https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g Made with good vibes en-us 2020-04-21 00:28:33 UTC 2023-02-08 06:43:16 UTC hello@padlet.com shochschild https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/518932233 1) Selma Thurmer
" Old Selma Thurmer--she was the headmaster's daughter--showed up at the
games quite often, but she wasn't exactly the type that drove you mad with desire. She
was a pretty nice girl, though. I sat next to her once in the bus from Agerstown and we
sort of struck up a conversation. I liked her. She had a big nose and her nails were all
bitten down and bleedy-looking and she had on those damn falsies that point all over the
place, but you felt sort of sorry for her. What I liked about her, she didn't give you a lot of
horse manure about what a great guy her father was. She probably knew what a phony
slob he was." Page 3

2) [What this reveals about the character]: Selma does not put on airs about who she is or who her father is.  This makes her stand out as someone Holden respects as being genuine; however, Holden can't help but berate and demean her for her looks. Selma has some fake qualities, as represented by the "falsies," but she is genuine in how she acts.  This reveals the pressure she feels to fit in, and some would say she is a phony, but this represents her vulnerability as well. 

3) Selma Thurmer reveals the value Holden places on authenticity. He criticizes her appearance, which highlights his cruelty in judging others, yet he also likes her, and he admires her ability to be her own person, which Holden wants to do as well.]]> 2020-04-21 00:45:53 UTC https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/518932233 https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/526815460


]]> 2020-04-23 20:03:27 UTC https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/526815460 triv0468 https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/527190906

Mr. Spencer - Chapter 1 

1. “ "Do you have any particular qualms about leaving Pencey?" "Oh, I have a few qualms, all right. Sure. . . but not too many. Not yet, anyway. I guess it hasn't really hit me yet. It takes things a while to hit me. All I'm doing right now is thinking about going home Wednesday. I'm a moron." "Do you feel absolutely no concern for your future, boy?" "Oh, I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure, I do." I thought about it for a minute. "But not too much, I guess. Not too much, I guess." "You will," old Spencer said. "You will, boy. You will when it's too late." I didn't like hearing him say that. It made me sound dead or something. It was very depressing. "I guess I will," I said. "I'd like to put some sense in that head of yours, boy. I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to help you, if I can."”
2. It reveals that Mr. Spencer is compassionate about Holden. He sees potential in Holden but does not know what is going on in Holden's life therefore he can not help. Mr. Spencer is ill but is still trying to teach Holden how to live life and what it takes to become successful. 
3. Holden is very judgy and is very set in his way. Even with Mr. Spencer trying to help, Holden seemingly pushes him to the side and does not take his words into heart .
4. 
   

1. Stradlater - Chapter 3
   1. “ Stradlater was more of a secret slob. He always looked all right, Stradlater, but for instance, you should've seen the razor he shaved himself with. It was always rusty as hell and full of lather and hairs and crap. He never cleaned it or anything. He always looked good when he was finished fixing himself up, but he was a secret slob anyway, if you knew him the way I did.” 
   2. Stradlater is someone who is pretty on the outside but egly on the inside. He is presentable and handsome but is dirty and messy when he is not out. He is organised in a messy way.
   3. This quotation shows the holder is someone who pays attention to detail, the big and the small. He is observant and is very judgmental on what he sees. 
   4. 
      

1. Jane Gallagher - Chapter 4, 11
   1. “ "Yeah. She wouldn't move any of her kings. What she'd do, when she'd get a king, she wouldn't move it. She'd just leave it in the back row. She'd get them all lined up in the back row. Then she'd never use them. She just liked the way they looked when they were all in the back row."”
   2. This quote shows how Jane Gallagher is someone who likes seeing things that are aesthetically pleasing. She enjoys the little things in life and she is also very determined when Holden talks about her ballet career
   3. This character brings out the compassion and care that Holden hides. During the quote Holden shows his attention to detail as well, it reveals that he cares for Jane and is interested in her. 
   4. 
      

1. The “Perverts” in the hotel - Chapter 9
   1. “For instance, that girl that was getting water squirted all over her face, she was pretty good-looking. I mean that's my big trouble. In my mind, I'm probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. Sometimes I can think of very crumby stuff I wouldn't mind doing if the opportunity came up. I can even see how it might be quite a lot of fun, in a crumby way, and if you were both sort of drunk and all, to get a girl and squirt water or something all over each other's face. The thing is, though, I don't like the idea. It stinks, if you analyze it. I think if you don't really like a girl, you shouldn't horse around with her at all, and if you do like her, then you're supposed to like her face, and if you like her face, you ought to be careful about doing crumby stuff to it, like squirting water all over it. “
   2. This quote talks about the man and the woman who are, as a whole is unimportant, but it shows that they are “pervert”, “erotic”, and “bizarre” things, the man is appeared to be acting like a woman. 
   3. The scene shows that Holden is getting aroused by this,  but it shows that he actually cares for the people he loves, he directly said that he will only do the arousing things to someone he has feelings for and has no interests in doing it with a fling. 
   4. 
      

1. Mrs. Morrow  - Chapter 13
   1.  “Ernest's father and I sometimes worry about him," she said. "We sometimes feel he's not a terribly good mixer." "How do you mean?" "Well. He's a very sensitive boy. He's really never been a terribly good mixer with other boys. Perhaps he takes things a little more seriously than he should at his age." Sensitive. That killed me. That guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat
   2.  Mrs Morrow is depicted as a stereotypical mother who will listen to anybody as long as they tell her the things she wants to hear. She is more to deceit due to her appealing looks and naive sense of motherhood. She loves to believe that Ernest is doing well in life and it makes things easier for Holden to lie to her.
   3.  This shows Holden as someone who lies just because he can, he lies that Ernest is popular and well liked but he doesn’t like him at all. He lied to please Mrs Morrow again displaying an apathetic side of  his character. 
   4. 
      

1. Phoebe Chapter 10
   1.  I certainly felt like talking to her on the phone. Somebody with sense and all. But I couldn't take a chance on giving her a buzz, because she was only a little kid and she wouldn't have been up, let alone anywhere near the phone. I thought of maybe hanging up if my parents answered, but that wouldn't've worked, either. They'd know it was me. My mother always knows it's me. She's psychic. But I certainly wouldn't have minded shooting the crap with old Phoebe for a while. You should see her. You never saw a little kid so pretty and smart in your whole life. She's really smart. I mean she's had all A's ever since she started school. As a matter of fact, I'm the only dumb one in the family. 
   2. Holden's description of pheo reveals that she is intelligent considering her young age and is someone who Holden adores very much. She is also that most loved in the family with her mom giving her the most care, she is the golden child. 
   3. This reveals that Holden is apathetic and isn’t as cold hearted as he first seemed. He actually has a heart and he lost his brother at a young age making him carry a soft spot for his loved ones. 

]]> 2020-04-24 01:01:24 UTC https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/527190906 alarab4555 https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/527413186 1. Sunny
     1) "She was very nervous, for a prostitute. She really was. I think it was because she was young as hell. She was around my age. I sat down in the big chair, next to her, and offered her a cigarette. 'I don't smoke,' she said. She had a tiny little wheeny-whiny voice. You could hardly hear her. She never said thank you, either, when you offered her something. She just didn't know any better" (105).
     2) Sunny is an interesting character contrast to Holden; here is a young girl forced into an adult occupation yet retains every vestige of youth in her personality. This is exceedingly different to Holden, who resents his youth and peers' immaturity and attempts to assume adult roles and identities for his own desires, and despises when adults call him out on his true age. Her nervous manner and small voice tell the audience that Sunny is likely a character who has experienced some form of abuse at the hands of men before, which of course fits with what we know begets prostitution.
    3) As aforementioned, Holden's character is directly contrasted against that of Sunny's, and this situates him in such a way that he both feels and in actuality is the authority figure in the room in that moment. From the way he takes a seat in the "big chair" and "offers her a cigarette", we can see small hints of adulting. For a character so often portrayed as weak and pitted against perceived stronger opposing characters, it is an interesting change of pace from Salinger to see him opposite a nervous character such as Sunny. 
2. Mrs. Morrow
     1) "I gave her a good look. She didn't look like any dope to me. She looked like she might have a pretty damn good idea of what a bastard she was the mother of. But you can't always tell---with somebody's mother, I mean. Mothers are all slightly insane. The thing is , though, I liked old Morrow's mother. She was all right" (62)
    2) Mrs. Morrow is "somebody's mother". But more than this, she is the archetypal younger mother, whom a younger man might feel safe in desiring. Her cool-headed charming front cloaks a canny, even ambitious character who has adapted to her surroundings with slick ease. We know from the beginning of her conversation with Holden, before the present quote, that she is observant with a keen eye, as she detected the Pencey sticker on Holden's baggage. We also know that she must have married into an affluent family, being that her son attends a wealthy prep school such as Pencey. All in all, she is an enigmatic woman whom Holden finds worthy of his attentions -- a rare thing for a professional snob like Holden. 
    3) Mrs. Morrow is our first in depth submersion into Holden's developing sexuality. Through her, we as the readers finally see what he actually likes about women instead of what he does not. Himself being sixteen going on sixty, Holden prefers a mature woman like Mrs. Morrow to the younger girls who he perceives as overwhelmingly puerile and shallow. He also associates her maturity and age with a quality yet so far in the book to be seen in other women -- intelligence. He asserts that she is no "dope" by appearance, as well, demonstrating that he falls prey all too often to the overvaluing of physiognomy.
3. Laverne
     1) "The two ugly ones names were Marty and Laverne...Then I tried to get them in a little intelligent conversation, but it was practically impossible. You had to twist their arms. You could hardly tell which was the stupidest out of the three of them. And the whole three of them kept looking around the goddam room, like as if they expected a flock of goddam movie stars to come in any minute" (82).
      2) Laverne is ugly, first and foremost. That is her defining trait, and even then she shares this insulting title with her friend Marty. Her mind is also unattractive, as picked up on by her dull conversation skills. She is a starstruck tourist, latching on to the bright lights of the city and the stars both in the sky and personified down below in celebrities. 
     3) More of Holden's disillusionment with the establishment and the mainstream comes through his evaluation of Laverne and her friend Marty. He has intimate knowledge of the dirty truth of New York City, and finds the tourists naive; this is only one of their many sins, not the least of which being their unattractive appearances. Some of his comments could be understood as misogyny, for his devaluing of these women for their lacking looks; however, his further commenting on their lacking intellectual capacity more-so places emphasis on his finding Laverne and Marty as subpar stimulants. 
4. The "Perverts"
      1) "Real women's clothes -- silk stockings, high-heeled shoes, brassiere, and one of those corsets with the straps hanging down and all. Then he put on this very tight black evening dress. I swear to God. Then he started walking up and down the room, taking these very small steps, the way a woman does, and smoking a cigarette and looking at himself in the mirror. He was all alone, too" (69).
     2) The character described here by Holden appears to experience some sort of sexual or gender dysphoria, as evidenced by his practice of dressing up in women's clothes and emulating their feminine wiles. He could be a gay man who moonlights as a drag queen or a transgender woman. Holden adds that the man is "all alone", and if one takes the time period into context, the reader would understand that because this behavior is considered unacceptable by the mainstream the man must dress surreptitiously. 
    3) Holden's sexuality is explored here through his observance of this odd ritual of the man's. We see throughout much of the book that he has quite stark views of femininity and masculinity, and it is interesting to see his views so openly challenged in this moment. The fact that he zeroes in on the sexual nature of the clothes (the corset, the silk stockings, etc) reminds us that he is still developing his perception of sexuality and what is attractive or stirring. 
5. Lillian Simmons
     1) "She was blocking up the whole goddam traffic in the aisle. You could tell she liked to block up a lot of traffic. This waiter was waiting for her to move out of the way, but she didn't even notice him. It was funny. You could tell the waiter didn't like her much, you could tell even the Navy guy didn't like her much, even though he was dating her. And I didn't like her much. Nobody did. You had to feel sort of sorry for her, in a way" (97).
     2) Lillian Simmons is the embodiment of men's anathema: the woman who tries too hard. She is, at least from Holden's perspective, desperate for attention, and seizes it even in the most irksome ways such as "blocking up the whole goddam traffic in the aisle". We already know she is physically beautiful, from Holden's offhand comment earlier in the chapter that Lillian has, "big knockers"; However, her nagging personality completely eradicates her attractiveness to the men around her. As Holden says, even her own boyfriend doesn't much like her. For a woman so clearly seeking love, it is slightly heartbreaking to see her so astoundingly disliked. 
    3) Holden's empathy for Lillian relates back to the reader once more that Holden himself also knows what it feels like to not be well liked. It also softens the blow of his harsher critiques, keeping him from becoming a less fully fleshed out character. It also, ironically, promotes reader sympathy for Holden and his views moreso than it does for Lillian herself; we as readers are supposed to see that Holden's critical eye is not without sympathy, and feel that this makes him a good man. 
6.  Bernice
     1) "She was really a moron. But what a dancer. I could hardly stop myself from sort of giving her a kiss on the top of her dopey head--you know--right where the part is, and all. She got sore when I did it" (80).
    2) Here Holden breaks down the character of Bernice into a simple two sentencer: she's dumb but attractive, and a great dancer. Essentially another addition to the dumb blonde trope commonly seen in film, TV, and literature. Her greatest value is her beauty, most apparent in the way she dances according to Holden. She plays into a stereotypically feminine role; a damsel in need of protection from the world and we can see this from Holden's strange, almost brotherly or fatherly display of affection with his kiss of her forehead.
   3) The protective yet supercilious way in which Holden views Bernice showcases his internalized misogyny in a seemingly innocuous manner. His "kiss on the top of her dopey head" is taken sorely by Bernice, and for the reader this is the obvious response. It is very creepy behavior from Holden. He adopts the air of a wiser, older man who might have the place of an older brother or father for this woman who is a decade or two his senior! This instance illuminates the age dysphoria Holden feels within himself.
4) ]]> 2020-04-24 04:29:50 UTC https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/527413186 joshuas4256 https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/527461371 2020-04-24 05:27:07 UTC https://padlet.com/shochschild/8qd5a7whvab46u3g/wish/527461371