Re: Quiet list? there's always
Sarah (cinnimon@vvm.com)
Wed, 01 Jul 1998 16:02:07 -0700 (PDT)
<Allie *is* the emotional core of the story...>
You're right that Allie is the emotional core of the story and that Holden
equates innocence with him, but you're also overlooking and underestimating
the importance of Jane. Jane is, in addition to Allie, an essential part
of the emotional core of the novel. To me, at least, Holden is in love
with Jane and cares for her so deeply that he doesn't want to bother her
with his life and troubbles, if that makes any sense. He does so by
attempting to call her several times through the course of the novel, and
every time makes an excuse why he shouldn't talk to her. He even at the
beginning goes ballistic upon discovering Jane and Stradlater's date. All
of the "calling" attempts and the ferocity of his anger upon hearing "the
news" all add up to the discovery of a very sensative side of Holden, drawn
out by the love one character whom is never phisically introduced in the
novel.