he is quick to judge Ackley

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H

OLDEN

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S

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AXONOMY

P

ROJECT

Y OUNG M EN

D

ANIEL

T

RAN

J

ASE

E

MERY

A

MANDA

S

COTT

S

KYLAR

G

ABRIELSON

J

USTINE

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IN

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ERIOD

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HESIS

Although Holden is judgmental towards everyone, he particularly exaggerates the frailties in his male peers, giving him reason to isolate himself.

E

VIDENCE

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NAYLSIS

: C

ARL

L

UCE

"Old Luce. What a guy. He was supposed to be my Student Advisor when I was at

Whooton. The only thing he ever did, though, was give these sex talks and all, late at night when there was a bunch of guys in his room."(143). Ch.19

- Holden described Carl Luce in an immature way, implying he only thinks of Luce as an expert about sex.

"'How's your sex life?' I asked. He hated you to ask him stuff like that."(144). Ch.19

- This shows that Holden holds himself, his desires and inquisitive nature, above anything else. He is someone who is immature and un-wanting of actual friendship.

"Listen. Let's get one thing straight. I refuse to answer any typical Caulfield questions tonight. When in hell are you going to grow up?"(146) Ch.19

- Holden fears the idea of aging and the common theme of maturity that arises throughout the book because he believes he does not blend in with the rest of society as easily as others of his age. Carl Luce's statement addresses how people actually view

Holden through of Holden's skewed sense of reality that he tells his story through.

E

VIDENCE

& A

NALYSIS

: S

TRADLATER

"Stradlater was more of a secret slob" (27). - Ch. 4

- Holden views many of his young male friends as slobs when he himself is a slob. He calls Stradlater a secret slob because the razor he uses is all rusty. This shows how Holden finds the slightest things wrong with people and exaggerates them.

"Hey you want to do me a big favor?" (27). - Ch. 4

- Holden sees himself in Stradlater. Stradlater wants to go out on a date when he has homework to do and in this sense it is much like when

Holden doesn't feel the need to pass his classes at Pencey.

"That didn't interest Stradlater though... Jane Gallagher. Jesus" (32). - Ch.4

- Holden keeps telling stradlater that he will go say hello to Jane but he never does. He later gets upset with Stradlater when he implies that Holden should actually go say hello instead of just saying he will. This shows Holden's quick temper and immaturity.

E

VIDENCE

& A

NALYSIS

: A

CKLEY

"I never saw him brushing his teeth. They always looked mossy and awful... besides that, he had a lot of pimples...and not only that he had a terrible personality"(19). Ch.2

- Ackley is the Pencey student who resides in the dorm next to Holden's. He describes

Ackley as dirty, someone who never brushes his teeth and has acne taking over his face.

"He damn near made you sick if you saw him... with his mouth full of mashed potatoes and peas or something" (19). Ch.2

- Similar to everyone else Holden encounters, he is quick to judge Ackley, saying that he is an annoying guy who he never really likes to be around.

"He came over and sad down on the arm of Stradlater's chair. He never sat down in a chair"(22).

- Though Holden makes Ackley seem quite repulsive, There were moments that

Holden would exaggerate and create an unnecessary problem.

E

VIDENCE

& A

NALYSIS

: J

AMES

C

ASTLE

- James Castle is the Elkton Hills student who Holden hardly knew.

- Contrary to every one else, Holden actually liked James Castle

- "The funny part is, I hardly even know James Castle, if you want to know the truth" (). Ch.

- " He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. " (). Ch.

E

VIDENCE

& A

NALYSIS

: R

ICHARD

K

INSELLA

"He was a very nervous guy... you could hardly hear him if you were sitting way in the back of the room" (248). - Ch.24

- Holden describes Richard as a nervous and quiet classmate in his Oral Expression class in Percy Prep.

"I liked his speeches better than anybody else's. He practically flunked the course though, too. He got a D plus because they kept yelling 'Digression!' at him all the time... Mr.

Vinson, gave him an F on it" (239). - Ch.24

- Holden generally likes and relates to Richard more than his other classmates. He judges his classmates for downgrading the quality of Richard's speech and portrays them and their instructor as cold hearted people who did not appreciate Richard's story. He isolates himself with Richard Kinsella.

"[Richard's speech] didn't have much to do with the farm - I admit it but it was nice . It's nice when somebody tells you about their uncle. Especially when they start out tell ing you about their father's farm and then all of a sudden get more interes ted in their uncle."

(249). - Ch.24

- Holden appreciates Richard for his excitement when he shared his uncle's story.

Because Richard expresses similarities to Holden in the way they process ideas, Holden generally comes to a liking to Richard, essentially isolating himself with Richard from everyone else in the class.

C

ONCLUSION

Though Holden is presumed as a judgmental young man, his life can be easily compared to society today. For example, like

Holden, people have bias in everything they do: work, school, holding reputation, etc. In reality, people are doing exactly what

Holden is; they take a frailty, whether it be conceit, apathy, or ignorance, and exaggerate it to justify their hatred or love of a certain person. Holden opens society's eyes and attempts to juxtapose people with himself, therefore causing him to find reason to feel a sense of alienation through their faults. waiting for amanda to get on to edit her slides*

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