Holden only talks positively about three people in the book (mainly): Jane Gallagher, Allie, and Phoebe. He does say nice thing about people, like the nuns, but the aforementioned three characters are the only ones he could never think bad of. Any negative qualities they might have are completely ignored by Holden and just become endearing to him. I would like to note that all of these people are from his past. Everything about his past is just peachy-keen to Holden. Allie was alive, Phoebe was killer company, and Jane still kept her kings in a row. Only the present and the future are unsavory to Holden. In the present he has to deal with so-called phonies, bars not selling him drinks, and being sent to school after depressing school. The future isn't much better to him, but really the only glimpse we get of it is his idealistic idea of the cabin in the woods or the horrible career options he feels he has. So, he isn't very accepting of his present circumstances and refuses to acknowledge what he's going to have to do in the future. When Phoebe asks Holden why he keeps flunking out of school, he doesn't have an answer--I do though, I think. Holden, like so many other teenagers, is afraid of the future. He doesn't want to become a phony or possess any of the qualities he detests. Holden's a smart kid though; he's great with composition, and his analyses of literature and performances (like his critique of Hamlet) are all evidence of his intelligence If he's so smart, why is he failing? It's obvious Holden isn't trying, to me. I think he isn't trying because he doesn't want to grow up; he doesn't want to reach the future. If he keeps moving from school to school, it's like he never actually has to graduate.
It's kind of obvious his logic is faulty--I mean, he's still aging. You can't be a 20-year old in highschool. That's wear the cabin fantasy comes in. Holden knows he's reaching a point where he can't stay in school avoiding the future, so he concocts this plan to run away. It's just another way to run away from the future.
I strongly agree that Holden's issues in school, and in his life in general, stem from a lack of motivation. Plus, most of the things that motivate other kids (grades, parental expectations, future plans, etc.) he just writes off as phoney. What I have been curious about throughout most of the book is where he got this attitude from. Obviously it is not from his family, as they are all pushing him to do better, and we never hear about a friend or classmate that inspired Holden into his critical outlook on life. We know what makes Holden depressed, but never really why. Perhaps if he was able to speak up on those reasons it would be much easier for him to get help. Then, he could still be an interesting dude with a unique perspective, but would be using that all for much more positive, productive means that he actually enjoys.
ReplyDeleteEven referring to "logic" to describe Holden's thinking here might overstate the degree to which any of this is a conscious plan on his part. I see it more as a reflexive reaction--he recoils from the "phony" behavior he sees around him, and this is connected to a creeping awareness that adulthood seems to encourage and reward such behavior, and that he wants no part of it. It's not as if he logically believes he will remain young forever if he doesn't "graduate" to the next level, but he can postpone the inevitable in this way. But Holden is already in mourning for his lost childhood--his innocence, as he sees it, is gone (and this is partly why he's so angry). He admires what he sees as innocence in children precisely because he *doesn't* have that innocence himself.
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