What Can we Say to Holden?
I want to go back to the discussion about what should be said to Holden. How, as readers and as people who know more about him than fellow characters, we can connect with him. As we discussed, he certainly has views on the world that he believes are his own. Holden constantly calls out the world for being disingenuous, and growing up in a rich white private high school, his world view is very limited. I think what he needs to hear is that he's right. Having no real friends, Holden has no way of affirming himself or his ideas and I think that if I was in the novel, this is what I would say to him. His instinct of not wanting to borderline rape women, and really caring for people are good things. I think he just needs to hear that. After affirming his beliefs, then we can talk about his flaws. He's a very headstrong individual so in order o criticize him, I think we must also praise him. He's very hypocritical in his judgement of the world, as he himself is a pathological l...