Holden becomes Uncle Nelson

Today in class we spent a good deal of time talking about Benji’s crazy uncle, Nelson. Throughout our discussion of his ideals and place in society, he began to sounds a lot like Holden. While in my semester project, I presented a path for Holden in which he could make a turnaround and become successful in life, but an equally probable outcome is that of Uncle Nelson.

The similarities that I have noticed are plentiful. They act in many of the same way. Holden talks about avoiding adulthood and does not enjoy talking with adults. Nelson is the same way, realizing he does not get along with other adults. The older generation seems to have a mentality that neither of these characters share. Because these actions generally do not go well, both of them are rejected by the respectable society. For Nelson, this is the family who refer to him with disgust, and for Holden this his school expelling him. Additionally, Holden spends some time talking to friends and Phoebe about his whimsical plans for going off and having fun, living life outside of traditional bounds. Well Nelson appears to have done just that (from what we hear from Benji). These adventures allow them to express their passions that do not fit with traditional society.

Beyond their actions, the feelings and values of these two characters are very similar. An example of this is when they identify with children. Nelson tells the boys that he is one of them while riding in the car. This reminds me of when Holden sees little kids with their parents and contemplates their life and admires them. Going along with that, they both have a connection to their childhood, For Holden, this takes the form of his sister who he spends time with and enjoys her company and enjoys her for being young. Because he is older, this takes a more nostalgic role in Nelson’s life. This is evident when he is staring at his old house and remembering growing up in Sag Harbor. These two characters both seem to cling to their memories of childhood.

With uncle Nelson as a possible trajectory for Holden to follow, would you consider this to be a failure on his part? Is uncle Nelson an inferior person because he did not follow the rules? Would you like Holden to follow this track? Here are some comment prompts to help you tonight.

One Car to Rule Them All

In Sag Harbor, Randy, Benji’s (sort of) friend, obtains a car, that changes their world. He thinks of this as an amazing improvement for their mobility and independence and facilitates adventures. However, I do not see this as a good thing for them and it does not mirror the benefits that the automobile brought to america as a whole.

The first reason that this car is bad, is that it is an isolated improvement. Whenever something happens to only one kid out of many among teenagers, things rarely end well. In this case, the car availability accentuates social strife in their group and creates an exclusive set of kids who are allowed in the car. This group is limited to 5 and Benji describes having to leave one kid out. This is part of some bigger social issues, as he points out. Additionally, this is making the kids suck up to Randy to get to one of the ones he drives, arguing over who is better friends..etc. Some of you are probably realizing that I was in Randy’s situation to a lesser degree, being one of the first to get a license. This process of deciding who to drive is uncomfortable for all parties. Lastly, I am not sure how much having the car is actually improving their life. They now do less wondering and more planned traveling. I think their exploratory missions, walking or biking, were more valuable.

One of the things that was the result of the acquisitions of cars in America resulted in was mobility for the common man. It made things run smoothly because everyone could travel and had great benefits. But in this case, with only one kid owning a car, it is not nearly as positive as it may appear.

The reverse hierarchy

The reverse hierarchy

As Jason descends the ladder of popularity in Maggot, he begins to describe the world of being bullied. It is evident that there are rules for those at the bottom, just like the ones Jason described as the beginning of the book from the top. The politics of middle school go on.

Like with being popular, Jason is also completely aware of the situation of bullying and he clearly already knows how to act. He knows the rules. He repeats the advice he picks up for the reader at various points. The way to be a good victim is the be passive and not react. he demonstrates this when they yell at him, give him the wedgie, and when Ross tries to talk to him. We all know this strategy, but the his level of awareness of it at this age is what is impressive. It is also representative of how everything Jason does is edited and is working towards his self image, even while at the bottom.

The other aspect of the beginning of the book that outlines the hierarchy of the school is when Jason outlines which group he is in. This is reflected in Maggot when he explicitly joins the table filled with “lepers”. These guys are just as cohesive as Spooks, and also have a set of requirements to join, albeit unfortunate requirements. The people that Jason joins at the bottom are just as refined as those at the top. For example, Dean is trained to not even flinch when hit with the chip. He has become a master of nonviolence.

All of this shows how the hierarchy is not triangular, but rather a diamond that has rules governing throughout and how you act determines is always important.

Jason is not the first to visit the doctor

I have talked about the mental health of the protagonists of the books before because it serves for an interesting comparison. However, with the start of Black Swan, another protagonists is identified as having a condition; in this case, it’s Jason’s stammer. This blog post can serve as an addition to a previous one. The timing and the way it is presented offer a different view.

Jason identifies this issue and presents it to the reader at a much younger age than the other characters. It is interesting from a child about to enter the coming of age process and doing so with a known mental hindrance is even more intriguing. Even though he is younger, the timing is a bit different because hangman has been fully realized by Jason and it is easy for him to present to the reader. Jason presents many practical implications of what hangman is doing and this makes it more real for me. However, he also gets treatment from the doctor like Esther does, also without much of a noticeable change. He still has more to learn about this stammer, though. Keeping it hidden among other kids is not going to remain feasible, especially as they grow older.

I am interested to see how his concept of this speech impediment grows with him throughout the novel, because understanding these things is a huge part of coming of age.

Helen the Ice Figure

I know there is a chance that some of you looked at this passage for the notebook prompt last week, but this particular thought by Ruth really stood out to me when out with Silvie:

If there had been snow I would have made a statue, a woman to stand along the path, among the trees. The children would have come close, to look at her. Lot's wife was salt and barren, because she was full of loss and mourning, and looked back. But here rare flowers would gleam in her hair, and on her breast, and in her hands, and there would be children all around her, to love and marvel at her for her beauty, and to laugh at her extravagant adornments, as if they had set the flowers in her hair and thrown down all the flowers at her feet, and they would forgive her, eagerly and lavishly, for turning away, though she never asked to be forgiven. Though her hands were ice and did not touch them, she would be more than mother to them, she so calm, so still, and they such wild and orphan things.

This description of the statue is a great illusion to Ruth’s ideas and ideals of motherhood. This passage does three things: tells about how Helen was and what Ruth has wanted from Helen as well as demonstrate Ruth’s maturity as a part of the coming of age proces.

What we can learn about Helen is that she turned away from them in the eyes of Ruth. I believe this is Ruth’s interpretation of the suicide. She feels abandoned. And at that moment of turning away, she is frozen in Ruth’s mind, thus the statute imagery. However,

However, Ruth shows many things she wishes that Helen had done. She depicts the mother looking back. She imagines and idealizes regret in her mother. She talks about the kids forgiving which shows how she would have forgiven her mother if she got to talk to her again.

Continuing on the ‘what ifs’, Ruth talks about the flowers that cover the figure to show how even if her mother was this cold wanderer, she would still have beautiful qualities. She would have done well for them.

Unfortunately, they did not touch, as Ruth points out, but this passage is still very significant. It shows a her maturity to contemplate all of these abstract concepts about her mother who has been shrouded in mystery up to this point. It is very difficult to think about a suicidal parent, much less articulate it, so this large metaphor demonstrates a step in the coming of age process.

There are so many nuances and symbols in this passage that I could not begin to talk about them all. What did you see in it?

Stuck with Glue

I was reading through the poem Daddy and these lines really stuck out to me:

But they pulled me out of the sack

And they stuck me together with glue

There is a lot more to say about this poem, but I would like to just focus on these lines. They seem to be a direct description of the events in The Bell Jar and therefore I will use this as a representation of her sentiment in the novel. The imagery of putting someone back together with glue has a lot of power aspects to it.

The first of these is the utter passivity of these lines. THEY pulled me out and THEY stuck me together with glue, ect. However, it goes beyond being passive and a bit bitter. There is no sense of them helping her or her being grateful. She seems to be resistant of the whole process. Additionally, glue is never perfect. I get the image of a person awkwardly put back together in a messy way, and she does not expect to work perfectly ever again. This is increased by the artificial nature of the glue. Glue is something you add to a broken object, not a natural part of something. It seems to be an unsightly and unfortunate addition to Esther, especially since the breaking was intentional.

However, maybe I am being too negative. Glue shows how things can be mended strongly and easily and allows her life to go on. This is something to be greatful of. How do you interpret this? Yup, easy comment prompt for a thursday night.

The Meaning of Medicine

I am discussing medical experiences before the suicide attempt.

When thinking about The Bell Jar, it is almost impossible to not draw connections to the other two books that we have read. With all of the characters not quite fitting in with the system, their reactions and strategies to cope are very interesting. Esther is the first of these characters to actually get medical consideration and help, although she is not the first to need it, probably. The treatment has a lot of significance in the progression of her insanity, but none of which is actual help.

Stephen reaches a level of anxiety about his sinning that would be cause for medical attention. In Holden’s case, we discussed in class about his bipolar nature that was less self-destructive than the other two but also could have been diagnosed. We have now begun to see Esther develop a condition of her own. However, unlike the other protagonists, she sort of seeks out medical help and has multiple experiences with a psychiatrist.

The first thing that the medical treatment represents is the solidification of the craziness for Esther. It is not easy to identify mental illness in oneself. The turning point often comes when medical attention is called upon. Avoiding such treatment is a typical form of denial so this is a big step for her. Second, seeking the help of the doctor represents a way for Esther's mother to help her daughter. Watching one’s chile go insane is rather difficult, I would imagine. Therefore, I think this will give her mother hope, which is very important. Finally, after the horrible shock “treatment”, she thinks of the entire experience as a punishment, not a help. The idea of punishment holds a lot of weight in her increasingly irrational thoughts and fears.

The medical treatment that Esther seeks is certainly unique to the protagonists. It is very significant and shows a lot about her battle with the illness. However, the one think it definitely did not do: treat her.

A narrator for YOU

One thing that I have really enjoyed about Catcher in the Rye is the ways in which the narrative style is able to Break the wall between Holden and the reader. Typically, the narration in a novel is the platform upon which the story is laid. However, in Catcher, the words describing the event are part of the story. The unique qualities that Salinger gives Holden as a narrator are able to accomplish this.

The first of these comes in the first sentence of novel. You may have noticed it: the second person. The ‘you’ is never identified as someone listening (in the format of a frame narrative). Therefore, Holden is able to draw in the reader by developing a conversational tone. We also discussed in class about how this leads us to believe he likes us, providing a gratifying reading experience. This serves to make the narration important through a personal connection to the reader.

The next thing that Salinger uses to give us Holden’s character simply through narrating is his informal style, specifically the repetition that Holden uses. Paragraphs are not clearly thought out and two sentences are likely to repeat each other. This would generally be an annoying  and immature writing style, but Salinger is able to pull this off as conversational and real, rather than paragraphs carefully constructed.

I am not sure how unique this point is to this book, but I really noticed when a character would say something and the narrator would be disgusted by the language used in the novel. For example, Sally says “‘I’d Love to. Grand.’” and holden tell us: “Grand. If there is one word I hate, it’s grand” (page 106). I was struck by how Salinger made his narrator hate his own word choice. This does a lot to pull the narrator away from the author, who is creating it. The fact that the story mocks itself is very powerful.

How did Holden’s voice make an impact for you?

Stephen and his Mom

In Portrait of the artist as a young man, Stephen evolves in many ways as he grows up. His mother represents the mold that he is breaking. I found her few appearances to be very telling of Stephen's character. Her first real involvement is at the dinner when the argument breaks out. She largely acts as the arbiter and tries to retain order. I believe this is one of the things Stephen internalizes and it definitely sets a precedence for he order-driven motives in the novel.

Later on, we get descriptions of how Mrs. Dedalus is the strict catholic that has hopes for Stephen to enter priest hood when she sends him to the boarding schools. We see this reinforced when she appears disappointed with his interest in college. This provides a perfect opportunity for Stephen to grow as a person beyond what his mother expects, expressing his individuality. By the time he refuses to go to church, he is far from the devoted boy from the beginning. Cranley points out how Stephen is now beyond acting under his mother's love, another symbol of independence. I think she is important, as both a static character and one of the only women exclusively portrayed realistically.

I do not envy Stephen's complete detachment from his mother, but I think it is a very significant detain.

Coming of Age is More than Just You

While the concept of coming of age is an inherently personal concept, much of our life is defined by our relationship with others. Therefore, I believe our social interactions can do a lot to display this process.

The first aspect of coming of age that often comes up in discussion is memory. We said in class that we do not see ourselves as coming of age at a certain time, but rather we view our coa process through a collection of memories. I have noticed that sharing memories with others whether they were there or not is very powerful for building one’s self image. Additionally, a meaningful way to view one’s past is through the context of friends  and experiences with those around you. Lastly, the another defining characteristic of coa is maturity, and this is most clearly expressed through relationships with others. These evolve over time from playful or submissive (to parents) to professional or romantic. This process is crucial to coa and requires others to be intimately involved in one’s development

Are there any other ways your coa is represented or shared with others? Or do you think this is a purely individual journey?