><< the mom in "Uncle Wiggly"--and of COURSE Holden, > whose long-awaited drunkeness destroys "Little > Shirley Beans", a slip that begins his Fall). >> >How does that slip begin his fall?I keep seeming to pick up on little things >from this list that I don't relate to much.So maybe you could detail this a >little more. > Things go steadily downhill for Holden right from the beginning of the book, but when he breaks the record he was going to give to old Phoebe, things REALLY begin to fall apart. It's where he becomes REALLY depressed. He loses all sense of direction after that. Little Shirley Beans was a sort of link to childhood, to innocence... Alright, let me step back a second. As Buddy would say, get a running start. Throughout the entire story, Holden is unable to buy drinks, but he's too young for it. Too young--and since youth is his (arguably faulted) representation of innocence, the world that won't let him drink is sort of reinforcing his innocence. When he finally drinks, though, he's crossed that line. He can't hold on to his youth. The record was a physical representation of fun and innocence and childhood--and he couldn't hold it (please consider those last five words italicized...damn email...). He couldn't hold it. The catcher DROPPED the innocence. For the first time, he's got physical proof that he CAN'T be the catcher, because he can't hold on to innocence without dropping it and breaking it. He tried to hold onto the snowball in the beginning, the snowball maybe being a small manisfestation of perfection, of purity, but the Adult world, via the busdriver, wouldn't LET him keep it. But when he drops the record, it's all his fault. After he drops the record, he loses all sense of direction. Am I reaching to far here? Brendan Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere! http://www.mailexcite.com