Re: opposite of sex
Mattis Fishman (mattis@argos.argoscomp.com)
Tue, 10 Nov 1998 11:04:06 -0500 (EST)
Emily writes:
> ............. which holden completely isn't. he's pretty clueless. he's
> very childish in a lot of ways, and while he may have derision for the
> establishment (in whatever form), he always returns to it (mr. antonini,
> jane as a familiar figure from home, his family) and definitely lets the
> idea stand of selective adults as acceptable figures of authority...
I found it interesting that you would call Holden's wistful
attraction to Jane, his affection for his family (which seems
only to extend to Phoebe and perhaps D.B. a bit), and even his
tracking down of Mr. Antolini as evidence that Holden always
returns to the "establishment".
It sounds as though the back and forth relationship Holden has with
the "establishment", his old friends, and even strangers is
the result of some conscious recognition of their good and
bad aspects, and the inability to decide between accepting
and rejecting them.
To me, Holden doesn't seem as though he is vacillating between
being in or out of the establishment, between rebellion and
reconciliation. Rather as though he himself has not sorted
out the mingled love and disillusionment he feels towards his
environment and its inhabitants. There can be no establishment for
Holden because he has not decided if he loves or hates the world,
or to both at the same time. There is no "them", because everything
he runs away from he remains tied to with some part of himself.
Remember, sometimes he even misses old Maurice.
all the best,
Mattis