Donovan Dicks

Milam Pd. 6

Dialectic Journal

Chapter 1

I dont care if its a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know Im

leaving it. If you dont, you feel even worse. Holden

I can relate with this idea and understand where Holden is coming from. A definite goodbye

leaves a sense of closure, even if there is still a bridge left burning between the two people, or the

person and the place they are leaving. It is better to know that the two are moving on, rather than

have it open and not feel that sense of closure. This is leaving without the certainty that you

should leave, without the certainty that that is what has been decided. The word goodbye is a

symbol that something has ended, and both sides are moving on. It is a verbal contract, and it

creates a sense of clarity and closure.

Chapter 2

Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules. Mr. Spencer

This is a philosophy I strongly agree with. Life is most certainly a game, and though it may not

always be fun and fair, neither are any other games. Life is the one game that everyone on the

planet plays, something every person has in common. There arent particular rules to life, as that

becomes a question of morality, and one cannot be entirely seen as good or evil. These are terms

of perspective and opinion; they are relative to the person who puts them in place. Death cannot

be cheated though, and life is a cycle that repeats itself in many, many ways. These laws are

certain, and they are what bind every living created into the same game. We all play the game of

life, but its up to us how we play it and what we make of what we are given.
Chapter 6

The first passage where Holden discusses his obsessed worrying and resulting behavior reminds

me of myself sometimes. It occurs quite often when I am able to step back realize Im making a

small issue quite complicated, and it causes me quite a lot of worry. Like Holden, I tend to

obsess over complicated matters and constantly worry about them. The worry plagues my every

though to the point where I can do nothing except worry about the problem, and often this

problem is one Ive created. As a result, I tend not to handle the problem well when it comes to

solving it or even discussing it. I make bad decisions because Im so worried, bad decisions that

only make the predicament worse and make me worry more. Its a cycle that is familiar to me,

and the feeling of obsessive anxiety is one I know quite well.

Chapter 9

Holden describes his first actions after arriving at Penn Station in the first passage of the chapter.

He wants to call someone at first, but after debating with himself about who to call and why he

shouldnt call them, he decides to call no one. He is alone in New York, and he has no one to be

with. I dont often find myself alone in New York, but I will go through the same process that

Holden did. Ill be alone on the weekend or a Friday night, and think about having a friend over

or begin to see who I could text or call that would be willing to keep up a conversation. The fear

of being alone gets to me, and I go through a list of people similar to Holdens, and shoot down

everyone on the list for various reasons. In the end, Im still alone at home, and looking for ways

to ease the loneliness.

Chapter 16
The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was.

Nobodyd move. [] Noboyd be different. The only thing that would be different would be

you. [] Certain things they should stay the way they are. Holden

This is a very interesting point Holden makes, and can be commonly found and used in the real

world. That is, there are many things in this world like museums. There are many things that are

preserved, that stay the same. Humanity is not one of these things. This contrast between the

constantly changing and constantly consistent creates a sadness in Holden in a way as he wishes

certain things would never change, but he knows that this is not possible. I can find myself in

similar positions all the time. When I return to my middle school, barely anything has changed at

all, but I can remember the person I used to be. I can remember what the experience was like for

me; the same environment reminds me of my past. Usually when I remember my past though, it

brings me down a little. I become lost in the life I used to live, thinking of how much easier it

was, how much simpler it was, and how much more fun it was then than it is now. Other times, I

find myself observing changes in people or places that I wish hadnt or wouldnt be happening.

Some things are better in my memory, and those things I often wish I could keep them as I

remember them. However, I know this is not remotely possible and there is nothing to be done

about it. In a way, this experience is similar to the archetypal theme of loss of innocence. Most

people see the people and places around them alter over time. Most people wish there were

certain things that wouldnt change, and they keep the greatness of what those things used to be

in their memory. Over time, though, as these people and places change, the memory of what they

used to be can be tainted, and this can bear a depressing effect on people.

Chapter 21
It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and theyll do practically

anything you want them to. Holden

Holden is right in saying this and I also find it funny. My friend Michael pulled exactly the same

stunt once. We were at the Baltimore Aquarium, and he wanted to go up a floor but not by the

stairs. The elevators were supposed to be only for handicapped people, but my friend walked up

to the operator and explained to him how he had a bad leg and couldnt use the stairs. The

operator was skeptical, but let him ride it up anyway. Holdens statement is entirely correct. If

someone explains how something is to someone who doesnt understand what hes talking about,

that someone can get away with just about anything. All it takes is confidence and the

appropriate attitude. Many people can be easily fooled and used, and it is often these people who

are ignorant of this pattern.

Chapter 24

Once you get past all the Mr. Vinsons, youre going to start getting closer and closer that is, if

you want to, and if you look for it and wait for it to the kind of information that will be very,

very dear to your heart. Among other things, youll find that youre not the first person who was

ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. Youre by no means alone

on that score, youll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as

troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of

their troubles. Youll learn from them if you want to. [] And it isnt education. Its history.

Its poetry. Mr. Antolini to Holden

This passage is particularly important. Again, Holden is receiving a lecture on applying himself

in school and the importance of education. However, Mr. Antolini takes a different spin on the

argument. He uses real world examples and applications to defend and explain the value of
education. In order to obtain information that is truly important and of individual significance to

someone, that person must first move past the teachers and classes they find uninteresting and

useless. To move past these obstacles, one must want to move forward, and be patient. This

applies to every student who has ever attended school. Every student at one point took a class

that they thought was worse than hell, or had a teacher that they thought could be certifiably

insane. Not every class and every teacher will appeal to every student. This is a fact that students

have to accept and live with in order to at least pass their classes. Beyond that, in order to

succeed, a student must want to succeed and must want to continue their schooling. This desire

for further information, for future classes and experiences, will help move on from the disliked

teachers and classes, and also allow success in these areas. One can succeed in a class if they

hate the teacher, but they cannot succeed if they dont chose to put this hatred aside and prioritize

their success over their contempt for the class or the teacher. Mr. Antolini then says something

that relates Holdens loneliness to his educational experiences. If Holden wants and choses to

apply himself, he will in time learn of the people who have been as troubled as him. He is

depressed by his loneliness, and he feels this loneliness quite often. Learning about these people

who are similar to him will aid his loneliness; he can connect with others like him, which is very

hard for him to do with the people around him. Thus, Mr. Antolini has presented education as a

solution to Holdens loneliness, and ultimately established the value of applying himself. This is

a lesson that every student can learn from. There are much more interesting classes and

information ahead in life; college is more interesting than high school, high school is more

interesting than middle school, and middle school is more interesting than elementary school.

The challenge is being able to move on from the bad teachers and bad classes, and let the
desire for information guide one to success and truly individually valued information. No one

will ever move forward in life if they are caught up in how much they hate something.

Chapter 26

Its funny. Dont ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody. Holden

Holden here is referring to how he sort of misses the people he talked about in his recounting of

events, even the ones he disliked the most. It is funny, how it all works out. How someone can

relate their past, and all these hated moments and people, and then miss the things they hated. I

notice this effect all the time. When I think of days or events or conflicts that I really hated in the

moment, I sort of miss them. I miss the feeling of how terrible it was, in a way. Comparing my

current situation to the past chaos, it feels boring to not feel terrible or hate something or be

involved in drama. All the sudden, though, when I end up in a similar situation, I remember why

I hated it in the first place. The mind tends to glorify the past, a common pattern in human

behavior. These glorifications are common among us all, but they can publicly be expressed as

well through books and movies and music and other forms of entertainment. Many times, I

remember a place I used to go every week, or a game I used to play constantly, and theyre both

incredibly fond memories. However, if I return to the place or pick up the game again, neither

are as amazing as I remember them to be. This is another form of loss of innocence, where as a

child I was easily impressed and I thought many things to be spectacular, but as I have grown

and gained experience and information, the places and games I used to loved and be blown away

by are now old and worn out and have lost their charm and I have lost my interest. The clash of

memory and reality is a conflict that is very real and very strange as well.
Reflection

Catcher in the Rye is a very interesting novel. The novel builds on many internal fears and

conflicts through the protagonist Holden, and it analyzes human nature and behavior. Holden can

be quite annoying sometimes, as he often gets off topic to rant about a particular person he

doesnt like, or anything at all really that he doesnt enjoy. Besides this, though, Holden is an

extremely relatable character. He is a teenage boy and he acts and sounds just like one. He

struggles with his educational and social problems, and he is lost in a world of depression

brought on by his loneliness. This I find very relatable to, as my greatest fear is of being alone,

and it very often brings a deep sadness upon me. What is more evident and important to me is the

fact that Holden is lonely as a result of his own actions. He isolates himself because he believes

those around him are phonies and that he is better than their phoniness. I can relate to this,

because often my loneliness surfaces as a result of my own actions. Far too often am I

responsible for the sadness brought on by my self-inflicted isolation. I find the lessons on the

value of education very moving, particularly from Mr. Antolinis points. His point brings light to

the fact that past the bad parts of school, one can find truly important information that is relevant

to themselves. This enlightenment then brings out that there are adults in the world that are not

phonies, and thus there are people that are worth talking to and knowing and learning from.

There are many instances of the loss of innocence, or just innocence itself, throughout the novel.

This idea is expressed in one way as the memory versus reality phenomenon explained above. To

connect to Enders Game, both novels make use of the loss of innocence theme, and both feature

protagonists that are isolated. Holdens isolation is of his own doing, and Enders isolation

comes from the military supervisors in charge of his fate.