Holden, A Reflection of J.D. Salinger

Holden, A Reflection of J.D. Salinger

By Ruben

Once you read the book Catcher in the Rye (1951), you will probably wonder about what will happen to Holden Caulfield, the books protagonist, later in his life. The book ends with Holden being in a mental hospital, and the author does not imply anything clearly on how Holden’s life will develop. However, one can predict how Holden’s life is going to be, by inspecting the author, J.D. Salinger’s life, because he had a similar adolescence to that of Holden. Through the many similarities between J.D. Salinger’s life and his fictional character Holden’s, the author’s work is a reflection of the author’s life.

J.D Salinger’s father was an import trader, who sold things like cheese, or meat.[1] Young Salinger wanted to be an author, but his father wanted him to be an importer, and did not value his son’s education. He must have had a confusing adolescence. He went to a private school called McBurney School, but he got kicked out[2]. Then Salinger got into Forge Military Academy, but he did not do well academically there. However, he did excel at English[3]. Which caused him to persue writing as a career. In his youth, Salinger was very interested in Dramas, and his dream was to go to Hollywood.

By comparing Holden Caulfield and young Salinger’s life, a lot of similarities can be seen. For instance, Salinger’s expulsion from the McBurney School must have influenced the creation of the two schools in The Catcher in the Rye, Whooton school and Elkton Hills. The Forge military Academy is a probable model for the Pencey Preparatory School in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden’s character, like Salinger was not that good academically, but was good at English. For example in chapter 4, Holden’s roommate, Stradlater asked him to write a composition for him and added, “…Hartzell thinks you’re a hotshot in English and he knows you’re my roommate. So I mean don’t stick all the commas and stuff in the right place.” (Salinger, page 28)[4] Also, Salinger’s dream to be a drama writer or actor, appears in The Catcher in the Rye through the Hollywood writer D.B. Caulfield, Holden’s brother.

As one can see, Salinger’s youth formed the basis for The Catcher in the Rye. Because of this parallelism one can predict how Holden Caulfield’s later life could develop. Salinger’s character after adolescence can be explored by reading the book “The Dream Catcher.” Which was written by Salinger’s daughter Margaret Salinger. According to this book, Salinger is a person with extremely self-centered mind even in his adulthood. Salinger did not pay enough attention to his wife so his wife, who even tried to commit suicide and take her daughter with her by setting fire to their house.[5] At last, Salinger and his wife got divorced 8 months after their marriage. He began writing again after the divorce but since 1965, he did not publish any of his writing and chose to live a life of solitude.[6]

Considering that Holden Caulfield’s character is very self-centered and negative, I believe that Holden’s adulthood would be as unfortunate as that of Salinger’s. Holden would not of had a happy marriage, because he is so selfish and doesn’t know how to deal with women. Holden’s mannerisms caused him many difficulties relating to women. For instance in chapter 17, Holden takes Sally on a date and towards the end says to her, “You give me a royal pain in the a$$ if you want to know the truth.” (Salinger, Page 133)[7]. Like Salinger after 1965, Holden would avoid people, because he thinks all adults are phony and he wanted to be a “catcher in the rye”.

One can see remarkable similarities by comparing Salinger’s youth and Holden Caulfield’s in The Catcher in the Rye. Furthermore, Salinger’s adult life could have been written as “The Catcher in the Rye, Volume 2.”; because Holden’s future can be predicted by inspecting Salinger’s adulthood. These predictions are possible because Salinger’s life experience and character are largely reflected in his work, The Catcher in the Rye.

Works Cited

Ø Salinger, Margaret. Dream Catcher: A Memoir. New York: Washington Square Press, 2000.

Ø Lutz, Norma Jean. ”Biography of J.D. Salinger”, in Bloom's BioCritiques: J. D. Salinger. Bloom, Harold. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2001. pp. 3–44.

Ø Salinger, Margaret. Dream Catcher: A Memoir. New York: Washington Square Press.2000.

Ø "J.D. Salinger" Wikipedia. Jan 9, 2008.

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[1] J.D. Salinger, Wikipedia, 2008

[2] Lutz, Page 10, 2001

[3] Sallinger, M Page 31, 2000

[4] Sallinger, J.D. Page 28, 1951

[5] Salinger, Margeret. Page 115, 2000

[6] The Life of a Recluse, Time Magazine, 1961

[7] Salinger, J.D. Page 133, 1951

Chapter four: Painted Faces and Long Hair

Summary:
The boys are getting adjusted to the island. Especially the littluns got so familiar with the island that they have forgotten about being rescued or going home.
And Jack and the hunters go hunting pigs with some clay to paint their faces and some charcoal sticks that were used for making fire on the mountaintop.
However, Ralph founds smoke from a ship and hope the ship will see their fire, but soon he recognizes that the fire has gone out by the hunters. Ralph got very frustrated and angry. Then, the hunters get back to the platform with a killed pig. They were very excited and cheerful, but Ralph expresses no happiness at all. And Jack, the representative of the hunters, talk with Ralph and finds out that a ship has gone. So Jack apologizes to Ralph and Ralph just accepts Jack's apology angrily. Then all the boys go up to the mountaintop, and make a fire and roast the pig they had killed. At the last scene, Ralph calls an assembly.

Analysys:
I'll write this on Monday

Comfot Women Writing Topic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women

http://research.unc.edu/endeavors/win97/comfort.html


http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2373

Gender Difference in the Brain

Men and women are different in many respects. The brain is one these differences. Some people say that these differences in the brain come from nature. In contrast, some other people believe that nurture, or social conditioning causes the differences. However, recent research explains that the differences in the brain are mainly caused by nature, but nurture also plays a role.

Historical job divisions can explain the argument that men and women’s brain differences are caused by nature. Since humans evolved, men and women have had different jobs. Men usually hunted, fished, or fought, while women did domestic work like cooking, making clothes, and caring for their children. This difference in daily life of men and women caused differences in their brains. Men especially, developed the brain to be more suitable for multi-tasking big problems, such as surviving in extremely dangerous situations, or planning strategies to fight with other tribes. Women developed the brain to be more appropriate for detailed work. Men and women have developed their brains in that way for thousands of years. As a result, even today’s men tend to have desires to accomplish big tasks while women pay more attention to the details. Consider in this regard, I can understand why I was poor at detailed work. I am not good at art, which needs a lot of skill and ability to take care of details. However, I was much better at P.E class that needs physical ability and less detailed work.

The differences in men and women’s hormones can also prove the gender differences in the brain. Men have hormone called testosterone, and women have hormone called estrogen. A recent research at the University of Wisconsin showed that hormones trigger maleness or femaleness. The researchers at the University of Wisconsin injected testosterone into unborn female monkeys, and the monkeys behaved like male monkeys after they were born, although monkeys tend to behave in accordance with their gender. This result could be applied to people, too.

Although the main cause of the differences in the brain is nature, that does not mean that nurture has no effect on the brain. Here is a good example of how nurture affects the brain. Twins who were separated when they were young grew up to be rally different from each other. It was hard to believe that they were identical twins. That was because they were affected by different social environments. The environment made them totally different.

Another example is the story of an Indian girl’s life. A very young girl who was abandoned, was raised by a wolf family. She lived as a member of a wolf pack until people found her. When people first observed her, she acted like a wolf. People tried to socialize her, but failed. That was because her 8-year long life in the wolf pack affected her brain. She could not function in the society because her brain was neither male nor female, but it was wolf, although she was born as a person.

Nature is the main cause of gender difference in the brain. Still, nurture has effects on gender difference in brain. To understand gender difference in the brain, you should understand both nature and nurture effects brain.