Dissecting Holden's argument with Sally
"It's full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day, and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques. [...] If you try to have a little intelligent--" (170).
"It's full of phonies and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day"
The first line is a window into Holden's idea of intelligence and adulthood, in that the unnamed all boys school is only preparing kids to go and get a regular 9-5 office job with a decent enough salary to make a living, which is exactly what Holden doesn't want, because to him, a 9-5 office job is synonymous with the taint of adulthood; "I said no, there wouldn't be marvelous places to go to after I went to college and all. Open your ears. It'd be entirely different. [...] And I'd be working in some office, making a lot of dough, [...] and going to the movies and seeing a lot of stupid shorts and coming attractions and newsreels.[...] It wouldn't be the same at all." (172). It could also be interpreted that Holden believes that intelligence is derived from people who are passionate about something, as when Sally says that some boys get more than 'that' out of school, Holden retorts by saying "But that's all I get out of it. See? That's my point. That's exactly my goddam point," which is in line with the Holden we know academically, failing every topic except for writing, which he clearly DOES have an interest in.
This also fits with a later, seemingly contradictory line in chapter 25 "Mr. Vinson. I mean he was very intelligent and all, but you could tell he didn't have too much brains." (240). i.e. Mr. Vinson is very passionate and knowledgeable about the topic, but isn't very smart otherwise.
"and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses, and all you do is talk about girls and liquor and sex all day"
This line interestingly enough feels like Holden is projecting. When talking to the reader directly, he'll often talk about Jane Gallagher or Sally Hayes, as in chapter 11 where he spends most of it talking about Jane and his relationship with her; "All of a sudden, on my way out to the lobby, I got old Jane Gallagher on the brain again." (99). In the chapter immediately after making his complaint about the lack of intelligent conversation at school, his topic of choice to discuss with Luce is his sex life, and the venue for this discussion is at a bar. This is especially interesting because an argument could be made that Holden is only introspective enough to realize that he isn't very introspective; "How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't." (224), which is in line with how Holden is implied to be unconsciously raising his voice when he gets excited; "Not so loud, for God's sake, Caulfield. If you can't manage to keep your voice down, let's drop the whole--" (190)
"and everybody sticks together in these dirty little goddam cliques"
When I read this line I think of the imaginary rye field that Holden fantasizes about "Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all." (224). I would argue that Holden's issue with cliques is that its not compatible with his vision of this beautiful rye field where children play with each other without a care in the world. Later, Holden talks about a secret fraternity he was invited to but Ackley wasn't, and given how Holden seems to feel about exclusive groups, it could be argued that he equates this to a kid being left out of the game in the rye field.
This post brings up a lot of interesting points. I agree that Holden is a character who often falls into the same hypocritical patterns of criticizing that which he does. I wonder if that contributes to his criticism of phonies-- his fear of becoming one-- his fear that he is one, because that's what growing up does to you.
ReplyDeleteI like the close attention to textual detail in this post, going line by line through Holden's attempt to explain his issues with school to Sally. It remains interesting to me, how Holden IS clearly talented as a writer, and he clearly likes to read and values literature (he has opinions about the direction DB's career is taking, for example, and he cites his favorite authors throughout the book). It's true that he's passing English, but barely, and he makes it sound as if that's solely because he'd "already done that stuff" at a previous school. It sounds like he DIDN'T write anything as personal or meaningful as his essay on Allie's baseball glove in any of his classes, and there's no indication that he even connects his reading and writing to something that SCHOOL might actually be able to help him with--he doesn't "get anything out of" his English classes, is the assumption. I think Mr. Antolini is on the right track when he tries to get Holden excited about the idea that he is "in love with knowledge," despite his petty complaints about the system. He simply hasn't found the kind of literature that will speak to him directly, since they're always studying Beowulf and "Lord Randal My Son." It's a classic Caulfield Conundrum, how he's willing to dash off this very good-sounding essay for Stradlater to turn in, but he wouldn't bother writing anything so meaningful for his own assignments. It's like it would cheapen his words and experience to submit them for school credit. How phony can you get?
ReplyDeleteI like this formatting of breaking down dialogue, especially since The Catcher in the Rye relies heavily on analyzing subtext, rather than saying things outright. I also think its so interesting to categorize Holden as just self aware enough to realize he isn't self aware, which is extremely accurate since he continues to act within the system he criticizes, like how he views women. Holden is constantly contradicting himself and your analysis shows how Holden almost has some kind of "holier than thou" mentality, as he's able to point out the system, while simultaneously not acknowledging his role within it.
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation of Holden's argument with Sally. Holden does not want to work a 9-5 office job and make a lot of money. In a way, he is kind of rejecting society in a way because he does not find the appeal in what society likes. He also tries to run away from it in the his running away suggestion to Sally which could should his rejection of coming to age.
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