Holden's Toleration In Catcher In The Rye

848 Words4 Pages
The phone booth and phone calls represent Holden’s desperation to talk to someone. When he states, “I was going to say her aunt had just got killed in a car accident and I had to speak to her immediately,” (71) it shows that he would do pretty much whatever it took to talk to talk to Jane. Although he doesn't actually do it, he shows that he is desperately trying to get to talk to her on the phone. When he sits in a chair at the hotel, he says, “Then, all of a sudden, I got this idea… It was the address of this girl who wasn’t exactly a whore or anything but that didn’t mind doing it once in awhile, this Princeton guy told me” (71). By saying this, Holden shows his desperation to talk, or do other things, with someone. Also, because Holden is desperate for someone, he would go as far as calling a random girl he doesn’t know so he can get with her. In these chapters, the…show more content…
When Holden begins to speak about her, he says, “You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She’s really smart. I mean she had all A’s ever since she started school” (75). Compared to when he talks lowly of himself, saying “By talking about her in this way, his tone changes almost completely, going from sad and depressed to becoming proud and nostalgic. I believe that Salinger, in the guise of Holden, continuously uses the word, “you” to make the reader feel more connected to Holden to the point where they feel like Holden is talking only to them, and he is sharing things with them that he wouldn’t share with anyone else. For example, when Holden tells the reader, “I swear to God you’d like her,” (76) it shows that he is making a connection with the reader by telling them how his sister was such a great person, and how he believed that the reader would thoroughly like his younger

    More about Holden's Toleration In Catcher In The Rye

      Open Document