Summary+Pages+Chaeri

Summary 1: 10/10 -- very clear telling Summary 2: 10/10 -- interesting realization about the parable. Summary 3: 10/10 -- I still don't see the absurdity with Holden. As you point out, he achieves a sense of purpose at the end. Yes, but I don't see the turn around you are talking about.

Bloom, Harold, David D Galloway, and Helen Weinberg. Modern Critical Views: J.D. Salinger. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Print.

David D. Galloway, one of the critics included in the book, __Modern Critical Views: J.D. Salinger__, wrote few chapters explaining how Holden, the protagonist in the __Catcher in the Rye__, represents the modern version of the “Absurd Man” from the book __The Myth of Sisyphus__ written by a famous French philosopher, Albert Camus. In short, Camus’ Absurd Man is often engaged in rebellion and conquests, for the sole purpose of discovering and eliciting an individual’s self potential and capabilities. In other words, Camus places a great emphasis on humanity alone. According to both Camus and Galloway, a rebel stands out from the crowd, not because he has the courage to fight against the conformed ideas and his external opponents, but because he is able to overcome himself to uncover and maximize his full potential. Galloway points out that Holden’s actions such as failing school, going out into the city alone, and attempting to try new activities that may result in peril represent the common acts of Camus’ type of rebel/individual, who not only struggles to overcome himself, but also bring aestheticism into the world of corruption and fragments.
 * Holden Caulfield: The Modern Version of the “Absurd Man” **

When I finished reading the __Catcher in the Rye__ by J.D. Salinger, I thought the whole purpose of this story was to describe the journey of an innocent teenager who comes face to face with the truth that the reality of this world is distorted and contaminated. When reading this specific critique, it was very interesting to see how Galloway took it further and established a connection between Salinger’s __Catcher in the Rye__ and Camus’ __The Myth of Sisyphus__. According to Galloway, “Like Camus’ absurd man, the Salinger hero tries to live by ethical standards in an indifferent, often nihilistic universe” (30). I strongly agree with this statement because after reading this sentence, I recalled the part of the story when Holden falls in love with the nuns in the Grand Central Station. He is not disturbed by the idea of religion (Catholicism in this specific case) and its strict commitments, but is rather able to absorb and view the simplicity and the honesty of the nuns. At the same time, through the eyes of the outsiders, Holden’s behavior towards the nuns are somewhat inappropriate, therefore can be considered as rebellious.

Furthermore, Holden remarks at some point in the book that the children of his family are atheist because the parents come from different religious backgrounds. This gives him the ability to see the world in its natural and pure state. His vision and thought processes, therefore, are not contaminated by other factors of the society such as religion. This explains how he suddenly found happiness in the very end of the novel when his sister is riding a carousel. He finds happiness in the most simplistic things. This characteristic is also found in Camus’ __The Myth of Sisyphus__ when he is describing the “Absurd Man”.

On the other hand, I do not agree with Galloway’s statement that Holden was on a journey to realize his full potential because his acts (attempting to have sex with a stranger, flirting with middle aged women and telling lies to a parent) did not result in any change. He was the same person as he was before he even initiated these activities. Instead, I believe that these acts represent several images of the distorted (or phony as Holden describes it) world and how they stop individuals from bringing out the “potential” as Galloway describes it.

**Holden Caufield: A Christ-like Figure** Bloom, Harold, David D Galloway, and Helen Weinberg. Modern Critical Views: J.D. Salinger. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Print.

Helen Weinberg, another critic of the __Catcher in the Rye__, argues in the book __Modern Critial Views: J.D. Salinger__, that Holden possesses Christ-like intentions and therefore is “embodied in archetypal figure of Christ” (65). She makes her point across by comparing Holden, the innocent and existential hero, and the setting, a highly structured, closed and corrupted society.

The “phoniness” of the adult world gradually reveals Holden’s true personality and intentions. More often than not, when Holden is first introduced, he is perceived merely as a young, arrogant boy who fails to do well at school; however as the story progresses, Holden realizes that the society, which he lives in, is corrupted and contaminated. This motivates him to seek and protect the last few innocence and purity of life (in this case, Salinger focuses on young children such as Holden’s sister, Phoebe). The latter characteristic is that of the Christ and his desire to save and preserve his people.

Many readers will agree that one of the most important part of the story is when Holden meets his sister Phoebe, and expresses his desire and goal to become a “catcher in the rye”. It is very clear that there is a deep meaning behind such statement. What I did not realize until I read this critique is that it related strongly to Christ and his role of preserving innocence of human life. Such symbolic wish is also his dream of ideality, which he achieves in the end when he sees Phoebe riding the carousal and realizes that staying with his family, especially his little sister is “the meaningful gesture he can make” fulfilling the Jesus pattern of “putting himself in the hands of the society to be crucified” (66).

Even though this was not mentioned in the critique, one of the characteristics of Christ is that he tends to say things in an indirect way, mostly through parables. The way Holden expresses his symbolic wish is not direct and requires some thinking to elicit the hidden message. Holden’s form of communication, therefore, is very similar to that of Christ.

I do agree that Holden resembles the figure of Christ considering his constant wanderings; Not to mention, the novel takes place around the time of Christmas. Holden is very protective over his sister, Phoebe and his frustration over the environment which she has to live him does illustrate the idea that his characteristics are similar to that of Christ.

I, however, do not agree that being a “catcher in the rye” is an act of crucification. Jesus sacrificed himself for other people’s sin; however, Holden’s act of “catch[ing] everybody if they start to go over the cliff” is not a form of sacrifice. Even though others committed sins, Jesus believed in the goodness of his people. Holden, on the other hand, is very pessimistic and only comments about the bad and rarely makes any positive comments about the people/society. Holden, therefore, does share some characteristics of the Christ figure; however, he is not the exact representation of him.

**The Philosophy of Absurdism and Existentialism** Fitzgerald, Bill. "An Existential View of Adolescent Development." //Adolescence// 40.160 (2005): 793+. //Questia//. Web. 8 Feb. 2010.

Lowen, Jeanette. "How Can We Live in the World of the Absurd? the Humanism of Albert Camus." //Free Inquiry// Fall 1994: 50+. //Questia//. Web. 8 Feb. 2010.

As I read through various critiques about my two novels, __the Catcher in the Rye__ and __A Perfect Day for Bananafish__, I tried to make some sort of connection between these two works that was clear and concise; yet, interesting and profound. After much attempt, I dug out a common theme that was engraved within these novels: Existentialism and Absurdity. Then, with great curiosity, I began to research articles about these two famous philosophical ideas. In Jeanette Lowen’s article //“How Can We Live in the World of the Absurd? The Humanism of Albert Camus”//, she emphasizes on Camus’ belief about surviving “the world of the absurd” and the importance of “salvag[ing] meaning from such a world” (1). An individual is able to achieve the latter if he “recogoniz[es] and accept[s] the fact that there are no metaphysically guaranteed directives for conduct”. Put simply, many human beings desire something in return for their actions; however, in order to live a positive life, one must be aware of the absurdity and futility of life and its tragic destiny in order to render oneself as a hero. If unable to do so, some choose to commit a suicide, which Camus believes as a “serious philosophical problem”.

In addition to the previously mentioned article, I made further discoveries in Bill Fitzgerald’s “An Existential View of Adolescent Development”. Here, I was able to link Holden, the protagonist of Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and the concepts of existentialism. Famous philosophers such as Sartre, Nietzsche and Hiedegger focused strongly on the ideas of existentialism, especially the importance of “finding [the] purpose and meaning in one’s life” (2). This can be achieved if they resist the “external pressures of conformity meanings that are thrust upon one by circumstances encountered in the environment”. Firtzgerald related these concepts to the development of adolescents, for teenagers go through life tasks, often by breaking away from protection provided by others in order to discover and define oneself.

In short, __The Catcher in the Rye__ is about a young adolescent boy who breaks the norm of pursuing education and goes out into the big city of New York by himself in order to find one’s identity. It seems pretty clear to me that the idea of existentialism is reflected throughout the novel. In addition, just like what Fitzgerald said in his article, the stage of adolescence and existentialism seem to link very well. The time of adolescence is filled with conflicts, often dealing with “freedom, choice, responsibility, and awareness of isolation” (Fitzgerald, 4). This is proved to be true when reading this specific novel because Holden’s tone throughout the novel is very pessimistic; hence, the reader can almost feel the character’s frustration. Holden attempts new (possibly dangerous) activities in order to get something out of him so that he can identify not only himself but also what is truly important to him. He desires for a sense of purpose, but the corrupted society/environment delays him from making such achievement. But wait, how does the philosophy of the absurd relate to Holden? As we all know, Holden finds his happiness and the meaningfulness of life in the end when he is able to identify his dream of becoming a catcher in the rye who’s job is to preserve innocence and purity of life. He also discovers the significance of the relationship he shares between him and his sister, Phoebe; hence, decides to not flee from life, but instead accept it and fight against it like a true hero regardless of the fact that his actions may be futile and his dream may be too idealistic. This, ladies and gentleman, is how the Camus’ belief of absurdity ties in with the Catcher in the Rye.

Unfortunately, Seymour from __A Perfect Day for Bananafish__ is not as successful, for he ends up shooting himself in the bedroom to end his life. War itself is futile and useless; however, Seymour let this truth affect him as a human being, which made him vulnerable to the absurdity of life. Seymour took the wrong direction of giving up and fleeing life when he should have lived it under different terms. According to Camus, “We may despair because of the discovery that we have no absolute place or guarantee in this existence”; however, to stop moving forward because of this “absurdity” means personal sickness and disorder. An individual should find one thing that he can hold tightly to so that he can bring out some kind of meaning in life. Holden was able to do this; however, Seymour has completely given up hope and sees life as incomplete with no purpose what-so-ever.