Thursday, October 2, 2008

First Half of The Catcher in the Rye

So, after reading the first part of The Catcher in the Rye, I just want to keep reading more... J.D. Salinger has gotten me hooked on the book! I enjoy the style that he writes in. It is more casually written than most books we discussed in previous English classes. 

I also enjoy seeing the transformation in Holden's character. Initially he seemed very harsh; not caring about anything. He was more like a rebel. Now as the novel has gone on you see the person he truly is. The first time we get to see Holden's true personality was when he brought up his brother that passed away. He explains the baseball mitt, which was covered in poetry by his brother. When he writes the paper for Stradlater, his roommate,  about the mitt its demonstrating that Holden is missing his brother. Also he is showing that he cared about Stradlater, because he was writing the paper for him. He was also very sensitive to the fact that Stradlater was going out with Jane, Holden's girl from the past. 

We also come to realize that Holden is lonely. When he arrives to New York, all he wants are people around him to talk to. 

2 comments:

Techman Jones said...

I agree.


Holden is a very interesting character, but it takes Salinger a little bit into the book to truly develop his character.

Christa said...

I definitely agree. I like the casual writing style too, I find it more interesting because it differs from most other books. I wrote about Holden's personality change in my blog too, so I agree with that too!