Homework for The Catcher in the Rye: Your Advice to Holden
Peter Kuch, a lecturer in the English department at the University of New South Wales (Australia) believes that "When you're reading The Catcher in the Rye, you're speaking to Holden, not so much him speaking to you."
Certainly, people have a strong reaction to Holden Caufield. In fact, the world's richest man, Bill Gates, says The Catcher in the Rye is his favourite novel.
In about 100 to 150 words, give some advice to Holden based on a statement or incident in the novel. In other words, what would you say to him if you had the chance?
Please submit your answer as a comment to this post by midnight on Tuesday, May 8.
11 comments:
Don’t Be a Liar
If I have a chance to say to him, I would advise him, “Holden, don’t be a liar, you will be fine”. Why I say so that based on a statement, Holden to himself: “I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.” in the novel “Catcher in the Rye” (page 16). He is so brave to admit he is a liar, however, this statement contradicts his jargons: “If you want to know the truth” or “I’m not kidding” in his story which shows how unsure Holden is. Therefore he don’t believe anything even himself that makes him so diffcult,depressed, and pessimistic. Holden is a prodigy boy, but a terrible liar. He needs some guidance to the main steam to contribute to the society. He needs to trust himself and others that will make him easier and belong to the society not in the psychiatric hospital. In short, “Holden, Don’t be a liar” is my advice.
Be Optimistic
Holden is an unusual teen-ager who is a talented and different from others. He suffers from paranoia and thinks everything and everybody is trying to make him sad. If I had the chance, I would ask him if he understands the cause of his miserable life or he realizes who is blamed for that. Obviously, it is all his fault. He is the one who doesn’t want to take any suggestion. For example, Mr. Spencer starts to talk about his school, but he “was beginning to sort of hate him.” My advice to him is to be optimistic because if he thinks he is defeated, he is; if he thinks he dares not,he does't. Success begins with his own will and its all in his state of mind. Life’s struggling is not always won. Sooner or later the person who wins, is the person, who thinks he/she can.
There is a part in the book impressed me a lot. When Holden’s sister Phoebe asks him to name something he’d like to be, Holden answers he would like to be “the Catcher in the Rye”. Most people may say it’s unrealistic and ridiculous, but it’s great that a person has his ideal. I want to ask Holden if it’s really what he wants to do for the future or not. If he really wants to be “the Catcher in the Rye”, it’s fine. Then make a plan and start to take actions. It doesn’t matter how hard it is, as long as he will be working on it step by step. If he realizes his ideal is crazy, then stop dreaming it. Go back to school and think about his future until he gets some idea. My advice for Holden is to work hard to turn his ideal into reality, running away from school or hiding at home will never be a solution.
If I had a chance to talk to Holden, I’d like to say to him, “Wake up! Do not fall over the cliff and perish before you become a catcher.” When I read the part Holden pictures himself stands on the edge of a cliff and catch the children who are going to fall on page 173, I was amazed by his acknowledgement. Seems he does not sense that from the very beginning of the book, he is the person who keeps falling and falling toward the pit, meanwhile, most of the adults around him try to catching him from falling. Moreover, he is still dreaming his own dream about running away and being a catcher. That is the reason why I want to tell him to safe himself before becoming a catcher.
Avoid Phoniness
If I had a chance to advise Holden Caulfield, I would tell him, how privileged he was born. His wealth family, it is a miraculous fortune that just few people have. “I’m the god- man Governor’s son,” p 29, he complains. He has had the option to study in private schools as Pency Prep, but he doesn’t appreciate the material values he has. He despises his elegant surrounded but he squanders all around. He futilely excuses himself. “I’m quite a nervous guy”, p 34; it is a common pretext for being phony. So I would advise him to worth the providence in his hands and encouraged him to face life in the manner it is for him. I would recommend him maturate respond for his fundamental obligations and be grateful for the support around him.
Make a Best Friend
Holden Caulfield is a teenager with many psychologist problems.If I had a chance to meet him; I will help him to build trust with people. Holden last advice to us,"Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody,'the lack of confidence and the misunderstanding of people plays a role to make Holden pessimistic.My advice to him is to start looking for a trusty friend to become in the future his best friend. For example,from time to time, I need my best friend to talk to her about my problems,so Holden needs a friend to listen to him and feel the same thing Holden feels. Holden and I cannot live in a world without any trusty friends.
Holden, Face up and be aggressive. Being the manager of school’s fencing team, you are trusted by the peers. It shows that you have the leader talent as well. When your roommate Stradlater begs you to write an assay for him, He appreciates it for your description and assistants. You are not the loser even thought they expelled you from school four times. It definitely does mean that you will not succeed late in the society. I can list many examples such as Bill Gates, who are ironically your fun. The world is full of chances and challenges instead of “lousy” and “phony”. Dreaming as a catcher in the dark, you should stand steadily on the cliff at first.(119 words)
Doing Instead of Dreaming
I suggest that Holden should try to fit the world instead of rejecting it and use his ability to improve the society. As we know, Holden rejects schools and likes to escape from the reality. Although he likes to catch the little kids “if they start to go over the cliff” (p.173), it is only a dream way to save the world. Instead, he can strengthen his ability in order to have a job in a major department which really can help people in the society. Through this way, he will be able to make real changes to the world. Therefore, my suggestion to him is to work hard for the improvements rather than dreaming all day.
If Holden were standing in front of me,I would tell him, "Don't just hide in the imaginative world. Be courageous and face up to the imperfect real world." Holden says that the only thing he really likes to do is to be "the catcher in the rye". He dreams that he himself is the only one who can save the kids from falling into the ugly, phony adult world. I want to say to him, "Holden, don't you realize that you are a big phony,too? Please stop your ridiculous, negative thinking. Try to love, trust and appreciate yourself and others. You will find life is full of joy, hope and love instead of complaints,lonliness and depression. Besides, you are very intelligent and will get wonderful marks at school if you are willing to study harder. Then I believe you will be a successful catcher in the rye. Holden, cheer up! You can do it."
If I had a chance to speak to Holden, I would say “Don’t let surroundings influence you too much, and don’t be too sensitive and caustic, you should try to learn to understand or forgive others.” You flunk repeatedly out of schools, and have troubles with friends “because I (Holden) was surrounded by phonies.” (P13) You always feel “depressed” and sort of not being accepted by others due to your precocity and susceptibleness. However you are still a child after all and you can not judge perfectly right. Your limited views mislead your feelings about surroundings sometimes. You should know the world is positive, and it is not sure that speaking the truth sure causes the good result, on the contrary sometimes telling lies for kind reason are kinds of polite or respect. Thus you may understand so-called “phonies” are just kind of handling way. Tolerance and understanding may change your attitude and even your life.
If I had a chance to give an advice to Holden, I might tell him as following:
Since you are not satisfied with the situation you have, you should use half of your energy to get through all those trouble things. Choose one school, anyone, and show them real you. You are not afraid of anything, so you can master any subject when you really wants to do it. You have to let them know that your future is under your own control , not theirs. School things are not all your life. You have to spend some time on them, then you can move to next step, to pursue a wonderful future.
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