The Catcher in the Rye Pages 26 46

The Catcher in the Rye Pages 26 -46 Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Stradlater • • In chapter 3, Holden seems to like Stradlater Holden’s Descriptions of Stradlater in Chapters 4, 5 & 6 “Stradlater was more of a secret slob. ” (27) “The reason he fixed himself up to look good was because he was madly in love with himself. He thought he was the handsomest guy in the Western Hemisphere. ” (7) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Stradlater • • “He spent around half his …life in front of the mirror. ” (33) “I kept thinking about Jane, and Stradlater having a date with her and all. It made me so nervous I nearly went crazy. I already told you what a sexy bastard Stradlater was. ” (34) “God, how I hated him. ” (42) “I didn’t even answer him. God, how I hated him. ” (42) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Ackley • • Ackley’s “Canadian” Girlfriend “That guy had just about everything. Sinus trouble, pimples, lousy teeth, halitosis, crumby fingernails. You had to feel a little sorry for the crazy…” (39) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Jane Gallagher • • Stradlater’s date for the evening Holden knows Jane – “She practically lived right next door to me, the summer before last. ” (31) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Jane Gallagher • “I used to play checkers with her all the time…She wouldn’t move any of her kings. What she’d do, when she’d get a king, she wouldn’t move it. She’d just leave it in the back row. She’d get them all lined up in the back row. Then she’d never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were all in the back row. ” (31 -32) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Jane Gallagher • • • Why wouldn’t Jane move her kings? If she doesn’t move them, she will not lose them. If she doesn’t take the risk, she will not be hurt. Holden seems to admire this philosophy At the same time, if she doesn’t move her kings, she cannot win. Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Jane Gallagher • • Holden debates if he should say hello to her “I oughta go down and say hello to her or something. ” (31) “I oughta go down and at least say hello to her” (32) “I oughta go down and say hello to her, at least. ” (32) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Why Doesn’t Holden Say Hello? • • • “‘I’m not in the mood right now, ’ I said. I wasn’t, either. You have to be in the mood for those things. ”(33) Does not want to take the risk She might not remember him? She might not have the same feelings for him? She might have changed from how he remembers her? Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Snow • • “There were about three inches of snow on the ground, and it was still coming down like a madman. It looked pretty as hell, and we all started throwing snowballs and horsing around all over the place. It was very childish, but everybody was really enjoying themselves. ” (35) The enjoyment comes from acting like a kid. Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Snow • “…I went over to my window and opened it and packed a snowball with my bare hands. The snow was very good for packing. I didn’t throw it at anything, though. I started to throw it. At a car that was parked across the street. But I changed my mind. The car looked so nice and white. Then I started to throw it at a hydrant, but that looked too nice and white, too. Finally I didn’t throw it at anything. All I did was close the window and walk around the room with the snowball, packing it harder. ” (36) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Snow • • • Why doesn’t Holden throw the snowball? Does not want to destroy the innocence and purity of the setting. Once it is touched, the innocence cannot be returned. Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Allie • • Pages 38 -39 Holden obviously loves and misses Allie No sarcasm at all when discussing Allie Everything is sincere Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Allie’s Characteristics • • Red Hair Intelligent Funny Kind • • • Wrote poems in green ink on his baseball glove Died of leukemia Two years younger than Holden Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reaction to Allie’s Death • • • Broke all of the windows in the garage Tried to break the windows in the station wagon Could not do it because his hand was broken Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reaction to Allie’s Death • • • Holden is still affected by the broken hand “I can’t make a real fist any more—not a tight one, I mean—but outside of that I don’t care much. I mean I’m not going to be a …surgeon or a violinist or anything anyway. ” (39) Sense of hopelessness Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reaction to the Date • • “I was getting sort of nervous, all of a sudden. I’m quite a nervous guy. ” (34) “I kept thinking about Jane, and about Stradlater having a date with her and all. It made me so nervous I nearly went crazy. ” (34) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reaction to the Date • “I was so damn worried, that’s why. When I really worry about something, I don’t just fool around. I even have to go to the bathroom when I worry about something. Only, I don’t go. I’m too worried to go. If you knew Stradlater, you’d have been worried, too. I’d double-dated with that bastard a couple of times, and I know what I’m talking about. He was unscrupulous. He really was. ” (40) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reaction to the Date • • “I could hardly keep my voice from shaking all over the place. Boy, was I getting nervous. I just had a feeling something had gone funny. ” (42) “My voice was shaking something awful. ” (43) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reaction to the Date • • Why is Holden so nervous? Why is Holden so protective of Jane? What is Holden protective of? Jane’s sexuality? Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Fight • Fight’s Stradlater when he returns from his date with Jane “…I tried to sock him, with all my might, right smack in the toothbrush, so it would split his…throat open. ” (43) • – • Extreme behavior “I’d’ve killed him. ” (43) – Extreme comment Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Fight • • “I was almost bawling. I really was. ” (44) “I told him he thought he could give the time to anybody he felt like. I told him he didn’t even care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row or not and the reason he didn’t care was because he was a …stupid moron. He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron. ” (44) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Fight • “He probably was scared he’d fractured my skull or something when I hit the floor. It’s too bad I didn’t. ” (45) – Why would Holden say this? Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Immaturity • • “Get your dirty stinking moron knees off my chest. ” (44) “I told him to go wash his own moron face— which was a pretty childish thing to say, but I was mad as hell. I told him to stop off on the way to the can and give Mrs. Schmidt the time. Mrs. Schmidt was the janitor’s wife. She was around sixty-five. ” (45) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Immaturity • “Then I got up. I couldn’t find my …hunting hat anywhere. Finally I found it. It was under the bed. I put it on, and turned the old peak around to the back, the way I liked it” (45) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Immaturity • • Why does Holden immediately go for his hunting hat? Symbolic Value of the Hat? Security Blanket Like a child Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reality • • Skewed concept of reality “There were about ten washbowls, all right against the wall. Stradlater had the middle one. ” (26) Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Where is Stradlater shaving? Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46

Holden’s Reality • There is no middle in ten, yet Holden sees one. Geschke/English IV The Catcher in the Rye 26 -46