Holden's character development relates directly to the study of romanticism. Within chapter 10 of Catcher in the Rye, Holden revels many complex views of him as a character. Holden shows characteristics of loneliness, longing, joyfulness, annoyance, and desperation.
We see Holden longing for someone to talk to when he is contemplating calling his younger sister, Phoebe, on page 75, "You should see her. you never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life." Holden continues to describe his sister for the next page or two, talking about what an amazing person she is. He tells the stories of her favorite movies and how she's a great listener. readers see here how Holden is sensitive, and misses the comfort he feels when around his sister.
But later in the chapter we see Holden act cocky and mature in the hotel's night club, the Lavender Room. We can also see Holden's desperation while he dances and has a drink with the three women. "I started giving the three witches at the next table the eye again. That is, the blonde one. The other two were strictly from hunger," (Salinger 78). Holden is annoying when he begins to lie to the girls about seeing a movie star in the bar, just to get them upset. This may confuse the readers emotions towards Holden because he contradicts his actions with his internal monologue.
All of Holden's emotions displayed throughout chapter 10 support the American traits of romanticism. The romantics emphasized the importance of imagination, feeling, and intuition over reason and intellect. Romantics also emphasize the importance of the individual. The 'American romantic hero' is described as having youthful qualities, loving nature, having intuition, and being innocent.
Holden fits perfectly into the role of the romantic here because he is such a complex character. Although he is youthful, he chooses not to act his age and wishes to be treated as an adult. (being served drinks in a bar, acting older than his roommates) He also is based mainly on individualism, we know this because Holden doesn't have anyone in his life that knows a lot about him. We have been introduced to characters that know Holden, but not on a deep personal level. We also have read scenes where Holden tells many many lies to people's faces about who he truly is and the even ts going on in his life.
Yet Holden thinks he is innocent. Innocent of doing anything in his life that would cause his own downfall. Although Holden becomes weak and vulnerable at certain points in the book, he never will admit that he is battling internal conflicts. Holden resents the feeling of pity, and it will be interesting as we read on to discover how Holden makes life decisions and where they will take him.
When you talked about how Holden was talking on and on about his sister, it made me think it's maybe because that's his only sibling left, and he feels his brother's love inside of her and he misses his brother. When Holden says' My hand still hurts once in a while", is maybe him showing his weakness for a little bit and then he goes right back to being his cocky self. I very much agree with you and enjoyed your post! Do you think Holden will ever own up to his own emotions and start caring for things like school?
ReplyDeleteI hope Holden does start showing more emotions for his actions and realizing the importance of school, but I don't think he will. I believe that the way Salinger created Holden is by making him such a lovable and hated character. His complex character traits are what makes him unique and what creates such a strong story line. I'll be interested to see how Holden progresses as a character throughout the rest of the book.
DeleteI like your connection between the complexity of Holden's character and the ideals of Romanticism. While reading, I thought of Holden's description of his sister when he stated, " She's very emotional" (Salinger 76). Holden's comment regarding his sister's emotions being a problem with her relates to your comment on his unwillingness to admit personal struggles. Looking forward in the novel, do you think Holden will eventually reveal his inner emotions to the reader?
ReplyDeleteI really like your detailed post about Holden! When you said "All of Holden's emotions displayed throughout chapter 10 support the American traits of romanticism", it reminded me of that scene where Holden was going to throw a snowball outside but he hesitated and ended up not throwing it. Why do you think this scene relates to Holden being a romantic?
ReplyDeleteI like when you said that "Holden thinks he is innocent. Innocent of doing anything that will cause his own downfall". While reading I thought of the quote, "I ordered a Scotch and soda, and told him not to mix it-I said it fast as ---, because if you hem and haw, they think you’re under twenty-one and won’t sell you any intoxicating liquor"(Salinger 69). He thinks he can do anything he want and won't get caught. But this attitude will definitely catch up to him and hurt him in the end. What do you think will cause the downfall of this character (if you think he will have a downfall)?
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