note: Unedited, Salvaged from a lonely hard drive at the bottom of a full closet.  The Catcher Essay.

Jordan

April 10, 2002

English .1

The Catcher in the Rye Essay

Holden in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, written by JD Salinger, was one of the least opinionated people on the planet. Holden never bothered to note about the apparent “prostitution” of artists and their talents. He never had made mention to the prostitutes or the way they act. He did not notice their patrons that follow the rich artistic prostitutes around, acting as a leach that sucked popularity out of the artist. Holden never elaborated on the admirable characteristics of the humble people he meets. Holden did not see these people. He was not very observant of the way people acted, too.

Holden’s opinion was never stated about these prostitutes of the artistic community. Holden was never quoted saying “Now he’s out in Hollywood, BD, being a prostitute, (Salinger 2)” about his older brother BD. That would suggest that he had disapproved with the reasons for which BD went out to Hollywood. Holden cared not that BD had changed from a poetic style of writing to a forced style so that he can make a living. He also never stated his disapproval for the showboat style Ernie used while playing the piano. He never said “He was putting all these dumb, show-offy ripples in the high notes, and a lot of other very tricky stuff that gives me a pain in the ass, (Salinger 84)” about Ernie’s playing. It never bothered him that Ernie was good at piano and Ernie knew it. He really did not say much about these so-called “prostitutes”.

Holden never stated any objection to the parasites that latched on to prostitutes and supplied them their money for a little taste of popularity. Holden certainly had not been heard saying, “If you were a big shot or a celebrity or something, then he was…nauseating, (Salinger 142)” about a bartender that was kind of a snob. He did not even seem to even notice that the guy was a real louse. His old headmaster Mr. Hass was also some one that was a “patron” of these cocky “artiests”. Holden would not have been caught dead saying, “He’d be charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had little old funny-looking parents, (Salinger 14)” about Mr. Hass and the way he would associate with people that are not the best looking. He never noticed the conditional attention that Mr. Hass gave most parents. The moment a person was deemed strange or weird in anyway Mr. Hass put a barrier between himself and them as quickly as possible. That never drew any attention away from Holden’s never aware mind.

Being aware of how humble people acted is not something that Holden did very well. It seems definite that Holden did not ever notice the very good but very humble drummer at “The Lunts”. He did not say, “He’s the best drummer I ever saw. He only gets a chance to bang them a couple of times during a whole piece, but he never looks bored when he isn’t doing it, (Salinger 138)” because if he noticed it, he would not have had an opinion on it anyway. Holden did not realize the skill that the drummer used all the time, or that the drummer is very humble about it. He ate with some nuns but failed to take in that they were also very humble and quite the opposite of Ernie or BD. He would not have noted, “They let me give them ten bucks as a contribution. They kept asking me if I was sure I could afford it and all. I told them I had quite a bit on money with me, but they didn’t seem to believe me. They took it, though, finally. (Salinger 110)” Holden refused to notice that the nuns were humble or that they were not on a mission to get people’s money. Holden was just an oblivious kind of guy. He could not help that.

Artistic “prostitution” never seemed to strike any emotion in Holden’s incoherent mind. Holden was not only not perceptive to artistic prostitution. He was even more not opinionated and not perceptive to a great deal of subjects. Except for that he always noticed when he is being a hypocrite and changed immediately so he was no longer putting out a double standard. Furthermore, the key to an accurate opinion was, and is, a proper understanding of what was, and is, going on. Holden never understood what was going on with other people but only focused on his own actions and statements.

More notes: I remember being disappointing with how the paper turned out.  I really wanted to write it in full Holden form, but I couldn’t because I had to pull quotes in-order to meet there requirements for the essay.

More notes… again: My favorite part of Catcher in The Rye is when he notices Fuck You written on a wall at the school where his younger sister went.  He laments the fact that everywhere you go Fuck You is written on something, and in essence he is realizing that society is saying Fuck You.