This is a video of one of the many Rockettes' performances for those of you who have never been to one.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Christmas Time
This chapter takes place in New York City during Christmas time! As I am sure many of you know, Christmas time is so pretty and extravagant in New York. There are lights hanging every where, numerous parades and shows to see at all times. Christmas time in NYC has countless traditions. Such as Macy's Parade, the lighting of the Christmas tree and the Rockettes' show. The Rockettes' show is an unbelievable performance. They are a group of dancers that are infamous for their perfectly in unison line dances. This show is a tradition for many people to see every year, including Holden. Throughout the book Holden sticks to his childhood traditions for example, the museum and the Rockettes' show. While watching the show, his eyes gravitate towards the kettle drum player because it reminds him of how intrigued Allie and him were at the kettledrummer.
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I agree with you Carly. Everyone knows what Christmas looks like in New York. When I think of Christmas I think of the lights all throughout New York. As for me, I think I'm a little bit like Holden with the way he handles traditions. Holden tends to stick with the traditions that are known to him, he always does something he is familiar with. Throughout these chapters Holden mentions Allie a lot more. I think the reason that Holden remembers the kettle drum player specifically is because he is remembering Allie.
ReplyDeleteI agree also, Holden is clinging to his childhood traditions to go back to that time. He is mentioning Allie more and more because he is in New York where they grew up and he is doing things he used to do with Allie, like go to the Rockettes. These old traditions remind him of Allie which is why I think he is holding on to them. This kind of reminds me of John Berdon's post about Holden's soft side, him going to these shows he used to go with Allie to are showing how sentimental he is and how much he misses his brother and their childhood.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Carly as well. Holden is desperately trying to hold on to his childhood because he realizes that the adult world comes with a price, that you almost have to be a "phony" to survive. He is definitely thinking about Allie more and more, probably because he is constantly reminded about life before Allie died, which is tearing him apart. Still, the allure of his childhood is too strong for Holden to resist, so he keeps mentally or physically revisiting his childhood. When he revisits his childhood traditions, it does show his soft side because he is sensitive and caring enough for those traditions to even matter and to revisit them truly shows a vulnerability because as I said before, the allure is to great. Though Holden does seem to be uncaring at first as I read I am realizing that he is like filled water balloon; not super easy to break, but once it is broken the water comes rushing out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Carly in most ways because i do think that Holden is trying to stick to his childhood traditions. But every time Holden talks about what he used to like to go see when he was little he visits it again and complains about it or doesn't want to see it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Carly about the beauty of NYC during Christmas. In my opinion, J.D. Salinger may be trying to show how depressed Holden is using the comparison of his emotions with the excitement of the time of the year. The way Holden is more focused on the kettle drummer due to reminder of Allie may show that Holden is jut not able to enjoy his surroundings as much as most people.
ReplyDeleteI think that the kettle drum play is another great example of showing you
ReplyDeleteHolden and Allie's relationship. The video was funny to me because i can just imagine holden sitting there thinking "what phonies this is terrible" and just bashing it compleatly.
I agree with Carly; Holden is trying to hang on to his traditions. But I think this is also making him sadder. He keeps recalling Allie, and this is only making him more and more depressed. This is really sad because Christmas is a time for joy and it seems to be causing him more pain. You can also think of this as juxtaposition, because the author is putting Christmas time and Holden together, and they are completely different in comparison.
ReplyDeleteI think that a reason he is really drawn to these things is because he feels lonely. He wants to revisit the monuments of his childhood, a time when he wasn't lost. And I agree with the idea of juxtaposition; he seems much sadder when put next to happy people during Christmas time.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone is right when talking about how Holden is holding on to tradition. Throughout the story, Holden points out all these differences between the adult world and a child's world. I think that Holden finds comfort in some of the things that remain constant in both instances. Building on Noopur's idea of juxtaposition, I think that there it is saying something about his struggle between deciding whether or not to be happy or whether or not he is too sad to really view the world in a happy way anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was I New York City i saw the Rockettes perform. I think that what they do is pretty incredible. I would think that kicking at the same level on the same beat is a difficult task and would take lots of practice to achieve. Anything that looks that good and takes that much effort should be considered art, so it is in this note that i disagree with Holden's perception of what defines art and what art is. I cannot wait to return to New York to revisit Radio CIty Music Hall.
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