Re: phonies... Vikings... heathens?

Oh, I'm not saying Holden isn't unhappy, just that he's not so
consciously unhappy that he's seeking relief. He leaves school because
he was kicked out. He has money from grandma, doesn't want to tell mum
and dad he was kicked out, so goes on a nice little tour of the city
until the day arrives that he's supposed to be home. He does what your
typical adolescent male would do in the City with money -- booze and
girls and bars -- but doesn't quite handle them in the typical
adolescent way. He hooks up with one girl from school (or is this a
memory of a past date?...I don't remember) and tries to hook up with
another. He finally meets his sister to gets him to stay home.

I think he's a little lost, disturbed by what he sees in the world
around him, but for all he complains about other people I don't see him
generally complaining about life. I think his plan, at the end, to live
out in the woods all by himself (or with a wife or girlfriend) comes the
closest to escapism, but he seemed to work up to this point after a few
frustrating days and exposure to the elements :). He's not like R in
_Crime and Punishment_ who's longing for meaning from beginning to end,
though.

Jim

tina carson wrote:

>> I don't see him burdened with a sense of his own unhappiness and
>> wanting relief. I don't see him as being that self conscious,
>> usually, although this does come to the surface at times.
>
>
> What? That's the central theme to the entire book!
> tina

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Received on Tue Aug 5 15:08:47 2003