One feature of the narrative voice is the transition between cynical/angry and compassionate, often in the same scene. For example, when he visits Spencer he says of Spencer and his wife, “they both got a bang out of things, though – in a half assed way, of course.” He is immediately conscious of his cynical attitude and corrects himself. “I know that sounds mean to say, but I don’t mean to be mean. I just mean that…” and he proceeds to adopt a more compassionate attitude towards Spencer, “But if you thought about him just enough and not too much, you could figure out that he wasn’t doing too bad for himself.” This transition of voice from the cynical to compassionate occurs throughout the scene. First, the cynical or angry, and then the self-reflexive compassionate correction. When he is alone in his room and Ackley enters, his voice expresses his annoyance, “about eight-five times a day old Ackley barged in on me.” In his frustration he is highly critical of Ackley’s appearance and manner, his teeth “always looked mossy and awful and damn near made you sick if you saw him in the dining room with his mouth full of mashed potatoes and peas or something.” Holden concludes, “He was also a sort of nasty guy. I wasn’t too crazy about him, to tell you the truth.” However, Holden’s attitude changes and towards the end of his interaction with Ackley, he states, “That guy had just about everything. Sinus trouble, pimples, lousy teeth, halitosis, crumby fingernails. You had to feel a little sorry for the crazy sonuvabitch.” In the end, it is the compassionate voice that
“Inside every cynic is a disappointed idealist.” This quote by George Carlin perfectly outlines the reasons why many people are bitter toward the world in their everyday lives. While cynicism is justified for those who have had a tough life, countless people become exceedingly pessimistic because life didn’t meet their expectations.. An example of this would be Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye”. Salinger does an admirable job of portraying how Holden’s attitude leads to a massive downward spiral. When a person holds too high of standards for the world around them, it can lead to an unrelenting undue criticism of people around them and even hypocrisy.
Moreover, Wideman ends up having difficulties trying to represents what his brother is “saying” because he ends up writing his own personal opinions and thoughts. Although it was something he was trying to avoid considering it would be a manipulation of the story. Throughout the essay, the reader can observe how Wideman analyzes his past experiences with Robby, and how their relationship has transformed over the years. For instance, the author conveys the bonds he had with his brother in order to express that after all this years they still shared “common history, values, and style developed within the tall stockade of family, and that was enough to make us care about each other” (Wideman 674). In addition, he tells the reader how he wanted Robby to know that he was thinking about “Our shared roots and destiny” (Wideman 674) and how that thinking was getting him closer to Robby.
What does it mean to be a good parent? The most common definition of a good parent is one who makes their children feel valued and loved, by teaching them the difference between right and wrong. At the end of the day, the most essential thing is to create a nurturing environment where your children feel like they can mature into confident, independent, and caring adults. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird defines what a true parent really is thought hardships and struggles throughout the book. The story is set in the Depression era of a little town in southern Alabama that is struggling with thick prejudice on a colored rape case. The story is told through a character
“You’re all such g******ed p*****s!” TOC shouted, and then Hassan said, “It’s three on one,” and charged TOC (Green 179)
The character’s demeanour changes the entire atmosphere of the movie due to experiencing serious trauma through bullying in childhood. The
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden puts himself in situations that are very stressful. His personality type puts him in these situations. Holden has trouble-making friends because he thinks almost everyone is a phony. The pressure created from not having friends and being able to be comfortable at a school forced him out of an education, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all...For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life” (Salinger 13) not only did this force him out of the school but also onto the streets. The song “Under Pressure” by Queen perfectly fits the theme that the pressure Holden created on himself forced him to the edge of sanity. In the song, one of the reoccurring lines is “puts people on the streets” (Queen) referring to pressure. This song perfectly relates to this theme.
A door slams. A muffled scream echoes through the house. Someone shouts, “This is so unfair!” No one gets hurt, but no one remains unscathed. A typical scenario in the house of a teenager, but why? Throughout life, people only see the world from their point of view, and many never attempt to view their actions in any way but their own. J.D. Salinger penned the auspicious novel, The Catcher in the Rye. This classic tells the story of a mentally disabled teen that grew up too fast. Holden, the aforementioned teen, distances himself from personal connection after his younger brother, Allie, dies. By cutting himself off from the love of those around him, he feels lost and misunderstood. Holden begins to hate the world, and soon gives up on attempting
The kite runner is a book that takes place in Afghanistan. It described the life and hardships that the main character "Amir", as well as many others. At many points it decribes bits of Afganastain's culture, includeing their food, events/festivals, and way of life. The book itself has a great grip on Afganastain culture quite well that it allows a fairly clear picture and understanding of the story.
In this book, Lord of the Flies Golding reflects on his time and the events that were taking place, his personal life experiences that are cultural, religious and social aspects of his time. The book begins with a conversation between Ralph and piggy giving a glimpse of the situation they are in. It is in the middle of a nuclear war when a group of boys are being evacuated to a destination that has not been mentioned. Their plane crashes and is dragged out to sea. They boys, between ages 6 and 12, find themselves on an island where there is no sign of human existence. The situations back home are so tense that no one knows the whereabouts of
When Amir betrays Hassan and doesn’t save him from a horrible incident, Amir becomes guilty for his actions, but when his mistake is accepted by his friend, Amir overcomes his guilt. Amir, who is the son of a rich man spends his days with his servant’s son, Hassan. Amir and Hassan spend days flying kites and running down kites in the alleys of Kabul. Amir is often criticized for being the friend of Hassan, who is his servant’s son and a part of a lower ethical group. One day when Hassan is running down a kite for Amir, he is cornered by older Afghan kids, who abuse, harass and rape him. Amir is looking for Hassan and spots him getting raped but does nothing to save him. Amir becomes guilty of his actions and starts to repent.
Throughout his life, Amir struggles with the significance of religion due to opposing beliefs instilled in him by elders. In school, Amir is taught to blindly follow Islam due to its inherent ubiquity. While not necessarily morally heinous, his teacher makes the students “memorize verses from the Koran—and though he never [translates] the words for [them], he [does] stress…that [they] [have] to pronounce the Arabic words correctly” (Hosseini 15-16). As the passages were left untranslated, Amir is forced to follow and take for granted words that hold no meaning to him. In addition, the act of required memorization of something as personal as religion should be discovered for oneself instead of enforced, but the pervasion of religion into everyday life has permitted this. However, the lessons of Amir’s teacher are not
When one commits a sin, there are typically many external consequences that follow. Some people also find themselves having internal conflicts due to feeling regretful for engaging in their wrongdoing. In Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Amir commits a sin that results in him severing a brotherhood between him and his half brother and friend, Hassan. Due to the fact that Amir and Hassan had a very strong relationship growing up, it should have been implied that the boys would show each other undying loyalty. However, Amir neglects to defend Hassan on the day that he was raped. This decision to be a bystander instead of a hero leaves Amir with a heavy load of guilt that will not disappear. Luckily for him, he is given the opportunity to redeem
Holden's idealism is first brought forth when he describes his life at Pency Prep. It is full of phonies, morons and bastards. His roommate, Stradlater, " was at least a pretty friendly guy, It was partly a phony kind of friendly..." (26) and his other roommate, Ackley is "a very nosy bastard" (33). Holden can't stand to be around either one of them for a very long time. Later, he gets into a fight with Stradlater over his date with Jane. Holden is upset because he thinks that Stradlater "gave her the time" and that he doesn't care about her; 'the reason he didn't care was because he was a goddam stupid moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron' (44). Holden not only sees his roommates as phonies and bastards, but he also sees his headmaster at Pency Prep as a "phony slob" (3). This type of person is exactly what Holden doesn't want to be. He strives to be a mature adult; caring, compassionate, and sensitive.
The number of ways this song can be interpreted and connected to Catcher In The Rye is almost endless. The lyrics to “Jumper” showcase suicide, depression, and mental health, all of them being major factors in Holden’s life. When I read through the lyrics to this song, a couple of questions came to mind. What does the ledge represent? Who is being pushed off of it? What is causing them to want to ‘jump’? One theory I have is a situation in which Holden is the person who is writing the song and he is reflecting back on his own life. Within the first chapter of Catcher In The Rye, we learn that Holden is telling the entire story as a flashback narrative after he has been check into a mental health clinic, or something of the sort.The lines “
There is one event that unites all human beings. This event is the process of growing up and becoming an adult. The transition into adulthood from childhood can be very long and confusing. As a kid most of them can not wait to become an adult but once you experience adulthood you miss your childhood. The novel Catcher in the Rye shows how a teenager on the break of entering adulthood can get scared. Through the main protagonist Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of adapting to an adult society. Holden is faced with many problems as some teens are now a days of not wanting to grow up,immaturity, and his struggle of romantic relationships.