Re: Mr Antolini
Graham Preston (ac109@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca)
Sun, 07 Dec 1997 18:50:25 -0600 (CST)
Hey!
On Mr. Antolini, I've always thought that he was the Catcher.
Mr. Antolini was petting, or stroking, Holden's head therefore pushing him
down, or making some sort of a catching manoever. Mr. Antolini has
married a woman older than himself, guaranteeing his youth compared to his
wife. As Mr. Antolini downs highball after highball, he begins to try to
"catch" Holden. If Holden allows Mr. Antolini to pet him, or stoke him,
Holden will be saved. Holden rejects Mr. Antolini and runs off. Holden
spends the night in a train station (Penn Station?) as if to foreshadow
him going somewhere. As if to escape the Phony world which he detests. He
wants to be Nice but isn't, Mr. Antolini ("strictly a phony") tries to get
plastered to escape the Phony world. Mr. Antolini's fate isn't shown but
Holden's is. As Holden falls, (literally and figuativly) Mr. Antolini
must fall as well. Holden ends up in Hollywood, a place he hates. Mr.
Antolini ends up wherever he may get plastered, to escape a Phony world.
By the way, Salinger's devolpement as a writer is quite pronounced. Going
form "slicks" (like "The Hang of It") to "Catcher in the Rye" to "Seymour:
an Introduction", who knows what Salinger must be writing now? About the
Glass family or a new family? Hopefully, Salinger will never publish any
new material ever, as we shouldn't see it.
"Men of Rajas, like food of Rajas: acid and sharp, and salty and dry, and
which brings heaviness and sickness and pain."
-"The Bhagavad Gita" circa 500 b.c.e.
"You think you're queer? Let me tell you something: We're all queer."
-David Mamet, "Glengarry Glen Ross"