Chapter 14 of The Catcher in the Rye was one of the more confusing chapters that I have read so far. I have always been able to follow his stream of consciousness, but in this chapter it was really difficult to follow. I think it's because we are starting to see Holden's real personality. It starts off with Holden talking about religion, specifically he targets Christianity and talks about Jesus and his disciples. Holden gets beat up in this chapter and after he lays on the floor for a while. (like with Stradlater) When he gets up to go to the bathroom he has one of his "ADD" moments where we see his stream of consciousness. Holden imagines himself in a movie with a bullet in his gut and walking around with his automatic gun. He finds Maurice and kills him. Holden then would get Jane to come over and bandage up his wounds. Since the book was based in the 1940's, and I'm not 70 years old, I had no idea what kind of movie Holden was thinking of. I thought of something from the movie, Home Alone.
This scene from the movie Angels with Filthy Souls reminded me of what Holden was talking about and it made me better understand what was going through Holden's head, especially considering how confusing Holden can be. I hope this video will make y'all better understand that part of the chapter. Because it really confused me when I was reading it. Now I see that instead of looking at this chapter as confusing, we can look at it as finally getting to see some of Holden's real personality. We finally see that he acts through his actions and we see some of his true personality.
I do agree with you Annie. It got kind of hard to understand when Holden darted off track into his imagination about him killing Maurice. I think this chapter brings out Holden's view on phoniness even more. He expresses his feelings when he is talking about how the disciples are phony, and how Sunny is phony.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that Holden becomes more and more 'distracted' as the book goes on, I disagree on the fact that this chapter was confusing. If you look at it literally, yes, he is very random and unpredictable at this point. But the way I see it, his confusion and distress is very clarifying. You start to see who he really is, and the problems he has become much more apparent. Throughout the book, and in this chapter especially, you begin to see Holden through his actions, and not his words. And when it all comes down to it, what we do in certain situations shows who we are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Coleman that Holden does become more distracted but this chapter was not confusing. He really isn't as random as it first seems, if you zoom out he is always painting a picture about something he talked about before which is on J.D. Salinger's part a realistic interpretation of how people think. People don't always think in a logical way and sometimes you have to step away for a while and put the pieces together. In this chapter you begin to see his facade as a tough guy is breaking down even further than in chapter 13 when he admits that he would not have accused anyone of thievery. He is beginning to realize that phoniness is what the adult world is, people are always hiding who they are and their motives until you least expect it like Maurice at first seems normal but then he gets greedy and becomes violent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It was a little difficult to understand, when Holden had some "ADD" moments just like you said. I think all kids have some ADD moments, so this book portrays the mind of a teenager very well. I agree with coleman when he said that when Holden gets a little off track it reveals more and more about himself. This helps us understand more about Holden, and gives us a little understanding why he does some of the things he does in the book.
ReplyDeleteIt is a little difficult but I also agree with Coleman, that the way it is confusing is actually clarifying the overall story. You see Holden go from a pretty composed guy to pretty much a mess at this point. He can't even stay to one subject he is so messed up. I'm not sure, saying that we haven't read the rest of the book, but I'm guessing this will be the abyss unless it gets worse. Either way, he's in a really bad state right now and I think that this chapter portrays that through the his streams of conciousness.
ReplyDeleteI for some reason understood the chapter very well, maybe its because I read chapter 12-14 in one sitting. You can tell that his depressed mood from chapter 12 with the "touchy cab driver," carries on throughout the following chapters. He is at a state of loneliness where he is even willing to pay a prostitute just so that he will have somebody to talk to. Then entering into this chapter, it seems as if he is almost dissapointed with himself for going against his moral values by spending time with a "whore." During chapter 14 he is reflecting upon negative things that has happened to him by bringing up Allie. He keeps emphasizing that he is depressed, lost, and seems to need to tell someone who he feels is worth talking to. When Maurice comes to steal even more money with the false accusation of Holden giving only 5 of the supposedly ten, he feels cheated. He feels as thoughsuicide would be better and is in serious need of help. I agree with Presley about this being his abyss, I hope it doesn't get worst. Then, when he talks about Jane fixing his wounds, he really means that he wants someone he cares about to come and talk and heal his current mental condition. I am not a hundred percent sure whether this answers what you guys didn't understand, it is possible that I as well did not understand but that is currently my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see coleman's post at first. I also agree with Coleman.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Presley. His state is portrayed through the randomness of his stream of consciousness. He starts to change from one topic to another really quickly, and you can also see a lot of depression setting in with the tone. I also agree with Coleman when he says that "you begin to see Holden through his actions, and not his words." You start to see more about how Holden reacts to certain events, and those actions continue to define him as a person.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I would say that a majority of this book is Holden's stream of consciousness, I actually thought that this chapter had less of that than most chapters. This chapter actually had quite a bit of plot (considering that the chapter is only about seven pages). Although it starts off with his stream of consciousness, it then transitions into what happened between Maurice and him. It transfers from an intense conversation where Maurice tries to scam Holden to Holden getting beat up. Therefore, I would say that alone has been one of the more intense plot events up to this point.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that it was a little hard to follow his crazy stream of consciousness in this chapter because he has become more distracted and crazed at this point in the book. But I also agree with Coleman that his stream of consciousness shows us more about him like the way he thinks, what he's been through and what is on his mind.
ReplyDeleteI think in this chapter we can also see more of Holden's quirks and the reason he may be in a mental institute. This video also helped me invision what was going through his mind. it also made me think of the godfather in the sense of being old timey and violent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Coleman as well, that his confusion and distress is clarifying and he, himself and his problems begin to become more and more clear. This could hint towards how he ended up in the mental institution because people will see his confusion and distress as part of his psychoticness. Agreeing with Coleman again, we are now seeing Holden through his actions not his words which may also foreshadow to why people believed him to be crazy and belong in a mental institution due to his deranged actions.
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