Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Still Lonely After A Drink
Throughout the book there is a recurring thought of being depressed. Holden tries on several occasions to drink away his problems even though he knows that this is not going to help him at all. We see Holden in a vulnerable state when he gets “sloppy drunk.” Although we have heard Holden say multiples times how he feels depressed, when he says “ I was concealing the fact that I was a wounded sonuvabitch” (pg. 150) this really hits home because this not only refers to his little drunken wounded show, it also applies to his feeling in reality. Holden has been concealing the fact that he is wounded emotionally since the beginning of the book. Holden is also extremely lonely along with this depression. When Holden gets lonely and depressed he turns to girls. Holden finally leaves the bar in order to go phone Jane, but once he gets to the phone he doesn't want to call her anymore. Instead he decides to call Sally. Once the phone call with Sally did not work out he decides to try and get the bar tender to go on a date with him. When all else fails Holden decides to visit the recurring pond with the ducks. Holden says " I know Central Park like the back of my hand, because I used to roller-skate there all time and ride my bike when I was a kid." while at the park he is so cold that he thinks he might get pneumonia and he kind of thinks this is a good thing except the way his mom, dad and Phoebe would feel. Holden starts to imagine how his death would be from the funeral to his eternity in the ground. Holden would rather be dumped into a lake instead of buried why do you think that is? Holden is constantly trying to talk to someone why? Why is Holden constantly trying to go back to places he went as a child? How do you think everyone would react to Holden's death? Would anyone except family care?
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I agree that Holden is only drinking to try and stop thinking about his problems. Although he sees adults doing this it does not seem to work for him. The alcohol just has the opposite effect and makes him more and more depressed. I also agree the phrase, " I was concealing that I was a wounded sonuvabitch" is full of meaning. I think this is really one of the only times that he acknowledges his denial of his many problems. I think Holden is constantly trying to talk to someone because he has to get it out. Holden is going back to his childhood haunts to try and get back the innocence that he lost. The time when he felt that life was ok, no one was phony, and allie was still alive. For the most part, if Holden died, I think that mostly only his family would care. Most people would probably say, "poor guy" and then continue on. Sally would probably cry like a "phony" for about a month and then get a new boyfriend.
ReplyDeleteI think that Holden is constantly trying to talk to different people because he is desperately looking for a mentor-like figure to help him through this rough time. Every person he tries to talk to either cannot get through to him or doesn't know the right thing to say to him. Holden goes to places he used to go to when he was a child because he knows that they won't have changed. Since Holden is extremely resistant to change, he wants to go to places that he is familiar with. I think that Holden would be surprised at how many people would be affected by his death. I expect Phoebe and his mother to be struck with the most grief, but I also think that his friends and teachers at Pencey Prep, Spencer, Sally, Mr. and Mrs. Antolini, and Jane would be affected quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Taylor! I think Holden is constantly trying to talk to someone because sometimes I feel like he has no one to turn to. There is no one he can look up to and I think he is search of someone like that. I think a lot of people say that when they are a child, want to grow up to be an adult and earn all the freedom that they deserve.. but once they become an adult they wish to be a child again. I think a lot of people really do care about Holden but don't show it. And that is why he doesn't see it.
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