Catcher In The Rye Quotes Analysis

Holden resents Stradlater because of his good looks, his ability to attract girls, and his technique with them, but Stradlater is a decent person at heart. Holden is jealous of Stradlater, the “sexy beast” and wants everything he has, including his cockiness (Salinger 37). Holden often talks about Stradlater’s “mad about himself” confidence and how he “spent half of his goddam life in front of the mirror” (38). Holden states that he always looks good after getting ready. Holden soon tries to make himself feel better and reassuring himself that even though Stradlater is perfect in his eyes, he was more of a “secret slob” (31). Holden explains that most of the boys at Pencey only talked about having sexual relations with women; while Stradlater

On page 61, in chapter 8, Holden just got in the taxi and heading to his hotel. He says in a desperate way, “would you care for a cocktail.” The diction choices can infer that his maturity level is higher than the people in his age group. The author has purposely crafted the narrator in this way to show that he had no other option but to grow up fast. He continues to develop as a character, on page 68, in chapter 9, Holden thinks to himself, “I didn’t care much i was too depressed to care whether I had a good view or not.” The reader can infer that the main character is starting to reveal his true self. The author craft in this way to make the reader have sympathy for the narrator. On page 68, in chapter 10, Holden thinks to himself, “ I danced with them all - the whole three of them-one at a time.”The diction choices can infer that the narrator treats the three women like trash by fooling around with them and have no respect for them. The author has purposely crafted in this way to show that he is isolated from the world because he has not been interacting with others in such a long time. On page 87, in chapter 11, the narrator flashback to his childhood, “anyway, I was telling you about that afternoon Jane and I came close to necking.”The diction choices can infer that he starts to reveal the other side of himself, the real him is someone who actually cares about people who he loves.

… Old Stradlater started taking off his coat and tie and all. ‘I think maybe I’ll take a fast shave,’ he said” (26). Given this description, Holden sees Stradlater as incredibly masculine and adult. Stradlater wears a suit and tie, clothing which is typically

For example, Holden describes Stradlater “the handsomest guy” (Salinger 31). Holden also wants to be more like Stradlater because he “[is] the center on the team” (Salinger 48). Holden describes Stradlater as a jock and being strong when he says “I don't want you stretching it with your…8shoulders” It seems that Holden wants to be more similar to Stradlater because he wants to be popular like him. Holden also feels alienated from most people and wants to be associated with the popular

In “The Catcher In The Rye” by J.D Salinger why would i think it’s still relevant to teenager today? By the meaning of this quote “Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.” i would think it relevant to today i cause most teens would think people wants flower on their grave but it just out of respect . Some reason why i think it's relevant to teen today cause teens lack of communication skills, poor grades in school, and from being a kid to an adult.

Lugging that big fat suitcase down the sidewalk, I pushed the red hunting hat out of my face, so it was not blocking my view. Seeing Holden come down the stairs of that ol’ museum, a smile reaches my face. I quickly stopped myself and put on a straight face, because I wanted to seem more like a grownup instead of a kid with a stupid grin for absolutely no reason. Setting down the suitcase and breathing heavily I say, “Hi” (226). “I thought maybe you weren’t coming” (226).

He’s said himself that he’s a terrible liar. Also, from what the reader has seen from Holden, it isn’t out of the ordinary for him to spin elaborate lies out of thin air for no reason. Juxtaposition-- When he gets worked up over Stradlater’s date, Holden picks a fight with him. Stradlater is the opposite of Holden in the sense that Holden is incredibly weak and Stradlater is very

TThe world is new when I left the dark breathing room, thumb got Holden firmly it get more tightly when I developed stage by organize now it ended up most impenetrable. Holding developed antagonistically. I grown up alone as well as we both developed. We voyaged different levels in life which might be simple , ludicrous causes us to get ideal state of life. I learnt more from you I just glimpses everything with whimpering eyes.

Holden’s date with Sally Hayes exhibited his difficulty at cooperating with others. At first he gives us a dire impression of Sally, “I wasn’t too crazy about her, but I’d known her for years.” (p. 105) Later, he wants to marry Sally and says he is in love with her. The biggest mystery of all when it comes to women is with Jane Gallagher. Constantly mentioning Jane, Holden recalls playing checkers with her before he got sent to boarding school. When his roommate, Stradlater, has a date with Jane, Holden asks him a peculiar question, “Did you ask her if she still keeps all her kings in the back row?” (p. 42) Holden, jealous of Stradlater’s date with Jane, longs to see Jane but never has the courage to call her. Interactions with other people especially women perplex and overwhelm Holden. He therefore resorts to isolation, illustrating a characteristic of his mental state.

Holden Caulfield, both the novel’s protagonist and narrator, starts off with a pessimistic view about the world, right from the beginning of the book. Having nothing to do at a particular moment at school, Holden follows a classmate he isn’t particularly fond of, Stradlater, down to the bathroom, to talk to him as he gets ready for a date with Holden’s childhood friend, Jane Gallagher. Watching Stradlater shave, Holden suggests that “[He] was more a secret slob. He always looked alright, Stradlater, but for instance, you

• “Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” (ch.2 p.5)

The quote, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” This quote relates to Holden’s seeing himself of becoming the catcher in the rye. Told to him by Mr. Antolini, the quote represents Holden being immature, and that he should not dwell on one cause and live his life. Mr. Antolini believes Holden is still immature and needs to realize his reality.

But when the prostitute arrives, she is around Holden’s age, is nervous, and just wants to get it over with. This makes Holden even more uneasy, because he realizes that she might have been like any other girl his age, but she has been corrupted. This is one reason that he is unable to go through with it, the other being that Holden does not feel like he can connect with her. Another time this confusion and uncertainty is shown is when Holden is thinking about Stradlater and Jane. He is worried that Stradlater will corrupt Jane, a girl whom Holden still cares for, by seducing her to have sex with him. Stradlater is “unscrupulous” (40), and most of the time he does succeed in having sex with the girl; once, he got close to doing it with Holden and Holden’s date in the car with them. Stradlater is corrupt in this way, because he is promiscuous and corrupts the girls he dates. But even Stradlater is not as corrupt as Luce, the Student Advisor he had while he was at Whooton. While Holden is waiting for Luce to arrive at the Wicker Bar, he thinks about the time when he went to Whooton, another private school, and Luce was his Student Advisor. Instead of advising the students, Luce would “give these sex talks…late at night, when there [were] a bunch of guys in his room” (143). These “guys” were young boys, and the fact that Luce is

I believe in a way Stradlater is using Holden but Holden doesn’t notice that. “You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he’s a real hot- shot, and they’re always asking you to do them a big favor. Just because they’re crazy about themself, they think you’re crazy about them, too and that you’re just dying to do them a favor” (36). This quote can depict that sometimes nice people can be taken advantage of. For example Holden actually wrote the composition for him and instead of saying thank you he yelled at him because he didn’t write about a descriptive place.

In addition, this says a lot about Stradlater and the people in their town. Clearly, people do not talk and if they do they do not listen. As Holden says he doesn't care about the girls names, their lives, and what they want. When Holden describes Stradlater by comparing him to a not so bad guy. On the other hand, when he describes Ackley he says all of the physical bad characteristics of him.