Key Points CATCHER IN THE RYE and THE OUTSIDER

THINK ABOUT THE HONESTY THING
Holden- the 'phoniest' person in the book
'Shooting the bull'
'Tiny tumour on the brain'
'If there's one thing I hate, its the movies'
WILD HYPERBOLE

Holden is then again a PARADOX. Is open with the wrong things. Conceals the real troubling problems.
'I felt like I was sort of disappearing'
^^^ minimisation of language, masking the intensity of his emotions >>> not what Meursault does, doesn't need to

Meursault- so honest, is alienating. Loves a sun 'that leaves no shadows'. He lives his life in black and white. He thought it was the only way to face up/hold up integrity to the 'tender indifference of the world'

The voice of the novels.... the retrospective/active&passive voice

The majority of the catcher in written in RETROSPECTION... that's why it stands out that he says 'he's dead now', a present tense sentence in a retrospective novel. Allie's death is clearly still haunting him. DEFINING EMOTION: GUILT.

In The Outsider we find the passive voice dominates. Until at the end of the novel (refer to structure) we find he finally uses a flourish of the active voice showing how gains control of his life/becomes happy. "I opened myself... to the gentle indifference of the world"

The Butcher Key Points

Structure/Narrative Point of view
-McCabe constructs his first person narrative in a stream of consciousness style
-Abrupt shifts from one place or time to another... KAIROTIC/ EPISODIC STYLE
-Highlights his lost, drifting condition
-This febrile (feverish) recollection of events highlights his LACK OF THOUGHT PROCESS
-At moments of high drama the grammatical structure disintegrates.
-Large 'slabs' of text are without punctuation
-Lack of speech marks. Direct speech of other figures are absorbed/incorporated/appropriated into his own direct speech
-Shows his inability to distinguish between his inner fantasies and exterior reality
-The other characters are denied autonomy. Highlights the EGOCENTRIC narrative style.

Language and imagery
-Hyperbole/wild exaggeration alongside bathos... stresses how he cannot grasp situations/inappropriate patterns of behaviour
-SPATIAL ORGANISATION ... i.e. the physical placement of Francie. McCabe often creates the a tableau of the outsider and insider
-Expletives, this casual use alerts us to violent/unstable tendencies
-TRAGICOMIC VEIN... misplaced language (comical).... longing to be accepted (pathos engendering)
-HALLUCINATORY LANGUAGE
-Nicknames, distancing himself. Disconnect
-Pig imagery** worn as a badge of honour.
-Onomatopoeia- focuses on senses/sounds rather than having emotional complexity. DELIBERATE ESCAPISM
-Comic book clichés

Context: Mr Camu

Well here's some key facts. Camus was a pied-noir, a French man that had been born in Algeria.
-He lived a tough existence as a child, he and his were impoverished and his father died in the Battle of Marne.]
-He was victim of the Roman Catholic Bourgeois, disillusioned from authority and the church
-Sharp awareness of death. He suffered a severe case of Tuberculosis.
-Note; the Roman Catholic faith underpinned the French culture.
-NON-COMFORMIST FIGURE--- refused to go along with the anti-arab sentiment in Algeria

His thoughts on CAPITAL PUNISHMENT:

For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium.

 

Honesty and integrity/appearances:

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

 

This is why Meursault is happy at the end. He gives up looking for a meaning in life. He finally begins to live.

You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

The Butcher Boy: How effective is McCabe in presenting Francie Brady's disturbed mental state?

The extract begins on page 165 with the words “But there was nothing much else I could do.” and continues to the end of the chapter.

McCabe presents Francie's mental descent into chaos in a sinister and poignant manner. This achieved primarily through his construction of the first person narrative in a stream of consciousness style. This is observed best when Francie stands listening to the "rain gurgling" that night and then confronts Mr Purcell "bleary eyed" the next morning. This sudden abrupt shift alerts to Francie's mental instability. He's clearly been standing voyeuristically watching their house with no comprehension of time. This should alert us immediately to the unreliability of Francie as a narrator. He imagines he can hear Mrs Nugent whispering "who is it, who is it", but this only heightens the ironic discrepancy between his fantasy and the exterior reality. His thoughts are evidently defined by a crazed paranoia.

McCabe effectively appropriates the direct speech of Mr Purcell into Francie's, intensifying the notion that Francie is unable to distinguish between his internal reality and external reality. "He just kept saying what party", the absence of speech marks denies Mr Purcell autonomy in the text and suggests the egocentric nature of his narrative. Francie imagines what he wants to hear, "I knew by the way he looked at me", this only generates a deeper sense of pathos as it makes clear for Francie's desperation for understanding and acceptance.

The spatial organisation the text furthers the impression that Francie's mental state is deteriorating. He is presented as being on "the far side of the road", on a dark and empty street. McCabe effectively depicts a tableau of an insider/outsider. We feel the physical isolation mirrors Francie's mental detachment. Francie's mental disintegration is stressed yet further through the breakdown in the grammatical structure. From "I think that was it..." to "tell me lies", is a large slab of text completely void of punctuation. This lack of punctuation is indicative of Francie's lack of thought process. The febrile recollection of events is suggestive of how Francie cannot control his flow of memories.

This insight into his mental instability is structured to be preceded by a scene highlighting his flippant attitude towards violence. This is indicted by the aggressive but casual use of expletives, "got three of the bast**ds". His response "what do you think of that boys" is reminiscent of comic book clichés. This comical approach to violence is worrying considering his increasingly sinister preoccupation with the Nugents. The anaphora of "if only", suggests he pins all his problems upon the actions of the Nugents. We worry he may retaliate to being victimised by the Nugents in the same way he lashes out at flies.  His unhinged behaviour towards Mr Purcell indicates he could be fully capable of this.

The outsider who chooses to reject society loses our sympathy, whereas the outsider who is rejected by society gains our sympathy

1. Plan first

Character interactions
Meursault- rejected by judge, appears 'slumped' 'no longer interested'... he has been rejected because he wouldn't renounce his own beliefs. SYMPATHY
Context- Camus viewed the government as ultimately self serving and corrupt.

Holden- rejects Mr Spencer, 'shoots the bull' 'terrific liar' 'I want to help you if I can'. LOSES SYMPATHY. Is offered help, resorts to digressions and lies. COWARD
Context- Salinger born into a middle-class family, Ivy League bourgeois. Disillusioned.

Language and imagery
Meursault- Rejects society and patent signs of grief. Simile for coffin. ALIENATES READER
Context- Camus challenges society. Deep seated expectations for human behaviour.

Holden- Minimisation of language, the use of 'sort of'. SYMPATHY. Acts as a shield.
Context- Depression misunderstood in the 1950s. Stoicism, a by-product of the war.

Structure
Meursault- Ambiguous, does he reject society at end? Use of the active voice. The indifferent world his 'brother'. HEROIC/SYMPATHY FOR HIS FATE
Context- Camus' absurdist philosophy. The world is chaotic. No pattern in life/higher order.

Holden- Bildungsroman structure? Epiphany experienced? Able to 'miss' people. Rejected by society? Thrown into mental hospital. SYMPATHY
Context- Salinger unable to experience this. Recluse for most of his life.

An outsider figure which rejects a society which is characterised to be corrupt or exploitative is likely to engender our sympathy. We feel the rejection is reasoned and we emphasise with the figure. However, it would be erroneous to think an outsider figure which is rejected by this society can only alienate a reader. We should learn from the scores of genocides which have tarnished human history that the 'threat' posed by outsider figures is often contrived. When considering the figures, 'Holden Caulfield' and 'Meursault' we must analyse in detail both the society and the figure themselves.

The character interactions between Meursault and the judge engender our sympathy as it exhibits the corruption of judicial system. The cross which is "brandished" at Meursault is symbolic of how religion and the notion of a higher order is always invoked on the side of authority. The judge is depicted as "thrusting" his religious beliefs aggressively on Meursault. The verb choice here presents Meursault as a victim. The judge appears defeated, "weary" and "no longer interested" when Meursault repeatedly says "no". We sympathise for Meursault here as he heroically stays loyal to his ideals despite being rejected by society as result, even purged from it. Camus exposes the tyranny of the law and the church, a tyranny that was paramount in the 1930s, this exposure intensifies our sympathy for Meursault. Conversely in The Catcher in the Rye we find Holden's rejection of Mr Spencer alienates us. Unlike Meursault, Holden isn't facing adversity, he is simply being asked to "apply himself" and is even offered help, "I want to help you, if I can". We find Holden overindulged and spoilt when he rejects Mr Spencer, as he confronts him with the grim reality of his situation. Then again, Salinger was acutely aware of the superficiality of the bourgeois Ivy League system. Salinger is rebelling against the conformity to education. It was forced upon the youth of the 1950s, not for their development but as a 'weapon' the Cold War.

Camus' use of laconic and dispassionate language presents Meursault as amoral as he seems indifferent to his own mothers death. He uses the memorable simile "like a pencil box" to describe his mother's coffin. Meursault is later condemned to death for having "buried his mother with the heartlessness of a criminal". Thus, Camus challenges us not to condemn Meursault for reacting in this way. He challenges our deep-seated expectations for human behaviour. The extremity of his punishment for not displaying patent signs of grief at his mother's funeral ultimitaly elicits our sympathy. While find the language of 'The Outsider' leaves Meursault's emotion or lack of emotion unconcealed, in 'The Catcher of the Rye' Salinger's minimisation of language masks the intensity of Holden's emotions. Holden rejects revealing his emotion complexity, perhaps not trusting us and society. He uses the vernacular phrase "sort of" continually, saying even that he felt he was "sort of disappearing". This is method of protection as Holden is denies confronting his mental instability. While this deliberate distancing of himself should alienate us, we find we are instead sympathetic to Holden. The 1950s was a time when mental health issues were dealt with only with drugs. Sufferers were either misunderstood or stoic. We empathise with Holden as he is clearly trying to reach out to us with his use of direct speech, "you can't imagine", but he ultimitaly conceals his problems.

We find the structure of 'The Outsider' is constructed to crescendo with Meursault's final and only character development. In this final scene we are unsure whether he rejects society or is rejected. He has spoken in the passive voice for the majority of the text, so it is shocking to see a final flourish of the active voice, "I opened myself... to the tender indifference of the world". This indicates he resigns himself to the cold indifference of society, he goes as far to call it a "brother". Does this mean he accepts (not rejects) society and courageously relinquishes himself to the irrationality of life? This is evidently an expression of Camus absurdist belief; that life is chaotic and without meaning. He didn't view this concept pessimistically, and reject society as a result, he instead often encouraged his students to maintain an integrity and honesty in the face of this "indifference". We are sympathetic to Meursault that he is being purged from society as his courageous attitude to death is so enlightening. Similarly in 'The Catcher in the Rye' we find the novel is structured to show Holden experiencing a major character development in the final chapter. He no longer rejects society, finding himself capable of "missing" people. We finally realise that he has rejected society consistently throughout the novel because he is afraid of suffering a loss like that of his brother. In a retrospective novel, the present tense sentence "he's dead now", stands out. He is clearly traumatised by this loss and thus fears intimacy. His rejection evokes our sympathy. Salinger was unable to undergo a similar 'development' he lived a recluse for the remainder of his adult, he clearly feared human interaction in a similar way.

The Butcher Boy: How effective is McCabe in presenting Francie Brady's relationship with the Nugent family?

The extract begins on page 51 with the words “Then off went Philip waddling with the bread with her beside him in the headscarf” and ends on page 54 with “Detective Inspector Philip Nooge of the Yard here”.

The relationship between the Nugents and Francie is paradoxical. Francie's longs for their acceptance but his detachment from reality means he alienates their family to the nth degree. McCabe stresses this tension through his construction of the first person narrative in a stream of consciousness style. It means we experience Francie's inability to distinguish between his fantasies and the exterior reality. This is observed with the personification of the fire in the Nugent's home. He imagines it says "come on in," and "reached out" to him. This engenders pathos as we grasp Francie's longing for the stability of their family home. This is intensified with McCabe's tableau of the insider and outsider. It is made clear that Francie is a voyeur and intruder to their family home, as he spends the scene either taking "a look in the window" or only "slightly inside the hall". The spatial organisation of the text makes obvious how Francie is rejected by the Nugents.

McCabe stresses the lack of thought process in Francie's actions with the disintegration of the grammatical structure. From "I made sure..." to "...a big grunt." is completely void of punctuation. This febrile recollection of events is indicative of how Francie loses control of his actions when encountering the Nugents. Mrs Nugent is denied autonomy in this scene, with her direct speech absorbed into his own. "She said what do you want", this lack of speech marks is suggestive of Francie's egocentric narrative. So engrossed in the moment, Francie fails to observe the patent signs of Mrs Nugent's discomfort. He notes that she goes "pick pick" at her clothes peg, without any apprehension she feels uncomfortable in his presence. His focus on physical sensations and sounds indicates his lack of emotional complexity.

McCabe emphasises Francie's awareness of his social inferiority in the light of their trappings of middle class wealth with the anaphora of "high up". While his tone is contemptuous and mocking, it is evident that Francie's draws parallels between his father and the success of Mr Nugent. This tension is accentuated further with the use of colloquial language, "the big briar stuck in his gob", McCabe is highlighting the gap between their social backgrounds.

McCabe writes Francie's language in a tragi-comic vein as to underline Francie's escapism. His speech is extremely misplaced, he says, "ah its for the kids really". This pattern of speech is typical of an adult, not a child starting a conversation under the premise to go for "a few kicks". While his misconceived manner of speaking is comical, it ultimitaly elicits pathos as Francie is desperately seeking Mrs Nugent's acceptance. This is part of a greater pattern of escapism. Francie assumes a more mature identity and gives Mrs Nugent the comical nickname "Mrs Nooge" to create distance from reality. The unreliability of  his narration is due to his desire to escape from the grim reality that he is unwelcome, as evidenced by Mrs Nugent's aggressive tone, "what do you want".

McCabe's use of pig imagery is most disturbing of all. This imagery was intended to insult Francie in a previous scene, we now see, however, how he treats it as a badge of honour. He gets down "on all fours" and "gave a big grunt", laughing while doing so. Francie finds it entertaining to dehumanise himself as it undermines the Nugent's contempt for him. While he believes it would "cheer Mrs Nugent up" we already have an indication that Francie despises her. This is observed in his tone, "Cupids bow lips! What a joke!", it is aggressively contemptuous. All in all, we can conclude that Francie and the Nugent's relationship is toxic. Francie longs to be accepted by them, however, whenever they reject him due to his inappropriate behaviour, we find he lashes out in retaliation.

The Butcher Boy: How does McCabe present the encounter between Francie and Dr Roche?

The extract begins on page 126 with the words, “There you are again, Francie, Lord bless us . . .”   and finishes on page 128 with ‘It didn’t look like that at all.’

Dr Roche is an example of a figure of authority who Francie must encounter. However, unlike the other figures of authority in the text, Francie is unable to undermine his position. McCabe's use of the first person narrative is effective in conveying Francie's inability to challenge Dr Roche. The stream of consciousness style means we hear Francie's robust thoughts, "I'm in charge here". However these thoughts do not materialise as speech, "that is what I wanted to say." Instead we find, as seen through the increasing use of expletives, "what the f***" and "sh*** talk", that Francie struggles to hold his composure in front of Dr Roche. The ironic discrepancy between Francie's fantasy and the reality appears comical. However Francie is ultimately reduced to a figure of pathos here. His tone becomes increasingly desperate and defensive, "what's wrong with that", "don't ask!". He is clearly unnerved by Dr Roche's silence, "why he just stands there." 

McCabe's pattern of sharp, short sentences suggests their conversation is interrogative to Francie. It quickens the pace of the exchange. The stream of consciousness means their interaction is interspersed with Francie's paranoid thoughts, "he was trying to trick me". We find that, as the interaction continues, huge slabs of the text appear without punctuation. From "there was beads on my forehead..." to "Uncle Alo", we find little punctuation. McCabe is stressing how Francie has little control over his memories. The febrile recollection of events indicates Francie lacks thought process. He focuses on every minute action of Dr Roche, on the "twirl twirl" of his watch for example. This use of onomatopoeia underlines Francie's intense absorption in the moment and his suspicion perhaps of Dr Roche's every movement.

McCabe adds to the sense of Francie's discomfort with his use of hyperbole. He uses the simile, "as big as berries" to describe the beads of sweat gathering on forehead. This tendency to wild exaggeration highlights Francie's deep anxiety in encountering Dr Roche. As with other figures of authority, Francie creates a nickname for Dr Roche, "black eyebrows Roche". This nickname indicative of how Francie evidently struggles to look Dr Roche directly in the eye. It is Francie's attempt to distance himself from Dr Roche. He not only gives himself alternate personas, but also attempts to give other people alternate identities too. It is suggestive of how Francie endeavours to escape the reality of the uncomfortable encounter with Dr Roche. It engenders further pathos for Francie as fails to pick up upon the premise of the conversation - Dr Roche needs to see his father because he severely ill.

Context: Salinger and Holden

People often conflate the figure Holden with J.D. Salinger. Salinger himself once said it was 'sort of autobiographical'.

-Holden is obsessed with younger women, conflicted about their sexuality and Salinger dated women decades younger than him

-The obsession with childhood and innocence. Holden has experienced trauma which has led to the destruction of his innocence. The death of his brother and the sexual molestations (he only hints to). Salinger experienced the gore of WW2. At the end of WW2 the Germans resorted to using child soldiers, believing the allies would lessen their offence. He will have seen his own innocence and that of others ripped apart.

-Both were born into high-middle class families. Both were sent to military school.

-Both felt alienated and isolated in their societies. Salinger's family was half Catholic, half Jewish. In the 1930s, Judaism was suffering the genocide of the holocaust in Europe. Jews were also marginalized in America.

Allegory in 'the Outsider'

There are few flourishes of figurative language in The Outsider. We need to consider any appearance of elaborate language in detail.

Salamano's dog
Consider the context: the extermination camps of the Nazi regime were home to those in the realm considered to be 'outsiders', Jews, Homosexuals, Political opponents. They were to be purged from society.
Salamano fears 'the police will pick him up for sure'. He supposedly 'disgusts everyone with his scabs'. The dog is a metaphor for the fate of those thought to be an 'other' figure by authority.
Camus wrote for the resistance magazine 'Combat'. An underground magazine, writing in opposition to the regime. The French Government of the time, the Vichy Government, was considered to be a puppet government. The 'jack boot' for the Nazi Regime. Think about the figure of Meursault. He was uncompromising and loyal to his ideals to the end, even his end. The Vichy Government in contrast compromised own position in the war as to appease the Nazis. Camus satires this.

The Newspaper article
The story is about a poor young man living in a Czech village, he leaves, making his fortune, and then decides to return home. Displaying his trappings of wealth, his family fail to recognise him. Having not revealed his identity he stays the night in a local hotel. His family, still poor, sneak into his room, rob and murder him.
Meursault thinks the story is both 'improbable' and 'plausible'. While Camus was a persistent humanist, he was also very aware of death and 'tender indifference of the world', having nearly died from tuberculosis in his youth. This story is plausible to him because he is acutely aware of the cold indifference of the world. Think about Camus absurdist beliefs. The world is chaotic, without order or pattern.
He believes the man 'deserved what he got'... that one 'should never joke around like that'. This relates to Camus' in belief maintaining one's integrity. A love for a sun 'that leaves no shadows'. One should be honest, live ones life in black and white so to speak.

The Wall
Camus' impassioned argument with the chaplain marks another use of allegory. The chaplain says 'I'm asking you to see.' He wants Meursault to discern some pattern in the stones of the wall, to see a 'divine face'.
This command to see a pattern in the stones is allegory, an allegory that acts as a vehicle for his absurdist philosophy. Meursault rejects his assertion that there is a pattern in the stones, that is, that there is a pattern or higher meaning to the world. He undermines the authority of the chaplain. He undermines mankind's perpetual attempts to 'rationalise an irrational world'.
Context:
"Camus’ contempt for the state is evident in this quote and it is no surprise that he would become an anarchist at heart, viewing all power structures as inherently corrupt and self-serving. He said:

Note, besides, that it is no more immoral to directly rob citizens than to slip indirect taxes into the price of goods that they cannot do without.^11 "

The tender indifference

We find that most of The Outsider is written in the passive voice. That is, things are done to Meursault. Particularly in part two of the novel when he loses control of his life so to speak.

'I was being depicted as taciturn and uncommunicative'
'I'd be handed back to the guards'

This emphasises how he is formed by his society. His character is made for him. Note the difference between him and Holden. Holden does the judging. Meursault is the judged. Is Meursault a victim of a dominating society or simply so indifferent to the world that he resigns himself to being 'pushed around' by society? The passive voice is effective in presenting Meursault lack of engagement with society. But he is, however, a stranger above all to himself.

As he murders a man, it is as if he is a spectator to his own actions. A voyeur. 'It set off the trigger'.
'It' killed the man, not him. [The avoidance of agency]
Meursault constantly rejects responsibility. 'I even said, 'its not my fault.'' This being in reference to his mother's death.

This is why the ending of the novel is hugely significant. He says, 'I opened myself for the first time to the tender indifference of the world'. This flourish of the active voice indicates a kind of 'epiphany' for Meursault. To me, it suggests that the 'purpose' of life is the maintenance of an integrity in the face of the indifference of the world. That is, his loyalty to the truth in the face of whatever hardship or consequence that would bring.

It may seem surreal to us that he hopes he would be greeted with 'cries of hatred' at his execution but to him the more the people abhor him, the more integrity he has. He hasn't bent/conformed to the will of the people.

Holden Caulfield, a paradoxical figure

Holden's mindset is marked by the dichotomy between adulthood and childhood.
He despises the superficiality of adulthood. Then again, he desires to be free of the shackles of adolescence.

He ultimately a very confused figure, dislocated from society, unable to bridge this chasm between childhood and adulthood.

Think about the 1950s society. Even today we find mental health problems can be stoically hidden and remain shunned and misunderstood.

After the war, many young men were coming back from war, thrown back into a world of uniform suburbia. Increasingly Americans were subscribing to a collectivist ethic, no longer a form of rugged individualism. No wonder so many men and women felt 'dislocated' in this mass corporate culture.

Prescriptions for tranquilisers were given out slapdash. There was a general ignorance towards mental health issues. Either they were ignored or treated like a physical illness.

The Catcher in the Rye is full of evidence that Holden is depressed.
'I thought I'd just go down down down'
'You can't imagine'... (Direct address to reader, increases sense of pathos)
'I was sort of disappearing' ... minimisation of language, playing down/masking his emotions, a form of self protection? Or a denial of how dire his mental state is?

His red hunting hat is a symbol for this paradox.

It indicates he needs protection. 'My hunting hat really gave me quite a bit protection, in a way'
HIS NEED FOR COMPANIONSHIP AND HELP

But in another way, it is a symbol of his self alienation. It advertises his uniqueness. His need for isolation.
He is self conscious of it... he takes off his hat 'as not to look suspicious' before going to his home.
It is significant that Phoebe gives him his hat back at the end of the novel. It is a reciprocal interaction. About the only one in the novel. He says that when people give him gifts they always end up 'making me sad'. In this instance of giving Holden feels happy. [I believe he is guilt ridden. He says his brother was very intelligent. He feels inferior to his brother. Perhaps he feel guilty that isn't 'good enough'.] But this interaction is, in a way, Phoebes indicting that its okay that he needs like form of protection. An approval.

Structure of Catcher in the Rye

Circular Novel.
Is this novel a Bildungsroman or a subversion of this form?
A Bildungsroman novel is one in which the protagonist sets out upon a quest for maturity in the course of the narrative, achieving a state of maturity and closure at its conclusion.

Does this ring true for Holden?
He does make the realisation that the process of maturity is inevitable. It is a transition that children need to experience. Inferred through the symbolism of the golden rings. 'If they fall off, they fall off.'

Then again, does Chapter 26 deny him any sense of closure?
He still sounds overwhelmingly cynical, 'don't ever tell anybody anything'. He begrudges the fact that he now 'misses' everyone he has written about. Is it sign that he no longer wants to go 'out West' and be a 'deaf-mute' (an outsider to society), or is it an indication that he's still a victim of trauma over Allie's death, not wanting to miss other figures in his life?

Escapism

Meursault loves a sun 'that leaves no shadows'.
To me, PERSONALLY, this relates to his uncompromising attitude to his ideals. He lives his life, black and white so to speak, there is no 'grey'. No lies. No pretence.

Holden, conversely, is the 'most terrific liar'. He constantly lies. For no reason. Think about the conversation/character interaction with Mrs Morrow.
He says he has 'a tiny little tumour on the brain', he manipulates Mrs Morrow, falsely eliciting her sympathy. He has a very flippant attitude to lying. He says only that he was 'shooting the bull'.
Likewise with Mr Spencer, he says he told a 'sheer lie' to escape the situation. How 'yellow'. He loves to escape.

He says 'if there's one thing I hate, its the movies.' Yet he constantly imagines himself to be a film star. Think about his conflict with Maurice. He imagines, after being ''''shot'''' by Maurice, Jane 'holding a cigarette for me'. This escapism is a shield. A method of protection. It makes it EASY for him. He lies above all to himself. SELF DECEPTION.

Meursault could therefore be said to be more heroic in comparison.
In the afterword to The Outsider Camu reference lying. 'We all do it, every day, to make life simpler.'
Meursault could lie, pretend he feels remorse. But instead he rather feels the whole thing is 'tedious'. And is therefore condemned for it. A martyr for the truth? Heroic?

Holden is not as nihilistic as Meursault.

Holden believes in innocence. The purity of children.

He is willing to defend it to the hilt, heroic or disillusioned, extreme?
He says, when discovering the F*** you writing his in sister's school, he imagines himself catching the 'pervert bum' who did it and 'smashing his head off the stone steps... until he was goddamn dead and bloody.'
Pretty extreme. So much for being a 'pacifist, to tell you the truth'.... note use of direct address. Unlike Meursault, Holden is very self conscious in his writing. The height of phoniness. He edits and contradictions how he appears.
How do we view this?

'He's dead now'

This quote is important.
It is a present tense sentence in a retrospective novel.
It indicates how Holden, now one year older writing about his 'madman stuff', is still traumatised about his brother's death. Haunted by it.

It generates sympathy for Holden. We might understand why Holden isolates himself from a 'indifferent world'.

Think about context. Salinger saw more death than most Americans in WW2. These images of death and despair will have left an indelible mark on him, he is perhaps similarly haunted by death. We often view Salinger in conjuncture with Holden. They are both victims of trauma, clinging to lost innocence.

'Hey listen...'

Holden needs someone to listen to him.

I would argue the whole quest (think about ‘Bildungsroman’ context here) to find someone who will listen to him
He is clearly concerned about his growing up, his hyperbole illustrates how it’s happening all too fast for him!

‘l’ve grown six and half inches in the past year’

 

His hair is ‘full of millions of gray hairs’

^^^ Symbols of impending adulthood

He is, all and all, very self-conscious about his growing up.

No wonder! In his eyes, growing up is like a ‘death’…
Think about his famous image of the idyllic field of rye, I mean the adult world is the ‘fall’ so to speak in this image.

This concern drives him from person to person, he desperately seeks help about this terrifying transition… but is terrible at communicating

[Note here. Context on anti-heroes. American anti-heroes were thought to be more proactive than their French counterparts. French antiheroes are marked instead by ennui and boredom. American types are marked by their inability to communicate]

Carl Luce

With Carl Luce he ‘self-alienates’. I mean he is unbearably crude in this scene.

‘what are you majoring in?... Perverts?’
But note, in this scene he repeats the phrase ‘Hey listen’… ‘Hey, Carl, listen…’

Essay term: ‘anaphora’… for the repetition of a phrase. Fancy phrase.
But due to his immaturity Carl doesn’t have time for him. He cuts Holden off, unwilling to ‘listen’. Do we have sympathy for Holden here? Does he bring it upon himself?

Sally Hayes

This ‘character interaction’ illustrates how he is an UNRELIABLE NARRATOR.
Sally reproaches Holden for ‘screaming’ at him. Holden says this is ‘crap’, thinking she’s exaggerating. He is unaware of his own flaws. He calls everyone else ‘phoney’ but fails to look introspectively and engage with his own problems.
Instead he wants to ESCAPE. He wants to ‘go out West’ and live as a ‘deaf mute’. A kind of ESCAPISM
He presents a parody of a pioneer man. He wants to travel out West not to pursue the American Dream but to isolate himself and live poorly. He wouldn’t have ‘stupid useless conversations with anybody’… this being an indication of how no one has so far helped him. Listened to him.    

Mr Antolini

He offers hope for Holden. Offering advice. ‘Listen to me a minute now…’
He invokes the same ‘falling motif’ that Holden does, warning him that he’s ‘riding for a special kind of fall’.
Yet this is not the same fall Holden imagines. Mr A warns him that he needs to talk advice and ‘apply himself’ to do this. Exactly what Holden doesn’t want to do. That would mean growing up.

Mr A is clever. He realises that Holden despises education. He associates it firmly with the bourgeois ‘phoney’ ivy league world.  He presents education instead as ‘poetry’, as ‘history’.

‘A reciprocal arrangement’… Holden needs to listen and learn first. Except Holden only wants to aggressively seek out people to listen to him. He refuses to anyone’s advice. Not Mr Spencer, not Sally. THINK ABOUT THE PROCESS OF CHARACTERISATION HERE.

She says, ‘go home. Go to bed.’

Sadly Mr A shatters the hope. He has ulterior motives. He makes a sexual advance on Holden or so it seems.

‘Goodnight handsome’
‘He didn’t give me pyjamas’
‘How’re all your women?’

Is Holden self-alienating again? Misinterpreting the situation? Running away from the grim truth?

Note he plays down the past molestations he has experienced. ‘That kind of stuff’s happened to me about twenty times’ [explains why he views the adultworld as so abusive. The destroyer of innocence. Clearly his innocence was lost irretrievably long ago. Mourning for this loss or the loss of his brother?]

This is part of pattern of ‘minimising speech’ in the novel.  

MINIMISATION OF LANGUAGE AS A FORM OF SELF PROTECTION. Thanks John Green.

He widely exaggerates in places but down plays in others. All part of characterising him as a confused and muddled teenager.

It is very subtle. He doesn’t confront his problems. Think about his tendency to ‘escapism’ and his unreliability as a reader. All fits in together.
He describes himself as ‘pretty run down’ at the denouement of the novel. He’s in a mental hospital. Pretty low key description, no?
Think about the anaphora of ‘sort of’.
This anaphora ‘masks the intensity of his narration’. This a COPING MECHANISM. He is grieving for is brother. Struggling with the crushing superficiality of the world around him. Drifting around New York with a bleak future. He needs all the hope he can get.

^^^ Creates distance from his problems.

What about Phoebe? His sister, in whose innocence he imbues all his hope on.

She does to a certain extent LISTEN to Holden.

‘Listen, do you want to go for a walk?’… They go for a walk. I wonder why he says to finish that’s he’s ‘so happy’. Finally someone has listened to him. In a simple way.

John Green has neat interpretation of the carousel symbol. Phoebe goes ‘around and around’ on it. Seeing this makes him so happy he’s ‘damn near bawling’. It presents symbolically a new outlook on life. Life could be circular. Like the bookend, circular structure of the novel. Life doesn’t travel away from innocence on a speedy straight line. Life could be circular, a journey to and from innocence. Does Holden achieve an epiphany here?

When considering the kids reaching for the SYMBOLIC golden rings, he says if they ‘fall off, they fall off’. Does he mean a fall from the carousel horse or from the cliff in his ‘catcher image’.

PLEASE NOTE. I USED THE FABULOUS SOURCE...'CRASHCOURSE'... I HAVE IN PLACES DIRECTLY QUOTED JOHN GREEN. I HAVE SUMMARISED HIS WORDS AND ADDED MY OWN VIEWS. THANK-YOU.