Discuss one of Holden's following generalizations about life and decide to what degree they are true. Ask yourself if you would have drawn the same conclusions as Holden if you were in a similar situation.
Responses are to be thoughtful in content, reflect your personal reaction, and comment on the character of Holden Caulfield.
Holden's Generalizations
- "That's something that drives me crazy. When people say something twice that way, after you admit it the first time. Then he said it three times."
- "I'm pretty sure he yelled 'Good Luck!' at me. I hope not. I hope to hell not. I'd never yell 'Good Luck' at anybody. It sounds terrible when you think about it."
- "He was always asking you to do him a big favor. You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he's a real hot-shot, and they're always asking you to do them a big favor. Just because they're crazy about themself, they think you're crazy about them, too, and that you're just dying to do them a favor. It's sort of funny, in a way."
- "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him i wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you."
In the book The Cather and the Rye the protagonist Holden Caufield makes many generalizations. Holden is the kind of kid that speaks in hyperbolizes and makes hasty judgments about events that happen in his life. He is also the kind of kid that makes you think about your grammar (or maybe that is just me). In the book as I stated above he makes many generalizations he says ,“The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." I myself would not have made that generalization that people never believe you in some respects. In some ways by the way you look or from your past actions people will not believe because as humans we instantly make judgments about people whether they are good or evil as a defense mechanism. But on the pther hand people will believe you if they feel they can trust you for example my father thinks anything I say is the gospel truth and if I lie he will believe me and if he finds out I lied he would be crused but he still would believe anything else I say afterwards because he loves me.
ReplyDeleteChris Morris
Jennifer Blum
ReplyDeleteHolden Caulfield makes many generalizations about life and people in The Catcher in the Rye. One generalization that Holden makes states that hotshots are always asking for favors because they believe that since they are so crazy about themselves, everyone else is crazy about them too and is dying to do them favors. I somewhat agree with this generalization because in my life, there have been many instances in which people that think way too highly of themselves ask me to do them favors, assuming that I would love to do whatever they ask, whenever they ask. If I were in Holden’s position, I would definitely have drawn this same conclusion, and made this generalization about conceited people. Stradlater, is asking Holden to do him a huge favor by writing him a paper and spending one of his last nights at Pency writing an essay that he gets no credit for. Stradlater clearly didn’t feel the least bit guilty asking this favor of Holden, since it is obvious that he puts himself on a pedestal and truly believes that people will jump at any opportunity to do something for him.
Throughout chapters one through seven, the protagonist Holden Caulfield makes several generalizations regarding the unfairness of life. Recounting an episode involving a snowball on the local bus, Holden comments, “The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn’t going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn’t believe me. People never believe you.” Holden expresses frustration that the bus driver is quick to judge him. Without any prior knowledge about Holden as a person, the driver makes assumptions based solely on first impressions. If I were in the bus driver’s position, I would most likely react the same way. Why else would a teenage boy bring a compact snowball onto a public bus? Boys will be boys. The bus driver’s attitude reflects the fact that most people are suspicious by nature. Judging others comes naturally for most of us, whether we realize it or not. What is difficult is recognizing this rush to judgment and then rising above it.
ReplyDeleteAmy Carton
The protagonist, Holden Caulfield makes many generalizations about life in the book "The Catcher in the Rye". One generalization that Holden makes is "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." I would not make the generalization that people never believe you because trust depends on the situation and person. People usually judge others based on past experiences or assumptions based on the person's appearance. Since the bus driver didn't know Holden, he made an assumption that Holden would throw the snowball at someone because there was no other reason to have a snowball. If Holden did not have a snowball, then the bus driver would have no reason not to trust him.
ReplyDeleteSanam Patel
Holden Caulfield was known to conjure many generalizations about several situations he has experienced in chapters one through seven. As Holden was leaving his history teacher, old Spencer’s house he had thought, "I'm pretty sure he yelled 'Good Luck!' at me. I hope not. I hope to hell not. I'd never yell 'Good Luck' at anybody. It sounds terrible when you think about it." This generalization isn't true. If I was in that position I would interpret it as a polite gesture to show that the person cares enough to hope for the best. Holden views the sensitivity and love shown as something he wants to receive but as an insult because it could lead to him being hurt emotionally in the future. Holden Caulfield's attitude reflects his perspective of trust given from others to him. This fear was possibly created when his brother Allie had died and so the figure he admired was taken away. In order for him to live the life he wishes Holden must learn how to allow others to care for him in his life without the fear of being let down and the hatred towards others.
ReplyDeleteCasey Rinker
In the book, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden makes many generalizations. One generalization that I somewhat agree upon is "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." I think that some people may not believe you but there must be other people that will believe you. If you are like someone who lies a lot, then people will never believe you but most people are not like that. I also think people will believe you if the thing you are telling them are believable. If it isn't, then that person will not believe you. So I think that people will sometimes not believe you but other times they will. It will always matter on the situation and how good you are at lying. In this case, maybe Holden isn't a good liar making him believe that nobody believes himself. If I had a snowball in my hand and the bus driver told me to throw it out, I wouldn't think that he's not believing me when I say I won't throw it at anything or anybody. I will simply think that the bus driver just wants to be safe.
ReplyDeleteMaya Ogura
Throughout the story, we discover that Holden makes many generalizations about whatever is occurring in his life at the time. The generalization I chose was generalization #3. Holden says, "I'm pretty sure he yelled 'Good Luck!' at me. I hope not. I hope to hell not. I'd never yell 'Good Luck' at anybody. It sounds terrible when you think about it." The reason why I chose this is because it tells me a lot about Holden's character. It shows me that Holden is not the type of person who will just take or accept something the way they are, he actually thinks about it. I completely agree with Holden too. The term "good luck" is such a cliche. It is a phrase that everybody says but we never really stop to think about what it means. I think what it should be is "I hope you do well" or something like that. It is just a phrase that people have adapted into our society.
ReplyDeleteAlli F.
In catcher in the rye holden caulfield makes many generalizations about things in his life. But the most interesting one was the comment from the bus driver. "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him i wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." This could be explaining two things one the bus driver does not trust any kid or he had a bad vibe about holden. But in my opinion it was probably he did not trust many kids because as an adult u see things that kids do and there stupid so adults think all kids can be like that. holden is thinking that and he is getting upset because he feels that he is not the same way. So adults in this situation would make an assumption on something that happen in the past. Likewise i have had that done to me even though i gave my word they still did not believe me because ether of past experience or they did not get a good vibe from me but i will never know the real reason why.
ReplyDeleteBrian Goldstein
In the book, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield made many generalizations about his life and what he experienced throughout chapters one and seven. The generalization i chose was the last one, "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him i wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." Holden said this when he was about to bring a snowball onto the bus and the bus driver wouldn't let him on. Holden was offended the the bus driver did not believe he wasn't going to do any harm with the snowball. He felt that the bus driver was judging him and predicting his actions without even knowing him first. I understand where holden is coming from but I think that i would have done the same thing as the bus driver. In life, it is hard for one to trust the people around them. Its hard enough to choose the people in ones daily life to trust let alone a complete stranger.
ReplyDeleteolivia manley
The common format presented throughout the first seven chapters of Salinger’s literary work, Catcher in the Rye, not only furthers ones understanding of the content of the plot, but also enhances the meaning of the messages conveyed within the novel. Readers are informed about the specifics of an event followed by personal thoughts and opinions from none other than the protagonist himself, Holden Caulfield. While looking over the list of generalizations I thought back to specific examples I believed were common in society today during my reading. One that stuck out in my mind as a clear truth involved “hotshots” believing “people are crazy about them because they are crazy about themselves.” After thinking about what I could write for this common generalization I decided to pick a more challenging example; one that I could really express my opinion on. I agree with Holden’s generalization that wishing (yelling) good luck to someone is terrible. One defines luck as being success or failure brought by chance rather than through one’s own actions. When one truly thinks about the saying “good luck” saying it means you do not believe a particular person has the ability to complete a task based on who and what they are. Depending on the context of the saying, wishing someone good luck could indicate you hold no faith in what they are about to do, and that chance must play a role in their actions in order for them to succeed. The precautions Holden Caulfield’s takes when trusting people and having faith in people supports his belief that wishing someone good luck is terrible. If I had been told by my teacher that I needed to change my lifestyle in order to succeed in the future and that maybe my disregard for school wasn’t the “rough patch” I suspected, just as Holden had, I would definitely had drawn the same conclusions as him. The meaning behind these generalizations is causing one to question aspects of life and how they apply to his/herself.
ReplyDeleteNicole Suozzo
Throughout the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” Holden, the protagonist, makes several generalizations about life. The generalization that stood out the most is when Holden states "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." This generalization goes to show you how quick people take action to judge you. From the bus driver’s point of view he was only trying to do his job efficiently, making sure that Holden wasn’t going to cause any trouble. It’s better to be safe than sorry whether Holden was lying or not. Perhaps the bus driver new Holden had a habit of lying or maybe he was just following the rules. This is a hard generalization to agree or disagree with because it all relies on the situation. Generally I disagree with this generalization referring to the bus driver’s point of view, but however a good theme can be established about how quick people judge others.
ReplyDeleteAlexis Tedesco
In the book, "The Catcher in the Rye," Holden Caulfeld makes several generalizations throughout his life. One of them is, "The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." This shows the bus driver hadn't beleived Holden when he said he wasn't going to throw the snowball because he thought Holden had been lying. Maybe the bus driver had just been trying to do his job as well as he could, but there is also the possiblility that Holden had been lying and the bus driver had seen he had been. I generally agree with this statement because this has happened to me on some occasions so I can sympithize with Holden. This also shows how quick a lot of people can be to judge others that they have just met.
ReplyDeleteEmma Potts
In the book the Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger the main character Holden Caulfield makes many generalizations. He usually over exaggerates but in one case i agree with him. When Holden says "He was always asking you to do him a big favor. You take a very handsome guy, or a guy that thinks he's a real hot-shot, and they're always asking you to do them a big favor. Just because they're crazy about themself, they think you're crazy about them, too, and that you're just dying to do them a favor. It's sort of funny, in a way." because this happens all the time because people think that there better then everyone else so they can tell them what to do. If i were Holden i would feel the same way he does.
ReplyDelete• Holden Caulfield known for being the narrator and main character in novel, A Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, throughout his story he continuously goes on about the faults of how people treat each other and the faults of their own personalities. Of course most of Holden’s generalization are harshly arrogant, hypercritical toward others, and/or judgmental against others personal personalities."The bus driver opened the doors and made me throw it out. I told him I wasn't going to chuck it at anybody, but he wouldn't believe me. People never believe you." In this scene Holden has been packing the perfect snowball, trying to bring it on the bus but the bus driver refuses and tells him he has to throw it out. Holden believes it to because the bus driver is being rude and thinks it’s because no one ever trusts each other. Really it’s because the bus driver doesn’t know Holden, why should the bus driver trust Holden if there is no evidence to support that Holden would or would not throw the snow ball.
ReplyDeleteIf a friend of mine was trying to score a date with someone, there are a lot of ways to go about it. To be honest it would really all depend on how the other person was, their personalities and what the two shared in common. If it were sports or some sort of club, I would wait until something really excited happened and then go up to them and be like “HEY! Go out with me?” So it would just add to the excitement. If you two met in class do something really corny and slip them a note or just be sweet and ask them after class. Most people just care about how nice the person is, as well as how the person looks so don’t try to look like a slob, clean up a bit for any type of asking out. Just be chill and don’t act nervous people can sense it when you ask them about and make them really doubt if you are worth their time. Don’t try any corny pick up lines they are an instant shut down. Just be sweet tell the girl you think they are pretty, don’t hold back and be brave, more than likely she will say yes.
ReplyDeleteLaura McKinsey