catcher, post 3.

I keep having mixed feelings about Holden, because I feel that his personality is very controversial. I like who he is as a person, but I don't always agree with how he treats others. The love that he has for Phoebe is expressed as unconditional. This is shown when he searches everywhere and pays $5 for a record for her, just because it is very hard to find, and he knows she will love it. Earlier in the story, when he went on a date with Sally, they went ice skating and he suddenly came up with this plan for them to escape and live together in the mountains because it was beautiful there. But once she starts to be rational and think about what he just said, he starts "yelling" at her and they fight. She says that she does not want someone like him to take her home, and he just walks off. That careless behavior is how Holden is shown in most of the book. He also has the "Napoleon Complex," in the sense that when Maurice the elevator guy and Sunny come in to get the $5, he tries to shove them away and act like he is bigger than them. Holden always tries to get out of situations that he is uncomfortable in, or just bored of.

catcher, post 2

"The best thing, though, in that museum, was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers and their pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving that same blanket. Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you. Not that you'd be so much older or anything. You'd just be different, that's all. You'd have an overcoat on this time. Or the kid that was your partner in line the last time had got scarlet fever and you'd have a new partner. Or you'd have a substitute taking the class, instead of Miss Aigletinger. Or you'd heard your mother and father having a terrific fight in the bathroom. Or you'd just passed by one of those puddles in the street with gasoline rainbows in them. I mean you'd be different in some way-I can't explain what I mean. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd feel like it." pages 121-122.

When I read this passage I immediately put a stickey note in the page, because I knew it was something worth writing about when I wrote in my blog. This has been one of my favorite quotes while reading the book, because I think the way Holden talks is something many people can relate to. He is saying how he loves the museum because everything is always the same, even if you are not. The statues never move, and neither do the displays. Time never lapses, everything is frozen. However with people, even if you are just wearing different clothes or a different hairstyle the next time you are at the museum, something is different about you. When Holden mentioned the "gasoline puddles in the street," I think it shows how there is another side of him that pays attention to the close details and cares about the small aspects in life. In most of the story, he is either complaining, calling himself depressed, or smoking a cigarette. But, in these moments, you can truly see the real Holden.

the catcher in the rye - post 1.

Originally when i started reading, I thought that Holden was going to be one of those characters that just slacked during school, didn't complete his assignments, and had poor behavior, resulting in him being kicked out of school. However, when he starts writing Stradlater's assignment, we learn more information about Holden and his past. I thought it was really cool how his brother had poems written in green ink covering his left-handed fielder's mitt. Just that bit of information shows you that his brother was probably a deep person, with many feelings. Holden also says how he slept in the garage and punched all the windows the night his brother died, and that when it rains he can still feel the pain in his fist. I think that was kind of symbolic because it shows that every time he attempts to make a fist and cannot continue because of the pain, he is reminded of his brother. 

One that that surprises me is how Holden's maturity level seems to change drastically all the time. He will act like an adult and then a few minutes later, he will be wrestling on the ground or urging other people to stay up late with him. I am left to wonder if as the story progresses, if he will grow out of his immature side and become an actual adult, or if that childish part of him will continue to stick to his personality.