Catcher In The Rye (1 Viewer)

[noturningback]

Okay so I read the book because so many people recommended it however I'm having trouble coming up with some more complex ideas about not belonging presented through this text.
If anyone could give me some pointers on some more advanced ideas about belonging/not belonging I'd really appreciate it.

I'm not asking anyone to write up a detailed answer, simple points that I can use as a starting point for my own deconstruction of the text would be great.
Thanks in advance

I'm thinking of talking about how Holden's alienation from society stems from his immediate rejection of others who reach out to him (such as his english teacher at the end of the book, won't spoil it for those yet to read it) or maybe going into his past experiences (probaly the death of Allie) shaping his perspective of the world thus affecting his ability to contently belong.

 

[Andrei01]

yeah your idea sounds preety good. If you focus on the reasons for his isolation and explore how his past experiences have shaped his state of belonging (that comes from the rubric so it has to be good lol). This would be a [FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Psychoanalytical approach and could work really well. [/FONT]

 

[Mountain Megz]

Hi
In class we analysed Chapter 1 of the book Catcher in the Rye.
Ideas presented relating to belonging in this section;

- The protagonist seems to have a strong sense of self but no sense of belonging.
- He seems to be on the fringes of society where he uses a cyanical tone to describe the phoniness of society.
- Holden is alienated from society.
- Representations of society are; his school, his family, the fencing team and the football game.

- Techniques;
First person narration - conveys cynanical and pessimistic inner thoughts and attitudes of society

Symbolism of his position on Thompsons Hill watching football game is that it represents his loneliness, strong sense of self and cyanical views over the phoniness of society.

Conversational style; created by varying sentence structures which mimic speech patterns, add realism and allow the responder to relate with Holden.

Better go- thunderstorm is on - will post another reply soon

 

[hingec]

Say something about the irony of him hating the "phonies" yet finding it nearly impossible not to "kid" people. For example the guys mum on the train, whom he tells that he has a brain tumor.
This could be construed either as a misguided attempt to try and belong by imitating those he sees around him. Or the deliberate action of pushing them away by lying through his teeth.

 

[Cerry]

I haven't read the book in a couple of years, and we looked at it for a different topic, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm crapping on about stuff that's not quite right/relevent.
It might be worth mentioning that Holden is writing from a mental institution (I can't remember if this is in the book, or if it was additional reading. Sparknotes vaguely mentions it in the character analysis), and that part of his lack of belonging is that he has a mental illness. You can pick up on all sorts of current issues and stuff from that.
Also, there's the stuff about him hating "phonies" and the hypocrisy of someone who dislikes someone for having mossy teeth etc implying other people are shallow and fake leading to his isolation.
The key thing, though, is that he doesn't have a sense of belonging because he is intentionally isolating himself from other people as a form of self-protection - when he has felt like he's belonged, he's always ended up miserable (Allie's death, and I seem to remember someone else dying somewhere along the line?), so he withdraws from anything that might make him feel like he belongs, for fear of getting hurt again.

 

[snowconesyum]

This could be construed either as a misguided attempt to try and belong by imitating those he sees around him. Or the deliberate action of pushing them away by lying through his teeth.

definitely the latter imo.

 

[alchba]

Then again, Holden seeks this alienation by sabotaging opportunities to have that sense of inclusion within a particular society. He seeks this because he feels protected within his alienation.