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 liar. He also allows himself to be influenced by others too easily and it has made him questions what is right and wrong. Its a case of an identity crisis. My question to leave him with would be "Who are you? Who do you think you are?"
I think you're right. At first we only talked about how Holden needs a wake up call rather than validation. I think he actually needs both. When Antolini said, you aren't the only one who's questioned the world, you need to keep searching for good (that was the validation Holden needed - I just think it was at the wrong time).
ReplyDeleteI think it would also be helpful for him to talk to someone who was in a similar situation as him at some point in their lives (preferably close to him in age) because I feel like he would be more likely to listen to someone who really does "understand" him rather than just attempts to understand him. He's not the first one to question society and he won't be the last, so hearing all of this from someone who got through it might give him hope that he can adapt to this world and this society he lives in.
ReplyDeleteYea, I agree that you can't just tell Holden why he's wrong right off the bat. If you do that, he'll write you off as a phony or something like that. Being able to relate to him and affirm some of his beliefs first is a great way to connect with him before giving him the advice he needs.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he needs to hear someone tell him he's right. I think in general, he needs someone to talk too. Throughout the book, he rarely tells anyone how he's feeling especially since he doesn't think anyone would understand or listen. If he doesn't have anyone to talk too, no one can help him make sense of his feelings. With no one to help him, he would just keep thinking in his same negative perspective and continue feeling lonely and isolated from the world.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree that Holden doesn't have support and people to validate his ideas. I've never thought of it this way but it's really interesting how he tries to act like he's unaffected by other people and that the people around him are the weird ones, when looking from the outside in it's the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI think you're absolutely right. I didn't think about that when I was reflecting, but it's true, the simple way to not make his ideas feel so isolated is to straight up tell him that you agree. You don't take advice easily from people you feel don't understand you or agree with anything you say.
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