Thursday, February 14, 2013
Holden and Ackley
In class early in the book we started talking about Holden's relationship with Ackley. Some think he's really mean to Ackley because he's always thinking about how annoying and disgusting Ackley is. Other people have commented on how Holden is good to Ackley because he keeps him around even though he doesn't like him. All of this behavior, to me, is utterly selfish on Holden's part. It appears to me that Holden is keeping Ackley around purely as a safety net. We know from various conversations Holden has had with other boys that Ackley isn't well liked in general. Indeed, Holden himself doesn't like Ackley. So, is there any logical reason to keep spending time with Ackley? Not that I can see. I feel like Holden keeps Ackley around just so he doesn't have to be alone, which is ridiculously selfish. He's leading the poor guy on, being nice to him only to insult him and be disgusted later on. It may just be me, but I would prefer to be alone rather than have a friend who is thoroughly and constantly annoyed by me.
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Well, Ackley and Holden are literally neighbors--their rooms share a bathroom, and you can cross easily from one to the other. So they are kind of forced into proximity. But Holden's feelings about Ackley end up being pretty complicated--Ackley annoys him, a lot (and Holden seems to annoy Ackley, too!), and he is put off by some of his personal-hygeine habits. But he also (characteristically) hates the idea of people *excluding* Ackley just for these reasons. Late in the novel, when Phoebe is grilling him about why he hated his school so much, remember he cites the "secret fraternity" that wouldn't let Ackley join. Holden describes himself as "too yellow not to join"--and he hates his own participation in this system. So his distaste for Ackley has to be understood in this context. He can't help but be put off by him, but he *doesn't* want to be the kind of guy who then is mean or exclusionary. He identifies with Ackley, in a strange kind of way.
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