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Catcher In The Rye Essay Questions And Answers

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Menua Khachatouryan Mrs. Sajjadieh AP Lit/Comp, Period 5 15 August, 2015 Chapter 10-18 Questions Why did Holden so suddenly decide to call Faith Cavendish? It is evident that the idea of calling someone you have never met before in the middle of the night is surreal at the least. Prior to this event, it is noticeable that Holden seems desperate for some form of commonality or interaction. Being completely alone, he is easily affected by alienation and isolation. Despite his overall independent nature, Holden has a desperate desire for companionship, regardless of whether that said companionship is with friends or complete strangers. This can be seen when Holden goes to the Lavender Room and later Ernie’s, during the night. …show more content…

In the book it can be seen that Sally is a beautiful person, and that Holden enjoys having her with him. However, his thoughts about Sally change as their date progresses. During the intermission of the show, Holden starts to become irritated when he notices Sally attempting to flirt with a student from Andover. He describes the boy as a phony, as he has many others, and that the conversation is in the end “fake.” After this encounter, Holden takes Sally ice-skating at “Radio City.” During their numerous failed attempts at effectively skating, Holden realizes that Sally only wanted to go skating so she could show of her body by wearing a short skirt. These subtleties give hints to Holden regarding Sally’s status as a “phony.” Deciding to take a break, Sally and Holden sit down, and Holden begins to rant about all the “phonies” at these prestigious schools, and how he feels isolated and alienated. The discussion continues to heat up until Holden calls Sally a “royal pain in the ass,” and he then leaves without her. In the end, Holden wanted companionship with a person that he could relate to, as opposed to a person like Sally, who cared more about superficial aspects and how she looked. Sally’s noticeably existent “phoniness” is what caused Holden to dislike her in the …show more content…

Holden’s desire for maintaining his innocence can be seen in numerous instances of the story, such as when he resists the temptations of the prostitute, Sunny. This may explain why Holden feels that Phoebe is the only person he truly has a connection with, due to Phoebe being an innocent child, and also due to the fact that he is desperately trying to retain his dwindling innocence. However, Holden’s feelings of loneliness are only tend to be accentuated, because the one person that he can truly connect with is mostly out of reach. In the end, Holden admires a child’s status as an innocent and kind

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