Journal #15 Chapter 26

Journal 15

Chapter 26

By: Kellen Long

            In the very last chapter Holden said that was all he was going to say about his teenage years, but he failed to mention things like, where he was attending school in September or what happen to all his acquaintances he met throughout the novel. However he did say that he missed all the people he mentioned in the book including Strandlater and Ackley.

            This book showed how different things were back in the day such as smoking with adults, and drinking in bars at such a young age. I was not pleased with the language used throughout the book, however this novel shows true growth in Holden, from a heartless teenager to crying with excitement over simple joys of a child.

             http://www.shmoop.com/catcher-in-the-rye/phoebe-carousel-gold-ring-symbol.html

Journal #14 Chapter 25

Journal 14

Chapter 25

By: Kellen Long

            After Holden left the Antolini’s he walked over to Lexington and took the subway down to Grand Central and slept for the night in the waiting room where all the benches were. As he lay on the bench he wondered what Mr. Antolini would say to Mrs. Antolini when she woke up and realized he did not spend the night. He also wondered if he was overreacting or was Mr. Antolini a creep this whole time and he was just too blind to see it.

            After much thought of the evening’s events Holden decided that he wanted to move out west and live in a cabin. As he was thinking this through Holden mentioned “Phoebe can come and visit me during the summer, Christmas, or even during Easter break and D.B. can come up whenever he needs inspiration to write.” (Ch.25, pg. 258) Holden thought it was fitting to first write a letter to Phoebe explaining to her his decision and for her to meet him after twelve at the museum to get her Christmas money back. Once Phoebe received the letter, she arrived at the museum and came up the stairs dragging a suitcase full of her belongings. Holden told her that she could not come with him because their mom needed her and she has to stay in school. Phoebe was not pleased with his decision and became a total sore toward Holden. Holden then asked her if she wanted to go ride on the carrousel because that was her favorite thing. As Phoebe got on the carrousel it started to play “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and go round and round. Holden felt so happy and content standing there watching her that he promised he wouldn’t move and that he was coming home for Christmas.

            I felt this was one of the very first moments in the novel that Holden actually showed some sort of emotion. It really showed he cared for his family despite all the rude comments he said previously. I am also glad that he chose to stay home for Christmas. I could not imagine how his mother would feel to lose another child.        

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3l001-zSA4

Journal #13 Chapters 23-24

Journal 13

Chapters 23-24

By: Kellen Long

            In chapter twenty-three Holden calls an old teacher of his, Mr. Antolini. He thought it would be nice to visit with him considering he had not spoken to him in years, plus he needed somewhere to stay for the night. Mr. Antolini was very nice on the phone and he said that Holden could come right over if he needed a place to stay. Holden described Mr. Antolini as “one of the best teachers he had ever had. He was a pretty young guy, who was not too much older than his brother D.B., and you could kid around with him without losing respect for him.”(Ch.23, pg.226)

            After talking to Mr. Antolini on the phone Holden slips back into D.B.’s room, where Phoebe turned on the radio and began dancing, when all of the sudden, their parents walk through the front door. Holden quickly jumped up and ran over and turned off the light, and then he jammed out his cigarette on his shoe as he was fanning out the air. As their mother walked in Phoebe’s room she yelled out, “Phoebe have you been smoking a cigarette in here?”(Ch.23, pg.230) Phoebe replied back with “I just lit one for one second. I just took one puff.”(Ch.23, pg.230) Her mother was angered by Phoebe’s actions, but she grabbed a blanket and tucked her in bed.

            After their mother went to bed Holden decided to head to Mr. Antolini’s for the night. As he was fumbling through the house he mentions, “It was a helluva lot easier getting out of the house than it was getting in, for some reason. For one thing, I didn’t give much of a damn any more if they caught me.” (Ch.23, pg.233)

            As Holden arrives at the Antolini house, Mr. Antolini greets him at the door wearing a bathrobe and slippers and says “Holden, m’boy. Sit down.”(Ch.24, pg.236) They soon get on the topic of school, which seemed to be a recurring topic with everyone he met. Holden then mentions “Oh, I passed English all right. It was mostly literature, though. I only wrote about two compositions the whole term. I flunked oral expression, though.”(Ch. 24, pg.237) Mr. Antolini then goes into a long speech about how important education is and he said “I’m not trying to tell you that only educated and scholarly men are able to contribute something valuable to the world it’s not so. But I do say that educated and scholarly men, if they’re brilliant and creative to begin with, go a lot further than men who are not educated.” (Ch.24, pg.246) As their conversation began to wind down Holden went to bed, when all the sudden he felt Mr. Antolini’s hand on his head. He was so freaked out that he threw on his clothes, forgetting his tie and made up any excuse he could to get away. Finally he gets out the door and runs as far as he can go.

Journal #12 Chapters 21-22

Journal 12

Chapters 21-22

By: Kellen Long

            Once Holden got to his house he had a hard time getting around considering it was very dark and he couldn’t turn on any lights. Holden said “I had to be careful not to bump into anything and make a racket; I didn’t want to wake my folks up.” (Ch. 21, pg. 205) Once he got to Phoebe’s room, he turned on the desk lamp on but she didn’t even wake so he stood there and admired her while she slept. He then went around her room and admired her belongings. She had the jacket to this tan suit their mother bought in Canada hung up on the back of the chair. Her shoes and socks were on the floor right underneath the chair right next to each other. Then Holden sat at her desk a lit a cigarette. The smoke must have woke her up, because she was wide awake a few minutes later. She then wraps her arms around Holden and yelled “Holden.”(Ch.21, pg.209) They then start talking about school and how Holden was failing all his classes. They were talking about jobs that Holden would be interested in once he graduated school. Phoebe mentioned being a lawyer since their dad was a lawyer and all, it would only be right for Holden to follow in his footsteps. Then Holden said, do you know what I would like to be? “You know that song ‘If a body catches a body comin’ through the rye?”(Ch.22, pg.224) I would like to be the one that catches everybody if they start to go over the cliff. Holden then said I know this sounds crazy but that is the only thing I would really like to do. As Holden walks out of the room finishing his conversation with Phoebe he walks into the living room and calls up his old teacher Mr. Antolini.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ARRgS1KkE0

Journal #11 Chapters 19-20

Journal 11

Chapters 19-20

By: Kellen Long

           
            After much thinking in Holden’s hotel room he decides to go out to the Wicker Bar to meet an old friend from Wooton for a drink or two. Holden said that the Wicker Bar “is one of those places that are supposed to be very sophisticated and all.” (Ch.19, pg.184) As Luce and Holden sat there to have a drink they got on the topic of sex, being that Luce had been around the block a time or two and Holden was still immature about the whole topic. Luce then went on to tell Holden about a new girl he was seeing from Shanghai, but he refused to go into detail. After having few drinks they both left the Wicker Bar and went their separate ways. Holden then began to walk to the park and began reminiscing about his brother Allie. He could not imagine if something happened to him how his parents would react. He then began to miss his little sister Phoebe so he decided to go pay her a visit without letting his parents know he was in town.

Journal #10 Chapters 17-18

Journal 10

Chapters 17-18

By: Kellen Long

            As Holden arrived at the Biltmore waiting for Sally’s arrival, he was admiring all the ladies waiting for their dates to show up. Some girls with their legs crossed, girls without their legs crossed, girls with terrific legs, and girls with lousy legs. Once their dates showed up Holden became even more disgusted. Holden hated the snobby, lvy league boys and thought they contributed nothing to our society. Soon after all this analyzing Sally showed up; Holden said “she looked terrific. She really did. She had on the black coat and sort of a black beret she hardly ever wore a hat, but the beret looked nice. “(Ch. 17, pg.161&162)

            After the show was over Holden said it wasn’t the worst one he has ever seen, but it was still very lousy. Sometimes I wonder about Holden’s decision making. Why would he make plans with a girl that he doesn’t like, to go to a show he hates just too waste money?

            When the show was over Sally had a grand idea to go ice skating, even though Holden was not too thrilled, he went along with it.  After a few hours of almost breaking their necks they decided to go inside and have a bite to eat.  As Holden began the conversation about hating New York, Sally did not take a liking to this and said “stop yelling at me,” (Ch.18, pg.170) even though Holden was not even yelling. I think Sally felt very threatened. I know from experience when someone bashes something near and dear to me I also come off a little harsh. After much conversing Sally ends up walking away from the so-called date and Holden heads back to the hotel.    

Journal #9 Chapters 15-16

Journal 9

Chapters 15-16

By: Kellen Long

            When Holden woke up the next morning he was feeling quite hungry, considering he had not eaten anything since he had gone to the movies with Brossard and Ackley. However before he left to get food he gave Sally Hayes a buzz. If you don’t remember her, she was the girl who went to Mary A. Woodruff and the one who had sent a letter a few weeks back, curious to see what Holden had been up too. Once Sally picked up the phone he asked her to go to the matinee with him at the Biltmore. Sally replied back with “I’d love to. Grand.”(Ch. 15, pg.138) I think that Holden was not very interested in Sally, but he was just bored and wanted something to do on a Sunday afternoon.

            Since Holden had so much time to kill he decided to go near where he was supposed to meet Sally and have breakfast. This is where he met these two little nuns carrying suitcases. They each had a straw hat and were asking for donations for the Salvation Army. Holden suddenly struck up a conversation with the ladies and found out quickly that they were English teachers. They started carrying on about books and what the school requirements were these days. I believe these were the first people Holden encountered that he actually took a liking too and actually enjoyed their company. Once the ladies left the café it made me wonder if they were really nuns and if they were really collecting donations for the Salvation Army. They could have very easily lied about the whole thing.

            After breakfast Holden took a long walk and ended up at a park that was near his sister’s school. He stopped to ask one of the kids if they knew his sister, they said she is probably in the museum across the street.  Then Holden got to thinking, it was only Sunday so there was no way that Phoebe could be in the museum at this time. He decided to take a walk in there anyway. He was stunned that everything in the museum was still in the same place but each time he went back something was different. Whether he went with a different teacher, or if he had just a knowledge of something new in life, it was always a little bit different in one way or another. Holden mentioned “certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone.” (Ch.16, pg. 158) I think this statement showed how much he missed his childhood and Allie.  He is just begging to hold on to one stable thing in his life.