart breaking
Slow but intense as if your body is trying to teach you a lesson
As if its saying, “Don’t let this happen again! Put up walls, piece this shattered heart back together”
Is it that easy? Can I just buy a bottle of Elmer's glue?
“Of course not”, society says
“This is a part of life, of everyones life”
What is, giving yourself to those who will take until there is nothing left to offer
Then leaving you for someone “bigger and better”?
Leaving you with nothing to your name
With nothing to offer the one who is truly meant for you?
And we wonder why there is divorce
The driving force of lust, dissatisfaction, anger and dishonesty get the better of us
Controlling us like we’re under a spell
But what if we lived in a patient world?
A world where everyone waited
Less tears, less hearts broken, less mistakes made
But without lies there would be no trust
And with no lust, no love
As if at an equilibrium, constantly balancing one another
Showing us that with good is evil and evil, good
This is all so prevalent in our world today
Just take a look and see for yourself

The Catcher in the Rye Blog Post 5

"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move...Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you. (Salinger 121)"

This passage says that the thing he liked most about the museum was the way nothing changed. He could go back a million times and nothing would have moved, all the displays would be the same. The only thing that would change was himself.

I think that when Holden remembers seeing those still displays that captured significant times in our history, he remembered significant times in his life. He wished he could freeze those moments and memories. I think he got that bitter-sweet feeling. He felt sad because he missed the times when life was easier and he never thought of what others thought of him. He was also happy because he loved those times and remembering those times gave him a warm feeling. I think Holden felt a sense of nostalgia. He was longing for the past when thinking of how great those times were.

This is another example of Holden wrestling with childhood vs. adulthood. We can plainly see that Holden wishes to grow up but some part of him misses his childhood. The innocence and freeness of it. "He was just singing for the hell of it, you could tell... It made me feel better. (Salinger 115)" This is when Holden watches the little boy sing on the streets and another quote that shows he misses the carelessness of being a child. They don't care what others think and are oblivious to this anyways. They do what they want not taking in consideration what others would do. I think in some way Holden is trying to mimic this in his own life. He wants to live his life the way he wants. He doesn't want to participate in the "game of life". He wants to pick his own destiny and live accordingly. I hope that Holden will be able to do this and be happy.

The Catcher in the Rye Blog Post 4

I think that this quote is very powerful. It's saying that it is better to follow ones own purpose and fail then to follow another's perfectly. It says that it is better to die as yourself because trying to be someone different is dangerous and even fatal. I too think you can find Holden in this quote. He comes from a wealthy, high status family, yet he isn't trying to do the things he's "supposed" too. Though he goes to the high status schools he isn't excelling or even trying to pass for that matter. I'm not commending this but I think that Holden is still on a path to find his purpose or duty in life. He is lost and trying to find his way. He is like the ducks. "do you happen to know where they go in the wintertime, by any chance? (Salinger 81)". This is Holden trying to figure out where the ducks go when times get rough for them. He wants to know where he should go and how he can return a new person. He isn't one to settle for what society thinks he should do. He isn't afraid to go out into the world and search for what he wants. Holden is a nonconformist and I like that about him.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (Matthew 6:25 ESV)"

I think that Holden has come to this realization, yet I don't think he sees this quote the same way as many others do. Holden isn't anxious about what he wears or what he looks like. In the process of trying to grow up he is becoming less aware of what others think and more aware of what he thinks and believes. He wants to find his true self not someone who was molded by society. He is trying to find what life is all about. He is trying to find his purpose and not worrying about what others think. In this way he is following this passage. When I look at this I read it as there is more to life then trying to follow what society has said is right. More then being skinny or beautiful. That you should follow the Lord and what he says is right. That you should live for him and not those around you. Holden and I do see this passage somewhat differently but similar as well. I hope Holden will see the more spiritual side of this quote, yet by the looks of it I don't think he will. "In the first place, I'm sort of an atheist. (Salinger 99)" I am excited to see how Holden continues to grow in the next chapters.

The Catcher In the Rye Post 3

Holden does "shoot the crap around" a lot. For me it is sometimes hard to tell if he is telling us the truth or lying to us. I think Holden is a compulsive liar. When he gets going he doesn't know how to stop, and this amuses him. I believe this shows the more immature side of him.
An example of him "shooting crap" is when he is talking to the mother of a student he knows at Pencey on the train. "But I'll bet, after all the crap I shot, Mrs. Morrow'll keep thinking of him as this very shy, modest guy that wouldn't let us nominate him for president. (Salinger 57)" I think that he thought it was really funny telling all of these lies to this women about her son. I think that when he says, "Last year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it-the same night. (Salinger 63)" he is trying to brag and play it like he is such a ladies man. He makes it seem that girls are all over him and that he is irresistible. I don't think that he even likes doing this stuff with girls he doesn't really like because of the way he talks about Jane. They never horsed around but did simple things like hold hands and he was content with that, he loved that. I think that he is lying about doing these things with these different girls.
I think that a lot of Holdens lies are him trying to seem older than he really is when it only makes him seem younger. Hopefully as Holden gets older he will stop "shooting crap" for no reason.

The Catcher in the Rye Post 2

When first reading about Allie's death I was shocked. I immediately felt sorry for Holden and could tell what a toll it took on him. He loved Allie and that was very apparent. Instead of hating Allie for being very smart and getting a lot of attention for being such a good kid he loved it. He admired his little brother and was so proud of him. "But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. (Salinger 38)" When Holden was talking about him I couldn't help but have knots and pangs in my stomach. I just felt so bad for Holden and what he had to go through.
After finding out about this death I viewed Holden differently. I started to understand why he acts the way he does and why he is going through such a hard time in his life. I know this is not the only reason for his behavior but it is definitely a contributing factor. I think that this could be a reason Holden doesn't put effort into building relationships with people. He could believe that getting close to someone will possibly end up in tragedy and his heart breaking for a second time.
I can relate to Holden through the experience I'm going through right now. When finding out NU might close my first reaction was to get angry just as Holdens was, "...I broke all the windows in he garage. (Salinger 39)" The the anger slowly turned into sadness. Then I had felt depressed all the time, with no motivation to do anything. As time goes on I am able to come to the realization that it might shut down and to accept that going to another school is a possibility. I haven't given up hope but have simply realized that both options are possible. Grief is something that you take with you but dissipates over time. I believe that someday Holden will be able look back and appreciate Allie without get angry or sad.

The Catcher in the Rye blog one

While I read the first chapters of The Catcher in the Rye I began to get to know Holden. Some of his qualities I like. I like how laid back he is and his sense of humor. I was surprised how respectful he was to his teacher even though he was very mad at him. Some things that I don't like is his language and his "I'm too cool for this" attitude. It frustrates me that he doesn't try in school even though he could do very well if he applied himself.

When it comes down to it I sympathize with Holden. I feel bad that his parents don't take the time to get to know him or spend time with him, that they just send him off to school and never see him. I know that deep down this hurts him. "..and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me..." He feels resentment against them and is bitter toward them. I feel bad that their relationship is like this. Every child needs parents who love and support them. I feel like Holden is trying to find himself. I feel like he doesn't know who he is as a person and feels lost and ignored. He doesn't have anyone around him to be there's for him or just be a true friend. "I sat there for about a half hour after he left. I mean I just sat in my chair, not doing anything." I feel like Holden is lonely and longs to have someone to confide in. I am excited to see how my feelings change toward him when I read more of the book.

Dreams

Arnold is definitely a dreamer, yet he doesn't believe in the power of dreams. At least not when your an Indian. He believes that when your an Indian you wont result into anything other than a poor drunk like his ancestors. He thinks that he needs a lot of people to support his dreams and pay attention to them for them to come true. He gains this perspective by looking at his parents example. Although they both had dreams of their own they never followed them, because no one paid attention to them. Arnold would Respond to the quote "dream big" by doing exactly that. I believe that he would dream big but he would never expect to be able to achieve it or even attempt in chasing it. As whites we are told over and over again that we can do what ever we want to do and become anything we want to become. We are told this by are parents and teachers and elders. Our attitudes towards chasing our dreams is very different compared to theirs. I think that our dreams do depend a lot on others. If everyone around you is telling you that you can't succeed then you will start to believe it, this is called self-fulfilling prophesy. This is one reason we give up on our dreams. It may be the most common.