J.D. Salinger’s character, Holden Caulfield, in the controversial novel, Catcher in the Rye, struggles with alienation, drugs, and alcohol due to his tragic past. Growing up, Holden lived a pretty normal life, until his brother’s tragic death. His brother, Allie, even though he was younger than Holden, was Holden’s inspiration in life. When Holden discovered that Allie was dead, he slept in the garage, and at one point during that night, Holden managed to break all of the windows in his garage out of complete and utter sorrow. The reader first gets introduced to Allie on pages 38 and 39, where instead of doing Stradlater’s homework, Holden remembers Allie and reflects on his life. The image that triggered Holden’s memory was the image of the
…show more content…
Upon the mention of Allie’s name, Holdon displays a sensitive persona. Holden is quite the opposite from somebody who is sensitive, but Allie’s memory seems to trigger sensitivity. The beginning of Holden's memory is the image of Allie’s baseball mitt. Holden describes this mitt as a left handed fielder's mitt, but there is something unique about it. It has poems written all over it, so “he’d [Allie] have something to read when he was out in the field.” (38) This mitt sparks sensitivity within Holden because of what it symbolizes. First of all, the mitt symbolizes how pure Allie was while he was alive. Secondly, it symbolizes Allie’s death. Since Holden still treasures this object, one could infer that he still hasn't gotten over the fact that his inspiration in life is no longer living, causing him to continue to be sensitive. The night that Holden heard word of the death of his brother, Holden slept in the …show more content…
A eulogy, to put it simple, is a speech or a piece of writing that recognizes a person’s death. It is common in many eulogies to include personal stories regarding the two parties involved. In the passage, Holden tells the audience about the golf story with Allie. The story is recalled when Holden remembers how red Allie’s hair is. The story itself is pretty meaningless to the audience, but it is very meaningful to Holden. It is a memory that he holds deep within himself and will never forget. Including this story in Holden’s anecdote about Allie gives an eulogistic vibe to the piece. Salinger uses very melancholy, yet an almost sarcastic sentence structure to support the sense of eulogy. An example would be how Holden was rambling. He would say a long sentence then a short one, then, almost instantly, he would jump to a whole new subject. He also added in inconsequential information which is why the reader could interpret the whole passage as sarcastic. Besides the possible sarcasm, the whole anecdote was depressing and melancholy because of the intense emotion that Holden was portraying, and because of the situation in general. Eulogies are meant to be depressing yet slightly drool, so Holden’s sentence structure accurately reflects
Upon the mention of Allie’s name, Holdon displays a sensitive persona. Holden is quite the opposite from somebody who is sensitive, but Allie’s memory seems to trigger sensitivity. The beginning of Holden's memory is the image of Allie’s baseball mitt. Holden describes this mitt as a left handed fielder's mitt, but there is something unique about it. It has poems written all over it, so “he’d [Allie] have something to read when he was out in the field.” (38) This mitt sparks sensitivity within Holden because of what it symbolizes. First of all, the mitt symbolizes how pure Allie was while he was alive. Secondly, it symbolizes Allie’s death. Since Holden still treasures this object, one could infer that he still hasn't gotten over the fact that his inspiration in life is no longer living, causing him to continue to be sensitive. The night that Holden heard word of the death of his brother, Holden slept in the …show more content…
A eulogy, to put it simple, is a speech or a piece of writing that recognizes a person’s death. It is common in many eulogies to include personal stories regarding the two parties involved. In the passage, Holden tells the audience about the golf story with Allie. The story is recalled when Holden remembers how red Allie’s hair is. The story itself is pretty meaningless to the audience, but it is very meaningful to Holden. It is a memory that he holds deep within himself and will never forget. Including this story in Holden’s anecdote about Allie gives an eulogistic vibe to the piece. Salinger uses very melancholy, yet an almost sarcastic sentence structure to support the sense of eulogy. An example would be how Holden was rambling. He would say a long sentence then a short one, then, almost instantly, he would jump to a whole new subject. He also added in inconsequential information which is why the reader could interpret the whole passage as sarcastic. Besides the possible sarcasm, the whole anecdote was depressing and melancholy because of the intense emotion that Holden was portraying, and because of the situation in general. Eulogies are meant to be depressing yet slightly drool, so Holden’s sentence structure accurately reflects