Homework for Lesson #5, Catcher in the Rye

Leo's Answer:

1.    Is being the Catcher in the Rye noble?  In other words, should we shield children from going over the cliff to adulthood?

In my opinion, being the Catcher in the Rye is simply unwise, and it will harm not only the children and also the society that we live in. We could find it illogical in 3 main ways.

First, being the catcher in the rye was simply preventing kids from growing up. Is this a choice that adults and their parents want: Children couldn’t rely on themselves instead relying on parents? Parents will go mad, and they will think that they spend all those time just to foster children that are useless to them and the society. Preventing kids from growing up is not a good idea.

Moreover, despite the fact that Holden thinks that being the catcher is prevented kids to be phonies, yet it is simply not letting children be independent. Without the future of tomorrow to be independent, the old ones’ dreams will only really be a dream. Think about the cost: Would you rather become somebody great but a phony or a person that no one knows and you can’t even keep yourself wealthy? I believe we will all choose the second choice.

Finally, the society will also be damaged by letting people be the catcher in the rye. If people are preventing children to go over the cliff to adulthood, society will crash. What if one day there are only kids that didn’t go to adulthood? There will be no more civilization because we don’t know who we should rely on. There are all kinds of dangerousness in the nature that we won’t be able to face to. Therefore, it will also damage the society.

In conclusion, based on the three reasons about why shouldn’t we be the catcher in the rye, I believe we should be encouraging children to become adults instead of turning it on its head.

Jesse's Answer:

At the beginning of this book, we discussed the idea of a "coming-of-age" story.  Is this a coming-of-age story?  Has Holden grown or matured throughout the book?  Why or why not? 

After reading to chapter 22, I definitely disagree with the idea that it’s a “coming of age” story. Since I didn’t see any sign of Holden growing up psychologically, and according to his action during a lot of things happened through out the story, he does not act like an adult. So it’s not a “coming of age” story.

In chapter 19, he came into this conversation with this man named Luce, they talked about a lot of things and after a while, due to Luce’s words, I think he got furious. Holden talked to personally and reached the inside of Luce’s won life, so that might be why Luce is angry at him. He even keep asking and he did not detect the anger that Luce already had. That’s quite a symbol of being childish. I think that although he knew a lot about how to survive in the modern society, he still didn’t understand some way of being a “nice” person.

Also in chapter 23, he went back to his home met his little sister, and on the way, he told the elevator boy that he is visiting someone else, and he said that his leg is broken and needed to be put in a specific position quickly. And after he met his sister, he drove her crazy and made her cried. If Holden was 7 years old, I can understand the things he did, but he was already in high school, so he’s absolutely not a grown-up.

Till chapter 22, I would consider everything that Holden did as a non adult behavior. And his thinking that’s written in the book, is also very childish. Although we have discussed about the idea that it’s a “coming of age” story, I still don’t understand and disagree with it, maybe part of the reason is that I haven’t finish the whole plot of the story, so some of the thing that happened in the end of the book might give the saying that Holden is matured.

Sally's Answer:

I want to talk about Holden with the society he live in. It’s obvious to see that Holden, or we could say the writer, was criticizing the society. The book shows many dark side of the society. Such as Pencey, Holden’s headmaster, the prostitute, and many others things been showed. It seemed that the society was kind of abnormal. Although it might looked peaceful, in fact there were many conflicts and problems. I don’t know whether the writer overstate the problem or not, but the society was degenerate for me. Everyone looked normal but instead they were morbid. I feel sad and pity for Holden because he was living in a society like this. These people makes the dark side of the society. 

At the same time, the story also shows some bright part. For example, Phoebe, Allie and even Holden himself. Holden hate the adult’s wold and he wished to be a catcher in the ray. I think he likes children and want to save and protect their chaste. Also, throughout the novel, Holden has been worried about the ducks in the lagoon at Central Park. Although I am still a little confuse, I feel that Holden is not grown up it and yet has not been changed by the society. He was still a boy who is naive and had all kinds of dreams and desires. From the book, we could see that Holden can’t really integrate into the society. Maybe he is too young yet. 

The book created two completely different side of world. Holden was living in the dark side, but at least now, he is still belong to the bright side. 

I hope that he can keep this kind of pure for ever, but who knows?