Weblog 15

How might Holden describe an intelligent conversation? What might Holden exclude when defining intelligence?   
Holden finds value in sincerity. The reason he calls other people phonies because he thinks that they are typical people who aren’t genuine. In chapter 19 Holden thinks back to when he was young. He says “He’s the best drummer I ever saw. He only gets a chance to bang them a couple of times during a whole piece, but he never looks bored when he isn’t doing. Then when he does bang them, he does it so nice and sweet, with this nervous expression on his face.”
This shows us how Holden finds interest in people who have a passion for what they do. Even though it may be a small job, he wants to see people make small positive impacts. In order to be passionate and sincere, it is important for one to know oneself very well. They should be able to interpret their feelings and connect with others. Holden will find a conversation intelligent when he is talking to someone passionate about something they love. He finds intelligence in knowing oneself before anything. We can see that Holden has a different interpretation of intelligence when he says “He had the largest vocabulary of any boy at Whooton when I was there. They gave us a test.” He talks about how the world around him had set the standards of intelligence through a test, which he mocks in a sarcastic tone. Holden just sees the test as a limit society sets. Holden sees intelligence in something else. He would describe an intelligent conversation as a talk of sincerity. Holden will exclude society’s standards of intelligence when he defines it. He calls most people phony’s so it is obvious that he will ignore their understanding of intelligence.  

Catcher in the Rye Book Cover

Book Cover Weblog

The most significant parts of this book are the ducks that are flying away. Holden talks about the ducks in the central park pond quote often. When he asks the taxi driver about where the ducks go during the winter time, Holden is indirectly asking for direction in his future. The question can be translated to “What should I do when I have nothing left?”. Holden is a confused teenager who is unsure about his future. I think the ducks in the pond also indicates a similar situation that Holden is in. During the winter, the pond starts freezing from the edges, and starts narrowing down the pond’s area as the weather gets colder. In the end, the ducks will have a smaller place to stay, causing them to leave and look for another place when the whole pond freezes. While the ducks represent Holden, the freezing ice represents the pressures around Holden. There are certain pressures in Holden’s life that he wants to escape from in order to move on to his future but he cannot find the answers to do so, which is why he asks the taxi driver his question.

Another important part of the cover is Holden’s red hunting hat. I think this hat is linked into Holden’s personality. It represents his individuality because of its bright colour. However, the way Holden doesn’t wear it around others tells the reader about his confidence. I think he doesn’t want to be judged for who he is, which is why he doesn’t want to show his hat that defines him. When Holden puts on his hat, it’s when he decides that the pressure and judging around him isn’t there. Although Holden might be confused about his future, his hat somehow relieves him of the pressures around him .

Why do you think Holden cries before he leaves to Pency?

I think there are various reasons to Holden crying before he leaves Pency. An obvious reason would be because of regret. Pency is not the first school that he left and I think he’s sad because he failed to get through another school year. He also probably has some emotional attachments to his school since he had friends there such as Ackley, although Holden seemed to be a lonely figure, he often showed a connection to Ackley and sometimes Stradlater. This leads to another reason to Holden crying. I think he felt that people didn’t understand him and felt like nobody was there to accompany him in the world. When he went to see his history teacher, Holden didn’t feel like he was receiving support from any of his teacher’s words. Right before he decided to leave Pency, he had a big fight with Stradlater about a stubject that Holden was extremely sensitive about. Lastly, he visit’s Ackley’s room Holden feels that he does not receive emotional comfort from someone he relies on, which heightens his sense of loneliness. His crying also shows his confusion about his future. I think Holden has an identity crisis so he doesn’t know who he really is, and doesn’t know what his next steps will be. His questions about the ducks prove this, because the question indirectly means, “What should your next step in life be if you really have nothing left?” They crying might indicate the emotional strain that he is going through. Holden’s troubled emotional state is subtly mentioned through his actions such as the times why he becomes violent for no reasons and sometimes feeling lonely for the smallest reasons. Maybe the crying was a temporary emotional breakdown.