Salinger And Cinema

wire hair pointer owner

I see many great comments on The Catcher in the Rye in this series of blogs, some idiotic comments as well. But we all know there are fools among us who will not listen no matter what is said by whom. As another great writer once said many times, "So it goes . . . ."

 

The title is the first important point to note in this novel, the very words any reader sees before opening the book. Holden wants to be the catcher in the rye so he can protect the children as they play on the child's playground, a grassy field, and save them from falling over the edge, off the cliff, symbolic of falling from childhood into adulthood. Holden has already fallen off the cliff, and it has hurt; he has fallen hard. He is trying to save the children from the cruel and inhumanity of becoming adults. Remain children and play out your play periods on the "Echoing Green," a poem created by William Blake, forever remaining innocent and playful and unaffected by the adult world.

 

Salinger is alluding to Blake's poem. The echoing green is a child's playground, and to leave it is to become an adult. Was Salinger aware of Blake? You betcha!

 

 

Could it be some event like this caused him to become such a recluse?

"Fall and Rise of Jimmy Don Clyde"

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fall-and-rise-of-jimmy-don-clyde/

So many comments, so many arguments, so much lack of synergy. so much hypocrisy. So lousy. So negative. Such a dark underbelly to our society. Holden's character typified these very things, showing up the hypocrisy in himself and everyone else: a flawed, neurotic, emotionally wounded hopeless genius. A wounded healer. His character says to me: the thing I really hate is hate. And what I reject is being rejected. And I reject everyone else for it. I have empathy for these souls, I am one of them in part. But choose the positive anyway: choose to live and love and catch the children, rejected by society, in the Rye; because you can't ever really disconnect from who you really are: the best in yourself and others, no matter how much you try to be your own worst enemy because of self/everybody else-criticism. Let it go.

You know, Wastedtime, I think I might go as far as to say that the hunting cap was Allie! 

You know, I always find it amazing how a blog about the passing of a person brings out the worst in so many people. Hateful people need to understand the deceased's experiences. Just because they are different does not make them bad or evil. We al ALL products of OUR time. I still remember the hate and bile directed towards Ron reagan in death and now this. Yet Obama quotes and holds Reagan up as an example. Look at the negativism towards our founding fathers and their condoning/usage of slavery/slaves. Look at the era of their being. I guess my point is we need to become more civil Or, as the saying goes:"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all"Peace out bros

You know, I'm sixteen and I first read the Catcher in the Rye when I was in the eighth grade. I dunno, nothing really caught my eye about it, but my teacher made a big deal about it so I kinda went along with it. I told some people it was my favorite book when it wasn't- I never thought anything about Holden. The second time I read it was this year, my junior year in high school, and everybody hated it. Everyone thought Holden was immature, he complained too much. I guess I never realized how much it meant to me until I heard somebody knock it. I got real annoyed. Nobody bothered to compare themselves to Holden, we all thought right off the bat we were better than him. We're not. We're kinda like him, in that way I guess. Doesn't matter what anybody says about someone, we're always better than them, because we've always got the right way to go. In the end, I kinda got into a debate with some other kids. The Catcher in the Rye still isn't one of my favorite books, but I dunno, even though I've only read it twice, a lot of it kinda rings true. The only thing I don't like is how so many people make it a standard for teenagers. Like we're all angsty kids waiting to go against the world. I exist, and I'm not like that. I dunno. I guess it means a lot, but I think it's something you either grew up with or have grown out of.

Sunsetcove, What's your take on the hunting cap?

 

I read that book over 40 years ago..It's a classic..Many cannot think in the depth required to

comprehend its full import..Too bad though,,because they are precisely the ones who need

that degree of understanding to allow them to "GET IT"..Have a nice day..

I remember when my Mother put this book into my hands at age 13, then told me I had to read it. Its innocent view of children and its realistic veiw of adults. I came away wondering if all adults were corrupted by middle age. Now that I'm middle age I would conclude that this book, was and is, a true analysis of our culture. I have never re-read it but I still hold Holden Caulfield as an American Odysseus in an American wasteland. My Mother was right to put it in my hands while lesser mothers were trying to burn it.