Moving Forward

Chapters 3-4

• These few chapters establish the way Holden interacts with his peers. Holden despises “phonies;” or people whose outer behavior disguises their inner feelings. Even his brother D. B. sustains his displeasure by accepting a big paycheck to write for the movies; therefore, Holden considers the movies to be the phoniest of the phony and emphasizes throughout the book the loath in which he feels for hollywood.

• Later, Olden’s interactions also reveal how lonely he is. He describes Ackley as isolated and ostracized, but it’s easy to see similarities between Ackley’s and Holden’s situations. Holden notes that he and Ackley are the only two guys not at the football game. In addition, both are isolated, and both maintain a rough exterior in order to shield themselves from the world that surrounds them. In Ackley especially, we can see the cruelty of the situation. Ackley’s isolation is perpetuated by his annoying habits, but his annoying habits protect him from the dangers of interaction/communication.

“Up home we wear a hat like that to shoot deer in, for Chrissake,” he said. “That’s a deer shooting hat.”
“Like hell it is.” I took it off and looked at it. I sort of closed one eye, like I was taking aim at it. “This is a people shooting hat,” I said. “I shoot people in this hat.” (Chapter 3)

Through this use of effective language, Holden's tone of voice shows a large value of redeemed strength. It is obvious from the start that Holden uses the hat as a mark of individuality and independence. Moreover, here we see how deeply his desire for independence is connected to his feeling of alienation, and to the bitterness he has for the rest of the world. Surely, Holden will not really shoot people in this hat, but it remains a symbol of his search for strength. Holden nevertheless does “shoot people” in his own way; as he is in this "powerful" frame of mind, he expends all of his mental energy into the people around him. Through my eyes, he desires independence because he feels that the world is an "ugly" place that, he feels, deserves only contempt individuals.


Jenna S.