Fahrenheit 451 Question 8

            This is the last blog I am going to write for Fahrenheit 451! I am so happy.  After this blog, I have to read The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck.  My last blog is going to be about historical events in the novel, responsibilities between various groups and how the Ray Bradbury was influenced.

            Throughout the novel, Ray Bradbury mentions Seashell radios.  “’Well -- so there's more here than I thought. I saw you tilt your head, listening. First I thought you had a Seashell. But when you turned clever later, I wondered. We'll trace this and drop in on your friend’” (Bradbury 118).  This is from when Captain Beatty figured out that Guy Montag was communicating with someone through a small device.  “’The Seashell hummed in his ear.  ‘...watch for a man running ... watch for the running man ... watch for a man alone, on foot ...  watch ...’” (Bradbury 124).  Now Montag actually has a Seashell radio in his ear and he is listening to what the police are saying to each other.  Ray Bradbury thought of this technological advancement and decided to put it in his novel. 

“‘Dover Beach’ is a short lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold.  It was first published in 1867 in the collection New Poems, but surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851” (Dover).  Ray Bradbury mentioned this in The Sieve and the Sand.  "’What's the title, dear?’  ‘Dover Beach.’  His mouth was numb.  ‘Now read in a nice clear voice and go slow’” (Bradbury 99).  Guy pulled out a book while two of Mildred’s friends were over and she made him read this poem to them. 

I think that Ray Bradbury was influenced by an invention he created and poetry!

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.


"Dover Beach." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 July 2012. Web. 31 July 2012. 

Fahrenheit 451 Question 6

            I am close to being done with the blogs for Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury! Yay! There are only two more questions to go.  Question six and question eight are the last blogs I am going to do for Fahrenheit 451.  For this blog, I feel like answering “Why do we still read this book?”

            There can be multiple reasons why we still read Fahrenheit 451 and I will tell you them.  Firstly, burning books is and was a worldwide problem.  Many countries feel the same way about books as many people in the novel.  Books are bad.  Books are just the opposite of bad.  They tell us information from the past but they also show us how different authors have their own writing styles.  Books are supposed to be cherished and read to learn from.  Countries burn/burned books because they wanted everyone to be equal with no one smarter than the other.  Secondly, Fahrenheit 451 shows censorship but also someone being a ruler.  If someone is being ruled like that where they cannot make their own choices or even read books, they will most likely try to rebel.  People should be able to be their own person and make their own choices. 

            The message in Fahrenheit 451 is to not forget about reading literature.  Ray Bradbury showed us how television and media have made people focus on that rather than reading.  Reading books can make you smarter while watching television can make your brain rot.  Do not get me wrong, I love watching TV but you should not sit on your butt all day watching TV.  Having a daily dose of literature is healthy for your brain. 

            We can learn to be thankful for the books we are able to have in our homes that we can read.  Can you imagine our world without any type of literature?  I know that some people would think it was the best thing in the world if books were destroyed.  Me on the other hand would be so upset.  I love books!

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Question 4

            Every book has a hero.  At least every book I have read has had a hero.  In The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, Thibault saved Beth’s son, Ben from the raging currents of a river.  Just like The Lucky One, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, has a hero too.  The hero is Guy Montag, even though he does not really act like one.  He is a firefighter who does just the opposite of what the normal firefighter does. He starts fires instead of extinguishing them.  Guy Montag felt calmed by the sight of books burning because that was what he knew.  Books were bad.

            One day, the group of firefighters were called to Mrs. Blake’s home to burn it down.  She was hiding books in her home, which a very thing.  After she burnt to death because she started the fire herself, he was scarred for life.  He actually stole a book, the Bible which fell on him.  From that moment on, Guy wanted to quit his job.  “’Mildred, how would it be if, well, maybe, I quit my job awhile?’” (Bradbury 51)  He wanted to preserve all the books because they hold important information.  Guy Montag is confused by books and he is overwhelmed by the things he is starting to learn in books.  He turned to Faber for help to understand the meanings of the books he was reading.  Faber used to be a professor.  “’Do you know that books smell like nutmeg or some spice from a foreign land? I loved to smell them when I was a boy. Lord, there were a lot of lovely books once, before we let them go’” (Bradbury 81).  It is sad to see all the books getting burned because I love books and cannot imagine the world without them. 

            Guy Montag represents the abstract idea of almost evil.  I say this because he sets his supervisor on fire and he murders Captain Beatty.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Question 5

            Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 1950-1953 in Los Angeles, California.  The novel takes place in the future of the twenty-fourth century.  “The 24th century of the anno Domini (common) era will span from January 1, 2301 to December 31, 2400 of the Gregorian calendar. Unlike most century years, the year 2400 is a leap year, and the first century leap year since 2000” (Twenty-fourth).  It would be hard to write a book about the future because you have to predict every single event.  Ray Bradbury did a very nice job predicting the future. 

            In Fahrenheit 451, a commercial for Denham’s Dentifrice repeatedly plays in Guy Montag’s mind.  He hears it everywhere.  Denham’s Dentifrice is common toothpaste just like Colgate is for us.  Everyone listens to commercials, whether it is on television or on the radio.  Some can be interesting while others can be so annoying.  The worst part is, is that the annoying commercials always stick in you mind.  “It is the advertisement that keeps playing over and over so that the people can not think -- akin to our modern advertising blitz that puts the idea into our minds to buy, buy, buy without thinking” (What).  This is talking about the significance of Denham’s Dentifrice in Fahrenheit 451. 

            While on the subway heading to Faber’s house, Guy Montag is busy reading the Bible he stole from Mrs. Blake’s burning house.  In the background, the commercial for Denham’s Dentifrice plays repeatedly.  “The people who had been sitting a moment before, tapping their feet to the rhythm of Denham's Dentifrice, Denham's Dandy Dental Detergent, Denham's Dentifrice Dentifrice Dentifrice, one two, one two three, one two, one two three. The people whose mouths had been faintly twitching the words Dentifrice Dentifrice Dentifrice. The train radio vomited upon Montag, in retaliation, a great tonload of music made of tin, copper, silver, chromium, and brass” (Bradbury 79).  This makes Montag freak out and ends up yelling at the radio to shut up. 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

"Twenty-fourth Century." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Nov. 2012. Web. 30 July 2012.  

         

"What Is the Significince of Denham's Dentifrice Fahrenheit 451?" WikiAnswers. Answers, n.d. Web. 30 July 2012. 

Fahrenheit 451 Question 7

            As an author, you want people to read and revel in what you wrote.  While writing, the author puts in techniques to engage the readers.  In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury wrote the novel with two distinct techniques to make the story effective.  He used descriptions and symbolism. 

            In a couple of my previous blogs, I have mentioned Ray Bradbury being extremely descriptive in his writing of Fahrenheit 451.  Being descriptive can make things interesting by adding more details.  Also, the audience reading the novel can create a more complex image of the story and characters in their mind.  Me personally, I would rather the words be descriptive because I have to be able to picture what is going in my mind otherwise I get lost in the book.  One thing I love in descriptions are the smells.  “A dry river smelling of hot cloves and warm dust. And the other smells! There was a smell like a cut potato from all the land, raw and cold and white from having the moon on it most of the night. There was a smell like pickles from a bottle and a smell like parsley on the table at home. There was a faint yellow odor like mustard from a jar. There was a smell like carnations from the yard next door.  He put down his hand and felt a weed rise up like a child brushing him. His fingers smelled of licorice” (Bradbury 144).  When I read this my nose twitched.  Then I started to smell what he smelled: the potato, the pickles, and mustard.  I think it is just so cool how that can happen.  Kudos to Ray Bradbury!

            One thing about Fahrenheit 451 that is unusual is that it is broken into three sections: The Hearth and the Salamander, The Sieve and the Sand, and Burning Bright.  In The Hearth and the Salamander, we were learning about Guy Montag’s life which is the main foundation, which is like a hearth.  As for the salamander part, the fire trucks in the novel are called Salamanders.  On to The Sieve and the Sand.  In this section, Guy is trying to wrap his brain around all the information he has gathered but he is struggling.  The sand is falling right the sieve.  Lastly, Burning Bright is probably the most symbolic title.  Guy Montag burns down his own house.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Question 3

            Officially, I have sixty percent of my summer reading blogs completed.  If percents are not your forte, I have thirty blogs out of fifty blogs.  With this said I have twenty blogs and almost two books left to read and blog on.  In this blog, I will tell you all about the main theme in Fahrenheit 451.  As I have said in recent blogs, censorship is a big deal in Ray Bradbury’s novel. 

            “A censor is an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds”  (Censor).  This means that censorship is the act of doing what I just stated.  In the novel, Bradbury never tells us straight up why books are forbidden in the future.  He tells us a couple of different factors but that is it.  I believe that the factors can be broken down into two categories: lack of interest in books and the forcing of people to hate books. 

            The factors leading to people’s lack of interest in novels were the invention of television and radio.  “’Then — motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Radio. Television. Things began to have mass’” (Bradbury 54).  These things were invented which lead people away from reading books.  Instead they could just sit and watch television or listen to the radio.  Some people think that reading is too much work so they just sit on their butts.  Authors and printing companies took this into action and shortened their writings.  This is bad for the people who enjoy reading the original, full-length literature instead of the shortened versions. 

            The other category is people’s hatred towards books.  The future became this way because the government programmed that books were bad into the people’s minds.  Once it is in your brain, it never leaves and you do not know anything different.  Like in Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag burns books because they are bad and it is his job.  He did not know anything different because that is what he was told.

"Censor." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 29 July 2012. 

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Captain Beatty

            One of the characters in Fahrenheit 451 is Captain Beatty.  He is an odd ball because he is in charge of burning books, but he knows so much about literature.  This makes you think.  Did he used to read and passionately enjoy books? 

            Captain Beatty is Guy Montag’s boss.  The day after they burn the old lady’s house down with her in it, Beatty came to check and see how Montag was doing.  “’Just thought I’d come by and see how the sick man is doing’” (Bradbury 53). Beatty just knew that Montag would not feel good after that disturbing scene.  While at Montag’s home, Beatty goes on this rant where he talks about the history of firefighting and why books are bad.  “’When did it all start, you ask, this job of ours, how did it come about, where, when? Well, I’d say it really got started around about a thing called the Civil War. Even though our rule-book claims it was founded earlier. The fact is we didn’t get along well until photography came into its own. Then — motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Radio. Television. Things began to have mass’” (Bradbury 54).  This is the start of his speech to Guy.  All this line means is that books was the main focus and then things started to get different.  The radio was invented along with television.  Books became less popular. 

            “Speed up the film, Montag, quick. Click? Pic? Look, Eye, Now, Flick, Here, There, Swift, Pace, Up, Down, In, Out, Why, How, Who, What, Where, Eh? Uh! Bang! Smack! Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom!’” (Bradbury 55)  I really enjoyed reading this because you do not usually see this in a novel.  Beatty is talking about fast forwarding through time where everything is being shortened and made easier to read.  It makes him mad because he wants people to see the whole story.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Question 2

            The title of the novel I am reading is Fahrenheit 451.  This was written by Ray Bradbury.  The title is how it is because books burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit.  The whole novel is about setting books ablaze because the government does not want people to be smarter than others.  I believe that there are two main conflicts in the novel, Montag versus the government and censorship versus freedom of speech. 

Montag versus The Government:
            Guy Montag is a firefighter who instead of putting out fires, he creates them.  He helps the government burn all the books they can find.  This also means he has to set the house on fire in which the owner was hiding books.  For awhile, Montag would grab a book before they burn them and hides it in his fireproof jacket.  We are able to see this sneaky act when they are called to burn down an elderly woman’s home.  “Now it plunged the book back under his arm, pressed it tight to sweating armpit, rushed out empty, with a magician's flourish! Look here! Innocent! Look!” (Bradbury 37)  After a couple of days, Montag shows Millie his secret stash of books in the ventilator.  The government forbids books to be read, yet Montag reads the illegal books.  In doing this feat, Montag rebels against the government by hiding the books.  He figured out that he needs to keep stealing the books and keep them alive.  Montag is fighting for books to be able to be read!

Censorship versus Freedom of Speech:

            Censorship in Fahrenheit 451 is about how the government is shielding people from gaining knowledge by burning books.  The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states that you are able say what you want, which is freedom of speech.  By setting all books ablaze, it forbids people to learn information to make them smarter than others.  People should be able to gain knowledge through books.

 Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Guy Montag

            In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Guy Montag is the main character in which the novel is all about.  He is a firefighter in a town that is not named.  Instead of putting out fires, he creates them.  At this time in history, which is in the twenty-fourth century, books are illegal to own.  If you are caught hiding books, the house that they are in is soaked with kerosene and lit with fire.  You had better hope you did not have anything special in your house at that time.

            The first sentence in the novel is, “It was a pleasure to burn” (Bradbury 3).  It is stating that Guy Montag enjoys the sounds and smells of books being burned.  “’Kerosene is nothing but perfume to me’” (Bradbury 6).  Right now he finds comfort in setting books ablaze, but that all changes when he meets a seventeen year old.  Her name is Clarisse.  “Her face was slender and milk-white, and in it was a kind of gentle hunger that touched over everything with tireless curiosity. It was a look, almost, of pale surprise; the dark eyes were so fixed to the world that no move escaped them. Her dress was white and it whispered” (Bradbury 5).  They meet each other after guy gets off work and is heading home.  As soon as they start talking, they hit it off. 

Something about Clarisse, makes Guy Montag feel like he is doing the wrong job.  He feels this way even more after he is called to an elderly woman’s house.  At her home she had books in hiding.  Firefighters soaked her whole house in gasoline and told her to get out.  Instead, she pulled out a match and lit the fire with her still in the house.  This image was permanently etched into Guy’s brain.  He decided that he wanted to take some time off of his job.  “’Mildred, how would it be if, well, maybe, I quit my job awhile?’” (Bradbury 51) 

Guy Montag now wants to put a stop to burning books.  We will see how that turns out..

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Descriptions

            Like I said in my first blog about Ray Bradbury being extremely descriptive in Fahrenheit 451, I am going to write this blog about that.  I found a couple of passages that are just so descriptive that it actually paints a picture in my mind.  In these quotes, you actually have to pick it apart to understand it because he uses such descriptive words. 

            “With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history” (Bradbury 3).  This is on the first page of the novel and it was the first time I realized that Ray was such a descriptive author.  This quote is talking about the nozzle of the flamethrower spitting out kerosene to start the fire that would destroy all the books in its path. 

            “Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, its eight legs spidered under it on rubber padded paws” (Bradbury 24).  I was especially intrigued by this line in Fahrenheit 451.  Bradbury was describing the “Mechanical hound” in the firehouse.  When I first read “Mechanical hound” I was expecting it to be a dog because that is usually what firehouse hounds are.  The hound in this novel is a robotic spider I believe. 

            The last quote I chose was this one.  “Her face was like a snow-covered island upon which rain might fall, but it felt no rain; over which clouds might pass their moving shadows, but she felt no shadow. There was only the singing of the thimble-wasps in her tamped-shut ears, and her eyes all glass, and breath going in and out, softly, faintly, in and out her nostrils, and her not caring whether it came or went, went or came” (Bradbury 13).  This is about Guy Montag’s wife, Mildred or Millie.  She is lying in bed after she emptied a whole bottle of sleeping pills.  I believe that this line is showing how out of touch she is with reality.  Mildred is in her own world.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Fahrenheit 451 Question 1

            Yesterday I started reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  After reading the first page, I felt like I already knew the author.  He is such a descriptive writer and that makes me think that in life, he used big words and was a sophisticated talker.  I enjoy when authors are descriptive because it helps me to piece together that image in my mind.  Being able to create an image in my mind is a big part of my liking of a book.  I have to be able to read the book and make an image in my mind.  If I cannot form that image, then it means that I did not form a “bond” with the book.

            As the author, Ray Bradbury gets to choose what he writes and how he writes.  Through his writing we are able to see what Bradbury values.  I looked up a list of values on the internet and I chose a couple that matched Ray Bradbury.  The values I chose were expressiveness, meticulousness, and organization.  Expressiveness is being full of expression.  I chose this because Ray is very full of expression since he is so descriptive.  Meticulousness means being precise and thorough.  Again to be descriptive, you have to be picky on what words you put down on paper.  Last but not least, organization is a big key to be an author.  Bradbury would have had to keep all of his papers of his novel in a certain place so he would not lose any of his pages. 

            Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was written in third person.  Guy Montag is the character in the novel that is being narrated about.  As the readers, we are able to follow his point of view throughout Fahrenheit 451.

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. Print.

Comparison of The Old Man and the Sea and The Catcher in the Rye

YAY!  I am on my twenty-fifth blog!  The Old Man and the Sea and The Catcher in the rye are the two books I have read so far and I am going to compare and contrast them.  I drew a Venn diagram to help me find the similarities and differences of the two novels. 

            It is usually easier to find the differences so that is what I am going to start with.  For starters, The Old Man and the Sea was written by Ernest Hemingway while J.D. Salinger wrote The Catcher in the Rye.  The main character in The Old Man and the Sea is Santiago, who is a skinny old man.  Holden Caulfield is the main character in The Catcher in the Rye who is a teenage boy who is tall and skinny.  In the story, Santiago goes out to sea and ends up battling with a fifteen hundred pound marlin for three days.  While Santiago struggles with the fish. Holden struggles with life.  He does not want to grow up and become an adult because he does not want to the responsibilities that come with it.  Another difference is within the pages of the book.  Ernest Hemingway wrote the novel where it has no chapters so it is one continuous story.  I did not like that because it is hard to find a stopping point but it also seems much longer.  J.D. Salinger, thankfully, wrote his novel in chapters.  I find it much easier to follow along when there are chapters to stop at. 

            Out of both novels, I found only one similarity.  It is that both main characters have a younger person who keeps them grounded.  In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago has a young boy named Manolin.  Manolin helps the old man carry his things from his boat to his shack.  Along with physical support, the boy supports Santiago mentally.  In the other novel, Holden Caulfield has his younger sister, Phoebe to keep him going. 

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Quotations

You know how in my previous blog I said that that was the last blog I was going to write for The Catcher in the Rye.  Well I was wrong.  I am actually going to write two more, that way I reach twenty-five blogs overall.  That will be my half-way point.  In this blog, I am going to explain a couple of popular quotations that are in the novel. 

            The first quote is when Holden went to visit Mr. Spencer.  “’Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.’ ‘Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it.’        

Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right—I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game” (Salinger 8).  Mr. Spencer was Holden’s previous history teacher at Pencey Prep.  He was telling Holden that he needs to go through life by playing n the rules.  In his life, Holden felt like he was on the other side of everyone else.  He felt alienated from the world.

            The second quote is when Holden decides to kill time before his date with Sally and goes to the Museum of Natural History.  “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you” (Salinger 121).  For some reason, I really enjoyed reading this line from the novel.  I can relate to Holden because along with him I do not like change.  The life-sized historical figures in the exhibits do not move which emits the possibility of change.  Holden feels like he can understand the life in the museum because it is frozen in time.  He wishes his life would stay frozen because he does not want to grow up and enter the adult world. 

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 8

            I am officially on my last blog for The Catcher in the Rye!! I find question eight and question five.  They both deal with events in the novel that reflects history.  This blog is going to be very similar to the blog I wrote for question five.  The two things I wrote about in it were the card game Canasta and the Radio City Music Hall. 

            The Catcher in the Rye was written in the late 1940s- early 1950s.  During this time period, gramophone records also known as vinyl records became very popular in the United States.  Even though nothing is said about records in the novel, they were a big thing while J.D. Salinger was writing The Catcher in the Rye.  For all we know, Salinger could have listened to a record that inspired him to write this novel.  Records can have music programmed on it or it can have people talking.  I believe that Salinger was listening to a person talking about mental issues, in which he was inspired to write about Holden Caulfield.  This is a big stretch but I think it makes sense. 

            In The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger does not mention many details about the various groups in society in his novel.  I can only thing of one thing, the relationship between popular and unpopular.  Stradlater is the image of a popular person.  “He always walked around in his bare torso because he thought he had a damn good build.  He did, too.  I have to admit that” (Salinger 26).  The typical popular person has a good body and likes to flaunt it.  As for the unpopular image, Ackley is the perfect model.  “He was probably the only guy in the whole dorm, besides me, that wasn’t down at the game.  He hardly went anywhere” (Salinger 19).  Ackley likes to stay in his room and is boring. 

            I believe that J.D. Salinger was influenced by his own childhood.  He may have had a rough childhood where he did not do well in school and had an unloving family. 

"Gramophone Record." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 July 2012. Web. 24 July 2012.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 7

            I finished reading The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger a couple of days ago.  I only have two more blogs to write, which are questions seven and eight.  The last two questions I find hard to answer.  Question seven is all about the intriguing techniques that the author uses to pull the reader into the novel.  I did not particularly like The Catcher in the Rye; therefore I did not find many techniques that engaged me. 

            In the novel, there really were no common techniques like mystery or suspense.  I found intrigued at the fighting scene.  The fight was Holden Caulfield against Stadlater in their dorm room.  The reason for the tussle was Stradlater told Holden to write a composition about anything as long as it was very descriptive.  Holden ended up writing about his younger brother’s baseball glove, which Stradlater was not pleased with.  “He came over to my bed and started leaning over me and taking these playful as hell socks to my shoulder” (Salinger 42).  That was the start to the battle and it increasingly got worse.  Holden tried to punch Stradlater in the mouth because he was brushing his teeth but missed and lightly punched the side of his head.  “The next part I don’t remember so hot” (Salinger 43).  Holden ended up on the floor with Stradlater, who “weighed about a ton,” sitting on top of his chest.  “My nose was bleeding all over the place” (Salinger 43).  Even though the fight only lasted about two pages, I enjoyed it very much. 

            Other than that, I did not find anything else.  I felt that J.D. Salinger repeated himself very often, which made the story boring and predictable.  I wish he would have put some suspense or mystery into the story line because I think that would have made more people find the novel enjoyable.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 6

            I finally have twenty blogs done! Yipee! Sadly, I still have thirty more to write. I will get through it; I know I can do it!  I always ask myself, “Why do we still read this book today?”  That is going to be what this blog is about. 

            I believe that we still read this book because our teachers like the message and they have all the materials on it.  It is easy to reuse materials than having to buy all new.  Its like at the end of the school year and you barely used your markers, which you want to just throw away to get rid of.  You should just bring them home and reuse them next year that way you do not have to buy all new! Plus it is cheaper.  Let us get back to the novel.

            After I finished reading The Catcher in the Rye, I felt like that I learned something.  Its message and characters spoke to me.  Holden just did not know what to do.  His life was not going easy on him.  He failed out of four schools and his younger brother, Allie died.  Imagine that being put on your shoulders.  I would want to give up, but you cannot.  Holden started giving up but every time he thought of his younger sister, Phoebe, his spirits lifted.  Phoebe is what kept him grounded.  Everyone in life should have that one person to keep you happy and in touch with reality.  In the second to last chapter, I found the best passage throughout the whole novel.  “I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around.  I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth.  I don’t know why.  It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all.  God, I wish you could’ve been there” (Salinger 213).  Besides using damn so many times, I loved this quote.  Just to know how happy Holden was after all that he had been through was a good feeling. 

 

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 5

Question five here I come!  The Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger in the late 1940s-early 1950s in New York.  The setting in the novel takes place in the same time period.  I found a couple of references to history throughout the novel.

Do you like to play card games? I know I do! Have you ever heard of Canasta? Well Holden and Ackley knew what it was and loved to play it.  “Do you feel like playing a little Canasta?” (Salinger 47).  Holden was asking Ackley this at around eleven thirty.  Ackley did not want to play because he was too tired and Holden had woken him up.  I decided to research what Canasta was.  It is a card game that was brought to the United States from Uruguay.  “The game quickly became a card-craze boom in the 1950s” (Canasta).  This card games allows us to see that the characters in The Catcher in the Rye did take part in the popular games of the time period.

At one point in the novel, Holden mentions the Radio City Music Hall.  “Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in Rockefeller Center in New York City” (Radio).  Holden was at a bar late at night trying to find a girl to keep him company.  He did not have very good luck…The bar was getting ready to close so he bought some drinks for some women there dancing.  After they finished their drinks, “They said they were going to get up early to see the first show at Radio City Music Hall” (Salinger 75).

The one symbol that I find really symbolic is Holden’s red hunting hat.  At the end of The Catcher in the Rye, he gives his prized hunting hat to his sister, Phoebe.  It brought tears to my eyes, just kidding! Holden and Phoebe had a  great time that day and he ended it with giving her his most prized possession.

"Canasta." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Feb. 2012. Web. 19 July 2012.

"Radio City Music Hall." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 July 2012. Web. 19 July 2012. 

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 4

            Woohoo! Eighteen blogs done and I have thirty-two blogs to go.  There are five more questions that I have to answer.  Right now I am on question four!  “Who is the hero in this book and what are some of his or her traits?”  That is the first part of the question that I am going to answer now.

            In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, I believe that the hero is Holden Caulfield.  Although he seems to be messed up, he delivers such a strong point that it makes up for it.  Holden comes across as a kid who does not care about his future.  He has failed out of four schools within a couple of years. Holden is not dumb but he just does not apply himself at all.  When people do not apply themselves, it bugs the heck out of me because they can get somewhere in life if they did.  Some of Holden’s traits are tall, careless, hateful and unhappy.  As it says in the beginning of the novel, Holden says, “I’m six foot two and a half” (Salinger 9).  I said he was careless because he does not care about his education; he just lets himself fail all his classes.  Throughout the novel, you are able to see his true colors, especially when he is annoyed with some.   Holden becomes hateful to the world.  The trait is unhappy.  If I were him, I would be unhappy too.  He does not have his family to turn to, and he cannot stay in one school for very long.

            Holden Caulfield accomplished staying out of to much trouble even though he did get kicked out of four different schools.  Holden is portrayed as a troubled teenager who is trying to deal with life.  He represents the idea of struggle.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 3

On to question three!  This question is all about the themes of The Catcher in the Rye.  Throughout the novel I came across two different themes that really stood out to me.  They are keeping to yourself for self-protection and the painfulness of growing up.  I can relate to both of these things, which is why I think they stand out to me. 

As for the self-protection theme, people do not like to get hurt.  That could be physically or mentally.  Many people’s reactions are to not share any of their feelings or secrets so that they can stay away from getting hurt.  Sometimes this is the best thing to do but other times; you need to share your feelings with someone.  It is difficult to keep everything bottled up inside of you.  Holden Caulfield tells Mr. Spencer that he feels trapped on “the other side” of life and he cannot figure out a way to which he feels like he belongs (Salinger 8).  As the novel progresses, we figure out that he alienates himself for his own protection.  While he was in New York for the lacrosse trip, Holden bought a red hunting hat for one dollar.  I feel that he hides under this hat of his while trying to mask his pain.

The second theme that is addressed in this novel is the pain of growing up.  I am able to feel his pain because I am a teenager and am going through some of the same stuff as him.  At points in my life, I want to avoid growing up. I want to stay a kid where it is easier in school and in relationships.  Holden tries to avoid taking the steps to maturity.  Once you reach a certain age though, you realize that you are not getting any younger and you just have to let life happen.  Holden has not realized that he needs to do that yet.

J.D. Salinger seems to know a lot about human nature, especially being a teenager.  He made Holden a character that is afraid to grow up, which is felt by a lot of kids his age.  I feel that way!  Salinger also knows how teenagers feel about relationships.  They are a big step in life and he shows that it is normal to be nervous, excited, and scared to take that step.  I believe J.D. Salinger did a fantastic job writing The Catcher in the Rye!

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 2

            As of right now, I have a total of sixteen blogs and this will be seventeen! Hooray! This blog, I am going to focus on the second question, which is, “What are the causes, gains, and losses of the conflict dealt with in this book?”

            The conflict in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is within Holden Caulfield’s mind.  His mind cannot decide to connect with people on an adult level or to ignore the adult world and live in his childhood memories.  The beginning of the novel is Holden talking from a psychiatric ward about his childhood.  What Holden wants from the adult stand point are the sexual encounters, which he does not have good luck with.  At one point in the novel, Holden agrees with the elevator man to send up a prostitute up to his hotel room.  As a reader, you would figure that he would have a sexual encounter with Sunny.  Right?  Well Holden does not.  He chickens out leaving him five dollars poorer.  “’I don’t feel very much like myself tonight. I’ve had a rough night. Honest to God.  I’ll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don’t do it?’” (Salinger 96).  This is Holden’s chickening out speech to Sunny. 

            I believe that his childhood caused Holden to struggle with his drive to grow up or stay wrapped up in his memories.  On the first page of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden tells us he had a “lousy childhood” and that his “parents were occupied and all before they had him.”  Having a rough childhood can definitely effect how you grow up.  If Holden’s parents had helped him a little more when he was growing up, I do not think he would be struggling with this conflict.

            The gains of this conflict are that Holden can try different things while struggling with this.  He can experiment with the many ways to connect with people, which can be good or bad.  The losses of this conflict are that it is in his mind.  Battling with a conflict in your mind are always the hardest.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Question 1

            One thing I have noticed about J.D. Salinger’s way of writing is that he repeats in his novel, The Catcher in the Rye constantly.  He repeats himself so excessively that it gets annoying.  Novels are not usually annoying; they tend to be boring or scary.  I first started to notice the repetition of sentences and words when the characters would converse with each other.  One character that tends to say the same thing over is Robert Ackley or “Ackley”.  Ackley uses the word, “Chrissake” at least three times in the course of a chapter (Salinger 20, 22).  Not to mention, he continually says this word throughout the remainder of the novel.

The next example I am going to use to show J.D. Salinger’s repetition is not the most appropriate example but it stood out to me.  When I said it stood out to me, I meant that I could have gone reading it only once, not five times.  “I can’t stand that sonuvab****” and “He’s one sonuvab**** I really can’t stand” (Salinger 23).  As I said before, this sentence is not appropriate and that is why I used the asterix symbol instead of actually saying the word. 

The Catcher in the Rye reveals to the readers that J.D. Salinger values applying yourself in school and having friendships.  Holden Caulfield keeps failing out of school because he does not care enough to try.  People should apply themselves in school because it will get them farther in life.  At all the schools Holden has been to and later kicked out of, he has made friends.  You need those certain people in life to boost your confidence and keep you going forward. 

The Catcher in the Rye is written in first person where Holden Caulfield is the narrator.  He is narrating from a psychiatric facility a couple of months after the events described in the novel.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.

The Catcher in the Rye Robert Ackley

            In Chapter 3 of The Catcher in the Rye, the readers are introduced to a peculiar character.  His name is Robert Ackley.  You would think he would be called “Bob” or “Rob” but he actually goes by “Ackley.”  Everyone calls him Ackley.  “If he ever gets married, his own wife’ll probably call him ‘Ackley’” (Salinger 19).  Ackley lives in the room next to Holden Caulfield at Pencey. 

As Holden tells us, Ackley is a senior at Pencey and is a big fella.  He is close to six four and has round shoulders.  Ackley seems to look and act like the typical teenage boy from what J.D. Salinger describes which is pimples and laziness. Holden tells us that “he had a lot of pimples” and unlike most guys, they were all over his face (Salinger 19).  “He hardly went anywhere” (Salinger 19).  The author made sure to put emphasis on the “any” in anywhere by italicizing it.  The biggest flaw Holden sees in Ackley is his “lousy teeth” (Salinger 19).  “The whole time he roomed next to me, I never even once saw him brush his teeth.  They always looked mossy and awful” (Salinger 19). 

One thing that would bug me about Ackley, which annoys Holden greatly, is how he goes through people’s things.  “He started walking around the room, very slow and all, the way he always did, picking up your personal stuff off your desk or chiffonier.  He always picked up your personal stuff and looked at it” (Salinger 20).  From how Holden phrased that sentence, you are able to see that Ackley tends to do that often.  I do not like when people go through my things, let alone put it back in the wrong place.  “He always put it back in the wrong place, too” (Salinger 20).  Overall, Ackley is an interesting character that all novels need.

Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951. Print.