Double Entry Journal #2 (Chapters 8-11)- The Catcher in the Rye

Quote 1:
"You take a guy like Morrow that's always snapping their towel at people's asses-really trying to hurt somebody with it- they don't just stay a rat while they're a kid. They stay a rat their whole life. But I'll bet, after all the crap I shot, Mrs. Morrow'll keep thinking of him now as this very shy, modest guy that wouldn't let us nominate him for president. " (p.64)

Context:
After Holden gets into a fight with Stradlater, he boards a night train to get away from Pencey Prep earlier. On the train, he meets Mrs. Morrow, who is the mother of Ernest Morrow, who Holden and his classmates dispises because he caused trouble. Holden wanted to have some fun by lying to Mrs.Morrow about her son and lied about all the great things that he has done. Mrs. Morrow talks about how her son was too sensitive and shy with others. To keep Mrs. Morrow's idea of her son good, Holden lies to make her feel good by giving her what she wants, her son being a good modest boy who is shy.

Response/Reflection- Personal Connection:
This quote reminds me about a situation that happened in my elementary school years. This occurrence was when I was at my friends house on a rainy day. My friend was unique where he was different when was at home and when he was with his friends. At home, he was like a perfect kid, who didn't get in trouble, however, with his friends like me, he was crazy and energetic. At the house, there was a patio with a tarp roof over the patio, protecting it from the rain.  The tarp was sagging, filling up with water and he decides to play with the water in the tarp. A couple of pokes later, the tarp ripped, spilling water onto him and a big hole in the tarp. Later, his parents come out and they asked me what happened. I lied and said the weight of the water was too much and it broke on its own. I protected my friends from getting in trouble and I prevented his parents from thinking differently of him.

In both cases, it shows similar features where Holden and I both lied to keep someone happy. I kept my friend and his parents happy and Holden kept Mrs. Morrow happy, preventing her from learning the truth, which would've devasted her. From this, I believe that lying is an important part of society where if everyone told the truth, the world wouldn't be seen as a nice place to be in. However, lying is only good when it is for a good reason such as delaying the suffering of someone or lying out of kindness. Lying is good, for those reasons which were represented in the connection and quote. Then if people lie for good reasons sometimes, why does Holden think of people who lie as phonies, if he lies too? Will he change his mind about what he thinks about phonies?


Quote 2:
"The first thing I did when I got off at Penn Station, I went into this phone booth. I felt like giving somebody a buzz. I left my bags right outside the booth so that I could watch them, but as soon as I was inside, I couldn't think of anybody to call up." (p.66)

Context: 
When Holden arrived at his station in chapter 9, he immediately wanted to communicate with others. He had just left Pencey Prep, to leave the phonies and to let his parents hear the news before he comes home. Continuing on, Holden tries to think of people to call, but he cannot because it would lead to trouble or they weren't helpful to him, as they were phonies. This scenario shows how Holden is helpless and lonesome, as he is unable to talk to anybody and cannot get help.

Response/Reflection-Intertextual Connection:
I think this is similar to the text to text connection, connecting this situation with Holden with the TedTalk video about people suffering depression. The TedTalk video listed as Confessions of a depressed comic by Kevin Breel. He talked about himself and about how other people in the world who suffer depression would avoid seeking help because society just looks away as a real problem occurs. The ones who suffer depression don't know how to cope with the problem, so they ignore it thinking that it would go away later. Kevin talks about how there's the stigma towards depression, where it is seen as unattractive and shows a negative type of nature. People who suffer depression would not want to tell others, as they fear that they would be looked down upon or rejected. He talks about how it was something that people who suffer it would not want to involve others.

This general world situation is similar to Holden where his situation represents the idea that he feels lonely as he cannot go find others for help they are either phony and do not want to associate with them or he does not want to involve his loved ones. He is protecting his family, especially his mother from knowing that he was kicked out of Pencey Prep because it would hurt her idea of her son. With the TedTalk, they share similar ideas of loneliness and that they feel helpless. They talk about the ideas of being depressed and how depression leads to them isolating themselves. However, in the end, it can be too much to bare for people suffering depression, which could be similar with Holden with his family. Would Holden try to go back to his family, because he can't take the mental thought about seeing them again?


Quote 3:
"She's really smart. I mean shes's had all A's ever since she started school. As a matter of fact, I'm the only dumb one in the family. My brother D.B.'s a writer and all and my brother Allie, the one that died, that I told you about, was a wizard."(p.75)

Context:
When Holden was staying at the Edmont Hotel, he contemplated about calling his little sister, Phoebe. He talks about the excellent characteristics about her. Then he realizes that in his entire family, that he was the only dumb one. This quote represents his feeling of being out of place. It displays how he feels alone and misses his family. From realizing that he is not intelligent compared to his other family members, he thinks they don't miss him. Holden stays away from his family as he doesn't feel wanted.

Response/Reflection- Intertextual Connection:
This situation and quote remind me of the animated movie Frozen by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. In Frozen, there are two main characters, Anna and Elsa. They are sisters, however, Elsa has powers that turn anything she touches into ice. After she injured her sister using her powers, she chooses to suppress her powers, hiding it from everyone, instead of mastering it. However, when a mishap occurs, bringing winter to the city and people find out about her powers, she runs away, as she is out of place compared to everyone else. She thinks that she has hurt everyone enough and that they all hated her, so she isolates herself from everyone even her loved ones. Even though she misses them, she would not risk hurting them anymore.

In both situations, the main character's Elsa and Holden are ashamed about who they are as they are outliers of the groups. They feel like they don't belong so they both "run away" and isolate themselves from their loved ones and friends. I think that whenever you are left out in a group because you don't fit it, it lowers your ego and makes you ashamed. With being ashamed in mind, it can alter how they feel about themselves and keep a disconnection. Thus, from this idea, Holden thinks he does not fit in with the family, does that this will make him look for new people to befriend? Does this mean that he will change his ways so that he will feel accepted?

This picture shows a duck with a group of swans. This photo represents the general plot and the ideas of the quote, about being different compared to the rest of the group. In the book, Holden (the duck) would try to fit in with the rest (the swans), but in the end, they would think differently. Holden is lonesome and isolates himself in the chapters 8-11, which is represented by the photo(he is one of his own kind).

Works Cited

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.

Frozen. Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Disney/Pixar, 2014. Film.

Kevin Breel | Confessions of a Depressed Comic. Dir. Kevin Breel. Confessions of a Depressed 

  

          Comic. TED, May 2013. Web.

Double Entry Journal #1 (Chapters 3-7)- The Catcher in the Rye

Quote #1.
"Sometimes I horse around quite a lot, just to keep from getting bored. What I did was, I pulled the old peak of my hunting hat around to the front, then pulled it way down over my eyes. that way I couldn't see a goddam thing."I think I'm going blind," I said in this very hoarse voice. "(pg.35)

Context:
Holden Caulden, a Pencey Prep student tells us about the boring school routines, environment, and roommates. In Chapter 3, Holden narrates to us about how in the times he is most bored, he horses around like with Ackley. This was seen when he talked about his fooling around habits in the quote above. From the perspective of Holden, he is bored easily and finds ways to kill time by daydreaming and acting as another character.

Response/Reflection-Intertextual Connection:

This reminds me of a movie called The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In the movie, Walter Mitty the main character is stuck having a boring life and job. Every day, he has the same routine and boring tasks. To compensate and change up his lifestyle, he inhabits a world of daydreaming, where he is always the hero in them. This way, Walter can escape his boredom and his daily routines as he spends his monotonous days at a publication, developing photos. Walter Mitty lives in a society, where he feels like there's no new adventure, with his job being a cycle of work, sleep and eat. With Holden, it is similar as the prep school prepares him but also limits the adventure and creative mind, changing his and other's mindsets.

Holden and Walter are trapped in their own, prisons of boredom and the only way for them to escape is by going to their imaginary world of their mind. They seek their adventure and creativity in order to stop them from going "insane". In both their societies, their main pattern is a repetitive cycle in order to reach their goals. Personally, I think living in any society whatsoever is suppose to be enjoying the most out of life and being successful and reaching their dreams. However, in these scenarios, its the opposite for these characters, as they must escape to their own worlds to enjoy these features. In Pencey Prep, they want prestigious students and in the society of Walter, the people are stuck in a cycle of working, basically having no fun. In the end, they will eventually veer off course as it is too much to bare. From this idea, could the boring environment and the horsing around also be why Holden left his past schools?

The photo above shows jail cell bars being broken out of, representing the idea of escaping. This picture represents the idea of how Holden and Walter Mitty escape their daily boring routines and life. They escape to their own world of fun, as in both of their situations, their creativity is limited and are restrained to only do work like a jail cell, but when they horse around, that's when they escape from the jail.

Quote #2.
"We always had the same meal on Saturday nights at Pencey. It was suppose to be a big deal, because they gave you steak. I'll bet a thousand bucks the reason they did that was because a lot of guys' parents came up to school on Sunday..."(pg.40)

Context:
In Pencey Prep, Holden discusses the dinner routine, where he continues with talking about how phony the school was when he talks about the food in the quote above. In this context, Holden talks about how the school, Pencey only treats the students to good food only when the parents come. The school tries to trick the parents into thinking that it is an excellent school for their kids. Holden explains how the school is phony, where they act fake in a way to keep a good reputation in the perspective of others.

Response/Reflection-Extratextual Connection:
This reminds me of a text to world connection, connecting back to world war two history. Just before World War 2, Ghettos-Jewish quarter/sections were established, to segregate the Jewish from the rest of society. At that time, the Red Cross wanted to see the conditions of the area where the Jewish had to live, specifically a place called Theresienstadt. The Germans invited them to visit, but it was all a hoax. Before they had arrived, the Germans had made the place look nicer by painting buildings, adding flowers and having social events. In the end, the Red Cross was tricked into thinking it was a suitable place. In the situation of the Red Cross, it showed that they were gullible enough to believe that the Germans treated the Jewish well when they segregated them. The Red Cross gained their "trust" and allowed the formation of Ghettos to continue. After the world saw what was actually happening, actions were taken.

This is similar to the case of Pencey Prep where similarily, the parents were tricked into thinking that the school was a great place for the kids. They were thought to be served excellent food, which would make them this the school was a prestigious place. The school is risking a lie to make the parents trust the school and gain a good reputation. In life, the idea of being "fake", or phony results in people disliking the character, as they are no longer credible. These types of people are looked down upon as they could be putting on a show, while their true intents are hidden. This is displayed in both scenarios where one side tricks the other, risking the consequence that could uprise. Wouldn't the school suffer consequences for their actions if the parents found out? Does the school weigh gaining parents trust more than the risk of losing their prestigious reputation?

The mask represents the idea of hiding one's identity. It is often seen in movies and theatrical plays, where the mask conceals the person's true self, or in movies, the masks trick people into thinking they are someone else. The mask is a good example to depict the quote and connection as people are tricked into thinking a place is better than it actually is.

Quote #3.
"I had to pack these brand-new ice skates my mother had practically just sent me a couple of days before. That depressed me. I could see my mother going in Spaulding's and asking the salesman a million dopy questions—and here I was getting the ax again."(pg.58)

Context:
Holden Caulfield continues to narrate when he was involved in a fight with his roommate Stradlater. After all the pressure he encountered, it caused him to leave early than on the scheduled day. Holden packs up his belongings quickly and stumbles upon his ice skates, which led to him saying the quote above. He says how he received a gift of skates from his mom and that made him feel guilty as he feels like he didn't deserve the reward because he was failing school. The idea that he was failing school and that his parents didn't know that he was also expelled, meant that he knew they would be disappointed.

Response/Reflection-Personal Connection:
This situation connects to a scenario that occurred to me, a text to self connection. The scenario happened in 4th grade when I received back a math test, and I received a score of less than 50%.  After getting home, I found out that my parents had bought me a telescope. That day, I felt like I didn't deserve the gift from them because I brought home disappointment where I was in the situation where I had not studied for a test and my parents have worked so hard to come to Canada and raise me here. Which led me to think about their effort and how these results were not what they wanted. Then after they bought me a gift for me unknowingly, it worsened the idea that I disappointed them and that I did not deserve it.

This is similar to how Holden felt guilty about getting a gift as he was not doing so well in school, so there was no point in rewarding him. The idea of getting a gift relates to rewarding a particular person for his or her actions. Getting a gift is supposed to make them feel good about themselves. However, when the person doesn't deserve it, it emphasizes the sadness because someone spent money or time to get you a gift when you have done the opposite of accomplishment. This type of problem mostly occurs when people do not reach the standards of others. This is common amongst parents and children where the children do not meet standards like Holden, or also relevant amongst friends, where one gift could be better than the other. With the idea in mind of not reaching standards of another. Will Holden change his ways so that he will not feel guilty anymore?  Why didn't he change his ways earlier?

The coal represents the idea of not deserving something from a person. Coal is associated with Santa Claus and Christmas, where coal is given to kids who are naughty and undeserving of gifts. This represents Holden feeling that he doesn't deserve the gift from his mom or anyone because he does poorly in school and is getting kicked out.

Works Cited

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Dir. Ben Stiller. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2013.  Film.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Theresienstadt: Red Cross Visit." United States 

         Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web.