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Catcher In The Rye Compares To Biblical

Catcher In The Rye, Compares To Biblical Quote Essay, Research Paper


Throughout life, an individual may endure several emotionally


or physically straining moments. In The Catcher In The Rye, Holden


Caulfield suffers much verbal abuse, as well as physical. Both forms


of the abuse, combined with other factors, eventually leads Holden to


suffer a mental breakdown. Holden s actions prove that ** A blow


from a whip raises a welt, but a blow from the tongue smashes


bones.


Holden experiences several fights throughout the story. Near


the beginning, he begins a struggle with Stradlater, his roommate,


over his friend s date, Jane Gallagher. Holden was upset to learn that


the couple were alone in a car, knowing Stradlater s sexual history.


Holden s mind chooses to push out the incident, so it is foggy in his


head. But all he knew was, he tried to hit Stradlater but missed.


After the miss, Stradlater proceeded to climb on top of Holden and


take hold of his wrists, not letting him up. Stradlater dug his knees


deep into Holden s chest to keep him from moving. This seemed to


go on for around ten hours . When Stradlater finally gave in and let


Holden get up, the struggle started again, ending with a bloody nose


for Holden. Afterwards, although Holden was somewhat offended by


the actions, he did not seem to care about his dripping nose. He went


directly over to Ackley s room, not even stopping to wipe up his nose.


He also did not seem to care about the overall fight, because he


talked of it like it meant nothing to him. I had a little goddam tiff


with Stradlater, he explains to Ackley. Do you feel like playing a


little Canasta? This quick forgetting shows that the fight had little


affect on Holden, and that his injury meant little to him.


While Holden is in the Edmont Hotel, the elevator man mentions


the prospect of a prostitute. Holden reluctantly agrees to a throw,


which would cost him five dollars. Holden was very nervous during


his wait, but when the girl showed up he told her he only wanted to


talk. Even though they didn t do anything, Holden paid his money,


only to find that the girl was promised ten

. Holden refused to pay the


extra amount, assuring the girl that he was told a throw was only five


and he was not going to pay more. She left, only to return minutes


later with the elevator man, Maurice. Maurice threatened and


punched Holden, demanding the extra five dollars that he owed .


After a bit of roughing up , Sunny, the prostitute, searches Holden s


wallet and pulls out another five. Sunny starts out the door, but


Maurice was still holding Holden, snapping on him and shoving him. Right before stepping out, he gives Holden a punch in the stomach.


Although Holden was hurt badly, he didn t care much about how he


felt. All he knew was that he could hardly breathe. Halfway to the


bathroom, he started pretending that he was dying. Although Holden


was slightly affected emotionally by this incident, he didn t care much


at all about it, and let his injuries take care of themselves.


When Holden was first expelled from Pencey, he paid a final


visit to his favorite teacher, Mr. Spencer. Mr. Spencer s attitude was


caring at first, but he began to scold Holden about his grades. You


knew absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing, he repeated several


times. He even had the indecency to read Holden his own paper, the


one in which Holden knew absolutely no idea about the subject. He


makes a mockery of Holden and his work, and completely destroys


any self-pride that Holden may have. Mr. Spencer was very


insensitive with his words, implying that Holden needed to grow up


and move on in his life. These words may have been part of what


eventually caused Holden s emotional breakdown, the feeling that he


was lacking in life.


The reader is able to interpret through Holden s thoughts and


actions that the physical blows meant little to Holden, while the


emotional blows meant much more. He was able to basically ignore


his injuries, but could not possibly take the emotional pain out of his


head. Even when he didn t think about it, it was always there


subconsciously, proving that a blow from the tongue smashes bones,


while a blow from a whip only raises a welt.


** denotes the Biblical quote found in Sirach 28:17

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