question of the week

There are many characters throughout Catcher in the Rye whom Holden interacts with or refers to. In chapters 19 & 20 alone, he mentions Luce, Sally, his mother and father, Phoebe, and Allie. In your blog, choose one of these characters and analyze Holden's feelings toward that person. How does Holden feel about them? How does he try to connect to them? How are they significant to the entire book? Respond using examples from the text to support!


this Luce guy... I will be analyzing him!
one thing though.. after reading chapter 19, I thought he was using the word "flit" for a fancy or high-class person, but after talking with Rhyanne, I agree with what she thought.. he was using it in terms of a "gay person". that makes more sense...

Holden really likes this character, Luce. he meets him at the bar and has drinks with him, and really describes him, as he does with any other character, but with Luce, he may throw in a few negative comments, but overall he respects the guy. he tries talking to him about his sex life and the women he's been with. (you should also notice that in this chapter, he talks about how he "stood up when I ordered them so they could see how tall was and all and not think I was a goddam minor." this shows that he really is trying to look and seem older; this happens frequently throughout the book.) Luce continuously tries to get Holden off the topic, saying things like "Is this going to be a typical Caulfield conversation? I want to know right now." he really knows that Holden hasn't ever grown up, he always TRIES to act like he has, but Luce sees right through him, as Phoebe does later in chapter 22. this character is significant.. he kind of really proves to the reader how Holden is. not many times has Holden stumbled across a character that knew him previously and given their thoughts on him. finally, the reader can see how others see him, rather than just how Holden sees himself.