I found it really interesting when Holden described his brother, Allie.
"He's dead now. He got leukemia and died when we were up in Maine, on July 18th, 1946. You'd have liked him. He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent...But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in many ways."
I chose this because I think Salinger does a phenomenal job of showing Holden's love for his brother. Holden doesn't like to talk about his past, but when talking about Allie I can just see him glowing with pride as he spoke of all his qualities. It is so well written that I felt like Holden was really talking to, telling me about his amazing little brother. I could see him letting go of his emotions as he went back to what seemed like the happiest time of his life.
What I take from this selection in the book is that Holden was hurt very much when his brother died. He cared for him so much and he was taken away from him at such a young age. Maybe he doesn't care about anything in his life because he thinks that no matter how hard he tries, everything will be taken away from him in the end.
I agree with you on how Allie's death truely effected Holden's emotional state. Espeically when we were getting to the end and Holden is mentally going crazy and keeps talking to Allie. Also when he gives the "red" hundting hat to Phoebe and Phoebe starts wearing it... is this suppose to remind him of Allie's "red" hair in a really unhealthy way...? This was a very intersesting part in the book.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good point at the end about how he doesn't care about life, because he thinks that no matter how hard he tries, everything is going to be taken away in the end. That's an intresting point to think about.
ReplyDeleteBut I do find it weird how Holden really cares about close to no one, and when he talks about Allie you see a whole different side of him.
You also picked a good quote, it really captures how Holden feels about his brother.