The Catcher in the Rye
Pages 141-166
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Carl Luce
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The immaturity of Holden
“Same old Caulfield. When are you
going to grow up?”(144)
“Your mind is immature.” (147)
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Carl seems to be insulting Holden, or at
least criticizing him.
Does Holden view this as an insult or a
criticism?
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Holden’s Volume
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“Not so loud, for God’s sake,
Caulfield. If you can’t manage to
keep your voice down, let’s drop the
whole” (147)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Holden’s Volume
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Holden does the same thing while
talking to Sally.
His voice gets louder and louder
Meaning?
Out of control?
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Psychoanalysis
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Luce believes a psychoanalyst would
be able to help Holden
“For one thing, he’d help you to
recognize the patterns of your mind.”
(148)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Pretends He Has Been Shot
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“I didn’t want anybody to know I was
even wounded. I was concealing the
fact that I was a wounded …” (150)
Deeper meaning?
What type of wound is Holden really
talking about?
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Odd behavior?
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Holden drenches his hair in ice cold
water and sits in the bathroom while
the water soaks his clothes.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Holden Cries
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“When I finally got down off the
radiator and went out to the hatcheck room, I was crying and all. I
don’t know why, but I was. I guess it
was because I was feeling so damn
depressed and lonesome.” (153)
What causes Holden to cry?
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
The Graveyard
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“All the visitors could get in their
cars and turn on their radios and all
and then go someplace nice for
dinner—everybody except Allie. I
couldn’t stand it. I know it’s only his
body and all that’s in the cemetery,
and his soul’s in Heaven and all that
crap, but I couldn’t stand it anyway.
I just wish he wasn’t there.” (155156)
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
The Sleeping Phoebe
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“It’s funny. You take adults, they look
lousy when they’re asleep and they have
their mouths way open, but kids don’t.
Kids look all right. They can even have
spit all over the pillow and they still look
all right.” (159)
Kids and adults are placed in the exact
same situation.
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Kids look good.
Adults look bad.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Phoebe and Curtis Weintraub
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Phoebe writes on Curtis’ windbreaker.
“That isn’t nice. What are you—a child,
for God’s sake?” (164)
Yes, Phoebe is a child.
Holden considers Phoebe’s rude action
to be a childish action.
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye
Phoebe and Curtis Weintraub
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Odd, considering Holden has always
viewed childish actions as positive.
Extremism
Are all adults (experience) bad?
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No
Are all kids (innocence) good?
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No
Geschke/English IV
The Catcher in the Rye