In Catcher in the Rye, Holden says “It’s no fun to be yellow. Maybe I’m not all yellow. I don’t know. I think maybe I’m just partly yellow and partly the type that doesn’t give a damn if they lose their gloves.” When Holden states he’s yellow, he means he’s a coward. Holden thinks he is this tough kid but once he starts thinking about confronting the guy, who stole his gloves, he tells us he is a coward. He is using a type of juxtaposition by saying he is this tough kid and he can put up a fight but then he calls himself yellow and tells us he has lost every fight he has been in. Additionally, he shows his yellowness when the prostitute arrives because he is very nervous and can’t get himself to do anything with her. As the night goes on, Holden starts to feel sorry for her and starts to imagine the life of a prostitute.
Prostitution can be known as one of the oldest professions. Women who were widowed or not married could trade sex for other necessities. Prostitution have the same way of life as most people, but they just have a job not everyone approves of. They all have bosses, who can be called “pimps”. Pimps take care of the girls and set them up with guys to sell themselves to. They can be guys and girls. Usually, prostitution is a second job, for the prostitute to make more money. There are two types of prostitutes, high class escort and a regular prostitute. A high class escort is a more expensive prostitute that does everything a prostitute does but doesn’t wear all the makeup and looks more presentable to people when going to a nice party or such. She can have about two clients a day and doesn’t have to work everyday of the week. The clients choose where to meet, and some are in it just for sex. Most of the ones in it for sex go to a hotel room. Some high class escorts choose to talk for a little bit before they have sex, but some don’t. Regular prostitutes are very similar to high class escorts, but regular prostitutes’ prices are lower. They usually don’t care what they look like or what they wear.
Holden has a lot of respect for all women. He shows this by being afraid of taking anything too far. Also, Holden tells us he feels bad for the girls when they tell him to stop, and he actually stops because he does not know if they really want him to stop or not. Although he tells us that he doesn’t go far with a girl because she says stop, we can read it as Holden’s yellow feelings towards become an adult.
Why does Holden ask for a prostitute if he knows he respects women too much to do anything with them? Has Holden really gotten close to going far with a girl as he says he has? Explain how you know. Holden says he wonders if when prostitutes go to the store people know if they are prostitutes or not. Do you think you can point out a prostitute from a person who is not a prostitute? How?
I think Holden asks for a prostitute because he is feeling lonely and wants someone to talk to. The reason I think he does that is because towards the beginning of the chapter Holden keeps saying that he wanted to "give her a buzz" or "shoot the bull for a while" so that's probably why Holden asked for a prostitute. I don't think Holden would bother lying about how far he went with a girl, Holden tells us the farthest he'd gone with a girl was necking and Holden respects women too much to go further, at least at his age. I don't think he's fibbing mainly because he is thinking about the situation, verses actually say it out loud to someone, so if he was lying he would be lying to himself and I think he lies so much when talking to strangers that he won't lie to himself. Holden begins to think about identifying a prostitute from another woman. Frankly, I wouldn't know if a prostitute walked into the same store, possibly because I might be oblivious to stuff like that. However, spotting a prostitute amongst another women would be hard, unless perhaps they were dressed like one.
ReplyDeleteWhile Holden did not force the prostitute to perform her job, Holden did, at first, think about how great it sounded to have a prostitute. He seemed like he was looking forward to it for a little while before he realized he did not want to have sex. He realizes he would rather talk to someone than have sex. This is because he is in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar situation and is becoming very lonely.
ReplyDeleteI think Holden never actually made it as far with a girl as he said he had due to the fact that we all now, at this point, that Holden is infamous for stretching the truth.
Well, I think it is not accurate to say I could recognize a prostitute. The only thing that sticks out would be their clothing that tends to be very revealing, and an excessive use of makeup. Now it would seem inappropriate to se someone dressed like that and think, "Yep, that's a prostitute". Some women might enjoy dressing like that, so I don't think there is a full proof way to tell if someone is a prostitute in public.
Good job Catie! I think Holden didn't exactly think everything through yet when he told Maurice he wanted a prostitute for the night. But once she arrived, he became overwhelmed. I think Holden asked for the prostitute to seem cool and worth something.. but also to prove to himself that he can really do anything that he thinks he can. He may also want a prostitute because he doesn't really have anyone that is willing to talk to him. I don't think he really knows which girls are prostitutes in the stores and which ones aren't. I mean yes, prostitutes look very different now then they must have looked back in the 50's. I think it all depends on how you see a prostitute in real life and what you think of her. Good job writing this post though! Very thought-out!
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