J.D., Where Hath Thy Fled?

And, no, not my dog from years back. I'm pretty sure I know where he went.

Jerome David Salinger was an interesting man. I'm not exactly sure how I reached that conclusion, nor am I sure that you will agree with me. But that is what I have decided, so far. But although J.D. Salinger was slightly eccentric, I believe that it is no more than the rest of the human race. We're all strange.

Anyway, one thing that was very glaringly obvious in my research was the similarities between Salinger and his stories and characters. I won't beat around the bush or anything, because this will most likely become another Long-Winded post; cheers. J.D. Salinger took his own life experiences and molded his stories from those experiences.

JD Salinger (most likely to be referred to as "JD" from here on out) had a Scotch-Irish mother and a Jewish father, and his upbringing was apparently not all that different from those of his characters. Take Holden Caulfield, for instance. He was Irish too; with the Irish last name and red-headed family members. JD grew up in a pretty part of Manhattan, in New York and eventually attended prep schools; Holden lives in New York and attended several prep schools, including and before Pencey Prep. In 1934 JD's father sent him to a Military school, and I couldn't help but connect that and Holden's crew cut; army men often (if not always) have to have their hair in a crew cut.

Ahh...what else:

• JD and Holden were secretive about their private/personal lives
• JD attended Ursinus College*, but didn't agree with the structured and strictness of the college life.
• both JD and Holden were good at creative writing
• they planned on isolating themselves from the world (JD actually accomplished the feat--so far; have yet to finish CATintRYE
• Both JD and Holden are/were perceived as "sensitive and intelligent" people; but as we've seen, they had a bit of a cynical streak
• etc., etc., everything else major we covered in class

After JD successfully got published in the New Yorker, a lifelong dream of his, he shunned all of his previous work which had been published elsewhere. This marked the start of JD Salinger's "retreat from society."

Although, apparently, looking at Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, shortened here to CATintRYE, because I'm bored and I can), JD already had issues with the world. According to TIME, JD was, by the time he had published his story "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" he had started to become a man who couldn't stand the world. Sound familiar? JD also raged against Hollywood concerning his precious Catcher in the Rye.

I think JD's dislike of the phony world he lived in pushed him to choose seclusion. I mean, according to TIME, JD actually gave an interview once; to two high school girls, thinking that the story would only make it to the high school page of the paper. When the story appeared as a major article in the regular pages of the paper, JD was outraged, refused to give any more interviews, and completed his isolation from society. He also soon after the incident built a wall around his cabin.

One reason why CATintRYE was banned from so many places for so long is because it rejected "traditional American values." I think that that shows the rigidity of society of the time between when JD published CATintRYE and today. People weren't as accepting, but it was for trivial reasons. Catcher was disliked by the people whose ways of life and ideals were countered by the book. But that's such a petty thing to ban a book for; I think it's phony. I also believe that JD agrees with that viewpoint; this world we've created for ourselves and its society is too superficial; everything is based on surface characteristics.

These are most likely the things that drove J.D. Salinger into his cozy Cornish cabin and kept him locked up away from us, the phonies who wanted him and his ideas for our own personal desires and gains. (Oh, JD didn't like or want fame)



Sources:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ro-Sc/Salinger-J-D.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1960265,00.htmlhttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1960265,00.html

"Don't ever tell anybody anything."

Caulfield the Pessimist (Holden)

Today I was wearing a The Catcher in the Rye T-shirt.

If I said that, would you believe me? Probably not. Or at least, you wouldn't remember. Honestly, no one cares about my shirt, and it wasn't really a Catcher in the Rye shirt anyway. Not directly, in any case.

So I pulled out this shirt with red lettering all over the front. The first thing you notice is the huge "California" in Coca Cola font (they think they're slick; they're not. We knew that font). Then you see the words above and below it, reading "HOLLYWOOD" and "IT'S THE REAL THING!" So now my shirt reads:

HOLLYWOOD California IT'S THE REAL THING!

 I'll let that roll around in your head for a second. Now for the connection (in my strange, Alex-brained way): Holden's brother, D.B. is in Hollywood. And Holden has this problem with things and people that are "phony," or as we refer to it in class, "not real."

Blahblahblah, Holden hates Hollywood and movies (yet made a date with Sally for a matinee), mostly because he thinks they're phony. For example, in the book Holden states that he hates actors because "they never act like people." I agree that things in Hollywood aren't real; everything is glorified and elevated to a higher level of awesome than necessary. Everything in Hollywood is phony, because it's all acting. Even outside of movies, people are pretending to be suave or to like each other. Like Mr. Mosby in the Suite Life of Zack and Cody said (regarding a plastic vase that looked important): "It's just like everything else in Hollywood; PLASTIC!!"

I digress. Basically, I was wearing a shirt that advertised the exact thing Holden hates. The end.

Aside from his dislike for all things that are not as great as they outwardly appear, Holden is a very pessimistic and carping--there goes that vocab word!--teenager. Not that there's anything wrong with that; it's a phase...a phase.

Zero Originality: My Red Hunting Hat

"'My red hunting hat.' My ††††-ing red hunting hat." That's what this post was gonna sound like, but I decided against it. This is, after all, a class blog, and it's gonna be read by you guys at some point or other. The thing is, I'm suuuuuuuupeeeerrrrrrrrrr tiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrred. Stuck at school till late o'clock tonight, and--I could go into that, but I won't. Let me talk about my metaphorical head covering that is a shade of red and used during THE HUNT.

Okay. Lessee...Holden Caulfield had a red hunting hat, and Mr. M says that it's a symbol (that's what my old school calls these images that have a significant meaning to a story), and we described the basics of what the heck a hunting hat's (that's red) purpose is. A hunting hat was worn during a hunt, and it was a bright red so that other hunters wouldn't mistake the movement of a fellow hunter as that of prey and shoot them. Also, deer are color blind, apparently, so they (the deer) wouldn't be able to discern the hunters from their surroundings...

Alright. Some quick research, and the gist of it is that deer aren't so much color blind as they only see 2 colors really well; something about dichromatic and red-green color blindness like humans. Anyway, they can see blue and green really well, but cannot tell some colors from others, like a hunter's red from the green foliage. How we know these random facts about other animals' vision, I don't know.

I see the hat as a representation of Holden trying to hide from most of the people around him; to blend in or fit in, while looking for others like him ("hunters"). The "hunters" like him will be able to recognize him because of some quality that others can't see, yet it makes him stand out from those other people (the "deer"). These "deer" people only see part of Holden and are unable to make out that one other part of him that is so important. Make sense? No? Oh well. Too...bad.

Now, MY Red Hunting Hat, what would that be? I don't think that I have anything that helps me fit in AND makes me stand out to specific individuals. I think I'm...iDunno, boring. Anything some others don't have (an ability or mindset or something) they can see in me, which means either I'm not blending or they aren't my fellow hunters. I think...is it possible that I'm a hunter-deer? I'm half and half? Like cream...

Man, if this post was about memory or word association, I'd KILL. I just go--WHOOSH!!--all over the place.

Umm...I'd say my "red hunting hat" is a hat full of sky (coughcough, bookreference, cough). And obviously not red, by the way (I liked A Hat Full of Sky; random book recommendation!!). A hat full of sky is an invisible hat. I can't quite touch it, and no one else can see it or touch it, nor can it be knocked off. Yet it is there, and it is there when it matters most, keeping the rain away from your head an such (I believe there may have been a wind use too, but cannot remember).

Maybe I have yet to come into contact with these fellow "hunters" that are so like me. Or, maybe I already have....


Sorry, this one was a crappy post; but I seriously canNOT think anything else up; maybe later....

Thank You for You (Thankful for a Classmate)

Hrmm...I've been over this with Classmate A, and Darn, I don't think I know anyone well enough in the class to be thankful for them...hmm...well, I know YOU, and you're my friend...*Sigh* I guess I'll have to go with you.

I've read everyone's posts on the topic thus far, and I agree with one or two: which class? English or any class or school in general? School's TOO general; I'm grateful for all my friends (LOL; "I'm grateful for all my fiends"). But, let's narrow it down to American Lit. I can talk to a handful of people, and can hold a decent 45-second conversation with even fewer, but the person I'm thankful for in that class (save for Mr. M; you're not a classmate, sir, sorry. ;] ) is Stina, or as she hates being called, "          ". xD No worries, Stina; I shall not go there.

In reality, I like all my classmates (I'm sure...if I haven't heard you speak in class, then not really). They are all so bright and witty. But aside from little comments in class discussions and groupwork, I can only talk to one person, really.

STINA!!! You're (one of) the best!! (If I say the best, my other friends'll get me...) You come talk to me, before class and after, in Orchestra too, and you'll wait for my slow self to get packed up and leave the classroom after the bell. You'll ask me to join your group when there's group work to be done, which does me a favor since I'm very socially awkward and dislike groups. You'll joke around with me at lunch, and you cheer me up or help me out when I need it (thanks for helping me look for my watch).

You're...I dunno, A GREAT FRIEND. How else can I put it? And how the heck can I explain why you make English better? You just DO. Your very presence makes my day in English class, and it only gets better when I look over and make a weird face at you and see how you react. xD

You make class (and school) better by being you. It's just that simple. So why did I write an essay describing how you do that? My apologies. You're such a good friend that I feel some sort of guilt by being with you; I feel like I'm not worth your kindness. FRIENDSHIP BROWNIES ON MONDAY!!!! LOL. Maybe; I don't know.

Just be Stina, not Christina or Justina or           . Just. Stina. Thank you for you.

<3

"11/18 Blog"

WHAT THE--?! I KNOW NOTHZING OF THIS BLOG!!

No one did or does either, I guess. Unless Mr. M told us to disregard it...which I of course didn't hear due to my lacking listening ability. xD I'll do it for the heck of it. A blog post's a blog post, and heck with it; it's a 4-day weekend (cough, cough, andEnglishistheonlythingholdingmeback, cough).

So, the topic of this post was supposed to be "Direction the Class Needs." I shall gloss over the fact that "you" is spelled with a "p" on Edline, and the other fact that I have suspicions that Mr. M even posted that. Straight to the point. Maybe. I guess.

Something about what should be added, subtracted, or enhanced in or for the clase. Hmmm...I'd like for the Journals to make their way back into our daily schedule. I mean, when we still did them, I got to WRITE. Not just answer questions, or analyze text, or do an assignment. I got to write how I felt about a particular topic, or I'd just write whatever was on my mind or whatever I felt like babbling on about. It was a source of freedom for me, and an opportunity for me to get back into writing for leisure. I liked writing journal entries in class, and I really wish we'd do it again, more often.

Please and thanxu~!

Revelation: Suddenly, a Connection

O. Mi. Gosh.

So, I was working on my previous post, the one about Love and Perseverance being a theme in the book The Road, and I was looking at a source, a review on the book, in which the author of the review strongly suggests that there are biblical references to the book (i.e. the man and his son are like prophets in a moral story, "Ely" is Elijah, herald of the Messiah, and the boy himself is "the 10-year-old messiah"). I was struck by these connections. I am not a very religious person, as mentioned in my post about the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," but in my left-right notes (which are unfortunately not here with me at the moment) at one point earlier on in the story, I made a connection between the father and son and God and his son Jesus. Seriously, I did. I mean, WOW.

I don't remember what I wrote down, but it was some connection between the behaviors of the father and son and how they somehow seemed similar to those of God and His son, should they ever come down and walk the earth in the end. I'll go back to my notes and get back to you...Monday?

What really gave my mind a jolt was this part of the review:

"When they capture a man who stole their goods the father leaves him naked on the road to freeze. The boy protests but the father chides him: “You’re not the one who has to worry about everything.” And then the 10-year-old messiah, who is compassion incarnate, and carrying the fire, gives up his secret. He says to his father: 'Yes I am. I am the one.'"

So, yes. That was amazing. I mean, just this week I think, we were talking about how pure the boy was, even though he was born into such a life. And later in the book (I finished it; slight spoiler alert) the narration from the man's point of view (actually, third person limited) describes the boy as having "light all around him...when he moved the light moved with him."

I always wrote down how innocently smart and caring and amazingly understanding the boy was in my notes, and that kinda led me to my little note about the boy possibly being Jesus, reincarnated. The father himself asks Ely what he would think if he (the father) said that the boy was a god. I just...I'm amazed.

OK. I shall return after I get my notes back. ;)

The Road Research Post: Love and Perseverance

Hehehe...I once again forgot when the heck this thing is due, so I'll just give you (any readers/classmates) my usual tired delirious nonsense and pull out random stuff in the form of a decent blog post. *Snicker*
...Actually, I'm REALLY tired now, so...tomorrow. Morning. I'll do this then. Sorry.


Okay, so I was looking at some [one] sources, which included an interview with McCarthy. I noticed that

Righto. New day, changing post. I just read a review for The Road, and one thing that just caught my attention now was the conversation between the "Ely" fellow and the father. First of all, the author of the review made a connection to the prophets in the Bible, and he suggested that Ely was "Elijah, herald of the Messiah, who will return on the Day of Judgement...Anyway, Ely responds to the father's proposal that the boy is a god: "Where men cant live gods fare no better." When I first read this in the book, I couldn't make sense of the statement. But now, looking at it, I realized a possible explanation: gods are a belief of man; if there are no men alive to believe, there are no gods to believe in. A-HA!! I got it. :)

Oops. Back on to the actual topic of this post. I was thinking, and I was going to ask Mr. M if I could have this post about 2 topics, but I figured he'd say that I could do it if I managed to connect the two ideas somehow. Well, I think I can. Here goes...

Love and Perseverance. These two often go hand in hand. When there is love, there's reason to persevere. In The Road, the love between the father and his son is quite apparent, even though, as pointed out by John Jurgenson (author of the article "Hollywood's Favorite Cowboy"), "they never say 'I love you.'" In response, Cormac McCarthy states "No, [I didn't have the father and son say they love each other]. I didn't think that would add anything to the story at all."