Task: Write a T.E.X.A.S. paragraph.
Prompt:
Write a well-developed paragraph in which you use ideas from chapters 15 – 20 to establish a controlling idea about life being filled with sadness. Develop your controlling idea using specific examples and details from "Catcher".
Friendly Suggestions:
· Use quotes from “Understanding Thematic Ideas” assessment
· Expand on the already developed explanation of “life being filled with sadness”.
· Type up responses in WORD. Save document. Upload to the blog.
· Reference the T.E.X.A.S. handout.
Holden Caulfield finds that life is full of sadness when he gets sick towards the end of the book because he then has time to realize what is wrong with his life and is wrong with the lives of others. Through out the whole book there are examples of this which range from, economic inequalities, to people who have absolutely boring lives. On page 108 Holden says," Dick Slagle, that had one of these very inexpensive suit cases, He used to keep them under the be instead of on the rack so that nobody's see them standing next to mine." This shows economic inequalities because he is self conscious about his bags and the way they would look next to Holdens nice bags. Dick probably is less well off than Holden, this can be inferred by how their suitcases compare. Also the fact that Dick is self conscious about his bags may also be evidence of social fragmentation in society, because he may be afraid of being judged by others. In closing, Holden finds the amount of sadness in life to be excruciatingly large and feels surrounded by it. -Theo Gevirtz
ReplyDeleteThe fictional novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger stimulates the reader to consider and analyze the idea that life is full of sadness. Salinger’s novel, which is told from the pessimistic point of view of seventeen-year old Holden Caulfield, expresses life’s sadness through Holden’s experiences and encounters. This sadness stems from many sources, one being social fragmentation into different groups. Through a brief encounter with the nuns Holden learns to identify social fragmentation and fathom its effect on life’s sadness. After engaging in conversation with the nuns, Holden compares their selflessness and genuine nature to the self sufficient, flamboyant presence of his aunt. As Holden recounts, “I kept trying to picture my mother or somebody, or my aunt, or Sally Hayes’s crazy mother, standing outside some department store collecting dough for poor people in a beat-up old straw basket.” He then goes on to say, “My aunt’s pretty charitable-she does a lot of Red Cross work and all- but she’s very well-dressed and all, and when she does anything charitable she’s always very well-dressed and has lipstick on and all that crap.” (114) These quotes show Holden’s distinction between the contained, conservative presence emitted by the nuns, and the flashy, dolled-up presence given off by his aunt. These distinct groups adequately illustrate fragmentation of society in that they expose two very different classes of individuals: the spiritual, genuine individuals versus the wealthy, appearance and self centered people. Through an analysis of these two groups, the reader can arrive at the realization that inequalities and struggles in life stem from this social fragmentation. Ultimately, this unbalanced separation of society results in life’s sadness. Whether humans choose to admit it or deny it, life is full of sadness. While this sadness may appear in various forms, every individual must experience such a feeling in their lives, for it is sadness and disappointment that allows one to become a better human being.
ReplyDeleteAmy Carton
Throughout chapters 15-20 there are a lot of examples to show how life is full of sadness. One quote is “After they left, I started getting sorry that I’d only given them ten bucks for their collection. But the thing was, I’d made that date to go and see a matinee with old Sally Hays, and I needed to keep some dough for the tickets and stuff, I was sorry anyway though, goddamn money, it always ends up making you blue as hell.”(Don’t know the page number). This is a quote to show how money can cause problems. My mom always says to me “money doesn’t grow on trees.” Meaning that you can’t get money when you want and there is a limit to how much you get. This quote shows what my mom says to me perfectly because Holden wants to give more money to the Nuns but is unable to because he made plans to see a show with Sally Hayes and had to save some money for the tickets and things like that. This shows that life is full of sadness because Holden wants to give more money to the Nuns but is unable to because he needs the money for his other commitment. This is just one example of the many that shows that life is full of sadness.
ReplyDeleteThroughout The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden mostly feels depressed and his life is full of sadness. Holden has no motivation, nothing to do, and nowhere to go in his life. The only time Holden is happy is when he is thinking about memories with Allie and Phoebe. Throughout the book, Holden thinks about the ducks in Central Park and where they go during winter. "And besides, I didn't even know where I was supposed to go. So what I did, I started walking over to the park. I figured I'd go by that little lake and see what the hell the ducks were doing, see if they were around or not." Holden thinking about the life of the ducks related to his own life. The ducks need to find a place to live in the winter, Holden also needs to find something to do and a place to go in his life. Holden thinks his life as a teenager is depressing and his childhood was filled with innocence and happiness. Holden is always happy when he thinks of his childhood memories with Allie and Phoebe. Allie's death had a big impact on Holden's life because after Allie died, Holden became depressed and his life was filled with sadness.
ReplyDeleteHolden Caulfield finds out that life is full of sadness when he gets sick at the end of the book he figures out that he is the one with a life full of sadness. In the whole book holden realized a lot of life lessons like Economic Inequities, Fragmentation of society into different groups to boring lives. But i feel the quote about People searching for meaning in life explains Holden's understanding of that life is full of sadness. On page 123 Holden said "In a way, it was sort of depressing too because you kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them. When they got out of school and college, I mean." This relates to the theme because life is full of sadness and when these kids go off in the wrong direction they will eventually be upset with their lives because it is full of sadness from the decisions they made. In the end this is how Holden really understands how life is full of sadness.
ReplyDeleteBrian Goldstein
In the book, Holden discovers that life often is full of sadness, both with himself and with the many people he encounters. Throughout the novel, he tells us about many things like economic inequalities, boring live, or people searching for the meaning in their lives. Another is the fragmentation of society into different groups. During the novel, Holden tells us, “For a while when I was at Elkton Hills, I roomed with this boy, Dick Slagle, that had these very inexpensive suitcases. He used to keep them under the bed, instead of on the rack, so that nobody’d see them standing next to mine. It depressed the holy out of me, and I kept wanting to throw mine out or something, or even trade with him. Mine came from Mark Cross, and they were genuine cowhide and all that crap, and I guess they cost a pretty penny.” (pg 108) this quote shows that there are many different levels/classes in society that sometimes people can quite clearly see in a person, like how you can tell that Holden is rich and his roommate is poorer than him. There are probably also many other people who are in a situation like this, where one person is rich and another is poor, and one or both feel bad about something in that situation, much like Holden felt bad about having better suitcases. This relates to the theme that life is filled with sadness that because of this difference in society, the poorer people are more often than not the sadder ones, and are usually the ones who don’t get much in their lives because of their financial situation.
ReplyDeleteEmma Potts
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteIn the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, readers are able to grasp the concept that life is full of sadness. This understanding can be developed through Holden’s experiences present throughout the book. Economic inequalities that Holden encounters during the story can help prove the validity of the theme. One economic inequality present would be when Holden tells readers about a roommate he once had named Dick Sagle. He was not a wealthy man and had impoverished looking suitcases, while Holden had very expensive, elaborate ones. He writes, “The thing is, it’s really hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs- if your are really good ones and theirs aren’t.” (109) This quote helps prove that life is full of sadness. This is because it shows readers how sad it is that not everybody can afford to have nice things. Even further, it shows that just because Holden has nicer materialistic objects than Dick Sagle it affects their relationship they have towards one another. This is sad because money kept Holden and Dick apart from being friends. This quote also helps to further clarify how in some form or another, everyone has to experience or encounter true sadness in his or her lifetime. Although it may seem unbearable at the time, it will help us to grow stronger as human beings in the end.
ReplyDeleteIn the book catcher in the rye by J.D Salinger, a message is being sent to the readers that life is filled with sadness. As the story is being told by a 17-year-old troublesome boy name Holden Caulfield, who points out economic inequities in his surrounding, and the fragmentation of societies into different groups to emphases the depression in Holden Caulfield’s life. On page 123 in the book, Holden said “a lot of schools were home for vacation already, and there were about a million girls sitting and standing around for their dates to show up. Girls with their legs crossed, girls with terrific legs, and girls that looked like they’d be bitches if you knew them.” In this quote you see how Holden fragments the group of girls standing around into groups. As Holden watches these girls stand around, it made him think about how when vacation would be over everyone would go back to school, everyone but Holden though. And this sudden thought in Holden’s head triggered his defense mechanism that automatically made him judge the girls standing around by their stance, face, and even legs. This comes to show that life is full of sadness, and when Holden encounters this sadness he simply take it out on other people.
ReplyDeletewritten by steven maldonado
J.D. Salinger uses the chapters fifteen through twenty of Catcher in the Rye to emphasize Holden’s critical encounters searching for the meaning in life, but also relating to the controlling theme that life is full of sadness. Salinger uses Holden’s pessimistic persona to search for hope in his depression. Throughout the novel he has been determined to find the meaning of life and he chooses objects he could relate to for comfort. Holden’s past experiences and thoughts often lead him to express his curiosity and interests towards the ducks. Holden had spoken internally, “So what I did, I started walking over to the park. I figured I’d go by that little lake and see what the hell the ducks were doing, see if they were around or not. I still didn’t know if they were around or not.” (153) This was not the first time the ducks were mentioned and he likes to wonder about them because since he strongly relates to them being different and uncared for he like to look for them as a hope for himself in the world. Similar to Holden’s life the ducks are not noticed to by most of society and are not accepted. During the time of this quote he was in an intoxicated depression and when he had no place to go he thought of the ducks because the ducks themselves had no where to go as well due to the frigid winter weather. The controlling idea of life being full of sadness is Holden’s life symbolized by the duck’s so that their future will foreshadow Holden’s.
ReplyDeleteThemes of grief and sadness are made evident through the protagonist, Holden Caulfield in the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger. Holden has insight of the world and often questions society. He views the world in terms of hypocrisy and phoniness, which is something most 17- year old boys do not do. Holden’s ability to criticize and make swift judgments is what sets the book up to establish the controlling idea about life being filled with sadness. In people’s boring, everyday lives, sadness is shown remarkably, even though one may not notice it. Holden recalls a lady sitting next to him in a movie theater, “…she was about as kindhearted as a goddam wolf. You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they’re mean bastards at heart. I’m not kidding.” (Page 40) This quote shows how Holden’s critisism and keen sense of observation and phoniness show that life is indeed full of sadness. In many peoples “boring” lives, they often see movies which many times entail a lot of sadness. Movies often show sadness and directly affect the people who watch them; they usually enable all sorts of emotional reactions. Although we may not recognize it, sadness is shown in every day life, even in the people who put up a tough front.
ReplyDeleteSarah Murphy
Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Salinger ties the majority of Holden Caulfield’s experiences and thoughts to the central idea that life is filled with sadness. One of the many sources of sadness in Holden’s life is the fragmentation of society into different groups, or cliques, as he would refer to them. Holden displays this specific sorrow when imagining George, Sally’s Ivy League “friend”, meeting up with his friends for cocktails, “I could see them all sitting around in some bar, with their goddam checkered vests, criticizing shows and books and women in those tired, snobby voices. They kill me, those guys” (Page 128). This quotation exemplifies how the separation of society into different groups upsets Holden, and in some ways makes him envious of others. Evidenced by many scenes in the novel, Holden is somewhat isolated from his peers and does not have a set group of friends that are similar to him, or even one best friend to talk to. Due to this division in society, Holden feels extremely sad and out of place because is really no label or type of people that he mixes with best. Through this quote and many more included in The Catcher in the Rye, it becomes apparent that Holden’s life is filled with sadness, and that the sadness he feels results from a variety of causes.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel The Catcher in the Rye the author, J.D. Salinger, sends the message to his readers that life is full of sadness. There are many factors of Holden’s life that contribute to him agreeing with this message. One major factor is the fragmentation of society into different groups, this causes him to have sadness in his life. This is shown in the novel when Holden discuss the nuns, “You could tell, for one thing that they never went anywhere swanky for lunch. It made me so damn sad when I thought about it, their never going anywhere swanky for lunch or anything. I knew it wasn’t too important but it made me sad anyway. (pg 144)” In this quote Holden is describing how nuns don’t go out and enjoy themselves with a nice lunch and how it makes him very upset. Nuns have their own role in society and have different responsibilities. Their life revolves around worshiping God and they don’t leave so much time for themselves. Therefore they cannot always do the things ordinary and high class people do. This shows how in society people happen to be in different groups and not everyone is equal and has the ability to do the same things. From this one can conclude that the division of people in society contributes to the idea that life is full of sadness. – Olivia Manley
ReplyDeleteHolden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger feels as if life is full of sadness. Holden is judgmental teenager who encounters with several conflicts in the novel. One of the conflicts were economic inequities. When he is in Central Park in New York City he thinks, “All I had was three singles and five quarters and a nickel left- boy, I spent a fortune since I left Pencey” (156) He thought and did spend almost all his money while he stayed at New York City and he didn’t even notice that he spent that much until he started counting it in the park.. This connects to the theme of how life is full of sadness since Holden didn’t even realize that he spent so much and it seems as though Holden can’t even have fun without spending a decent amount of money. Also, it seems as though that even if he feels as if he is having a pleasant time he truly isn’t since later on he gets very depressed about everything.. Therefore, Holden can’t have “fun” without money which makes his life full of sadness.
ReplyDeleteMaya Ogura
The novel, The Catcher in the Rye by author J.D. Salinger, utilizes the theme of life being full of sadness. Throughout chapters 15-20 Holden goes through very traumatizing and disconsolate situations which put Holden in a depressed disposition. While Holden is ill, moving towards the end of the book his feelings change about his life and his view on the lives of others as well. On page (204) in chapter 25 Holden feels that he wants more peace in his life “It was so nice and peaceful. Then, all of a sudden, you’d never guess what I saw on the wall. Another “F*** you.” It was written with a red crayon or something, right under the glass part of the wall, under the stones. That’s the whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write “f*** you” right under your nose.” This show that Holden wants inner peace but the bad part is that someone will just mess that up for quick laugh which is the sadness to it all. Also on page 123 Holden speculates on how his old roommate at Elkton hills was a bore, but at the same time Holden is a bore to because he doesn’t get much joy out of life. Both of these examples show that Holden is becoming more and more depressed and scattered throughout the chapters. Through sadness and failure comes wisdom and understanding. That is what Holden learns at the end of the novel, without sadness and heartache there is no future learning.
ReplyDelete- Luke
J.D Salinger uses theme to establish the controlling idea that life is full of sadness. Salinger expresses this theme as he displays examples within chapters 15-20 of economic inequalities,and boring lives. Through Holden’s narration readers are able to engage in these ideas. On page 113 Holden quotes “goddamn money. It always winds up making you blue as hell.” This can be directly connected to the theme providing that it enhances the idea of sadness. Holden is upset that not everyone can be economically equal. Readers tend to agree with Holden that all money does is cause problems. If everyone was economically equal sadness could be eliminated to an extent. On page 136 Holden states “the trouble was my address book only had 3 people in it”. The lack of names in Holden’s address book symbolize a boring life. Life would be more optimistic if people weren’t alienated and left out. Through these specific examples from Cather it is easy to establish the controlling idea that life is filled with sadness.
ReplyDelete-Alexis tedesco
In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, the theme “Life is full of sadness” is paramount throughout the book, where the main character Holden Caulfield is faced with many problems that vary in the different regions in his life. Whether it was with love, friends or even money they each in fact correlated to the theme quite excessively. During the duration of Holden’s time spent in New York, Holden comes to realize a problem that he must face dealing with money. The following quote demonstrates the meaning.” While I was in the cab, I took out my wallet and sort of counted my money. I don’t remember exactly what I had left, but it was no fortune or anything. I’d spent a king’s ransom in about 2 lousy weeks. I really had. I’m a goddamn spendthrift at heart.” This quote directs the reader to come to notice how Holden seldom is aware of his spending but is then conscious of the amount he has left. As well as where it went because he had spent so much just alone in the city and wasted a finite amount of cash. It relates to the theme because it seems that Holden, with out the money, wouldn’t know what to do or where to go seeing as though he has gotten expelled from school and does not want to head home, and does not want to rely on others. Making his life somewhat sad and hard because he knows sooner or later he will have non more money and will have to return home to face his fear of his parents.
ReplyDelete