LandSExpress

Leah Baumgarten and Steven Timpanaro Express

Thesis: Holden is constantly thinking about death because of the loss of his brother Allie of whom he loved so much.

1. How does the symbol/motif come up in the novel, and how does it impact what is going on? What happens immediately preceding or immediately following a mention or discussion of this idea or thing? Holden thinks about his dead brother Allie mulitiple times. It impacts his every thought and mood throughout the whole story. Whenever Allie is mentioned Holden becomes upset and depressed, and it reminds him no one can compare to Allie. He cannot keep friends easily because Allie is the best. "Old Allie's baseball mitt. I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase, so I got it out and copied down the poems that were written on it. All I had to do was change Allie's name so that nobody would know it was my brother and not Stradlater's. I wasn't too crazy about doing it, but I couldn't think of anything else descriptive. Besides, I sort of liked writing about it."(Salinger)

2. What is the mood when this idea or thing is brought up? Would you associate this with times when Holden is content? frightened? frantic? confused? Is this mood consistent with every incidence of this motif? Whenever death is brought up to Holden he thinks about Allie, and adulthood. It is associated with the times when Holden is pissed and upset. Holden holds Allie on a pedestal and the fact that no one is as good as Allie frightens him. "I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and i broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. (Salinger)

3. Is Holden alone when this motif/symbol occurs? If not, with whom is he interacting? How would you characterize that interaction? Does this motif occur both when he is alone and when he is with other people? Is there a connection to be made?

Most of the time this motif accors when Holden is alone but on occasion when someone is getting on Holdens nerves and he starts "hating" the person the thought comes up again. When Holden is alone he thinks more about the future and the past. Whenever he is wearing his Red Hunting Hat he thinks about Allie as well. "Anyway, finally I had come right out and tell him that I had to write a composition for Stradlater, and that he had to clear the hell out, so I could concentrate." "The thing was, I couldn't think of a room or a house or anything to describe the way Stradlater said he had to have. I'm not too crazy about describing rooms and houses anyway. So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie's baseball mitt." (Salinger 38)

4. What does this motif/symbol tell you about Holden, in a “big picture” way - Does this suggest anything about his personality? His weaknesses or strengths? His sense of himself?

This motif suggests that Holden is insecure and scared. He wants to keep his innocence since Allies gotten take away from him, and because his was full of sadness. He has low self esteem and never feels good enough. He kind of blames himself for Allies death and wants to keep all the other kids safe from that. "All of a sudden, he said,'For Chrissake, Holden. This is about a goddam baseball glove' 'So what?' I Said. 'Wuddaya mean so what? I told ya it had to be about a goddam room or a house or something.' 'You said it had to be descriptive. What the hell's the difference if it's about a baseball glove?' 'God damn it.' He was sore as hell. He was really furious. 'You always do everything backasswards.' He looked at me. 'No wonder your flunking the hell out of here,' he said.'You don't do one damn thing the way you're supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.' 'All right, give it back to me, then.' I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddam hand. Then I tore it up." (Salinger 41)

5. Tie it all together: Did any pattern emerge? Pick out other words or ideas used in conjunction with this motif. Look back on your investigation and come up with a single sentence that sums up what you’ve discovered. The word death for Holden resembles his childhood and all the unhappy events that occured. "THAT'S ALL I'm going to tell about. I could probably tell you what I did after I went home and how I got sick and all, and what school I'm supposed to go otnext fall, after I get out of here, but I don't feel like it. I really don't. That stuff doesn't interest me too much right now." (Salinger)

**I.** **Introduction** a. Death is brought upon everyone, and it can effect a person in devastating ways. b. Holden is constantly thinking about death because of the loss of his brother Allie of whom he loved so much. i. Whenever death is brought up to Holden he thinks about Allie, and the reality of adulthood. ii. Holden's parents were never really there to help him through the loss of Allie. iii. Allie defines Holden's relationships with other.s

**II.** **Body One (Avenue one/Main reason 1)** a. Whenever death is brought up to Holden he thinks about Allie, and the reality of adulthood. i. Allie was part of his childhood and innocence and Holden obviously does not want to give that up.

b. Holden holds Allie on a pedestal and the fact that no one is as good as Allie frightens him. i. This causes him to not be able to get close to anyone with the fear of them not comparing to Allie.

c. Every time thoughts of Allie occur in Holden's mind he either gets upset or barricades himself from others.

i. The first time this happened was when Holden's roommate didn't like the paper Holden wrote about Allie. This caused Holden to become angry and he lashed out physically. "I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and i broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. (Salinger)

**III.** **Body Two (Avenue one/Main reason 2) linked with THESIS STATEMENT** a. Holden has issues having relationships with adults after the loss of Allie. i. He couldn't go to his parents and he figures he cannot go to any adults. b. He loved Allie so much that many people, especially adults all seem like phonies. i. He can't stand the lifestyle some adults have and dreads ever having to live like that. c. He has trouble reacting to adults and their actions such as when he gets patted on the head in his sleep and just leaves. i. He doesn't know how to deal with being patted on the head so he just runs. "Anyway, finally I had come right out and tell him that I had to write a composition for Stradlater, and that he had to clear the hell out, so I could concentrate." "The thing was, I couldn't think of a room or a house or anything to describe the way Stradlater said he had to have. I'm not too crazy about describing rooms and houses anyway. So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie's baseball mitt." (Salinger 38)

**IV.** **Body Three (Avenue one/Main reason 3) linked with THESIS STATEMENT** a. Allie defines Holden's relationship with others. i. He has such low self-esteem and lack of confidence that it effects everyone around him. "All of a sudden, he said,'For Chrissake, Holden. This is about a goddam baseball glove' 'So what?' I Said. 'Wuddaya mean so what? I told ya it had to be about a goddam room or a house or something.' 'You said it had to be descriptive. What the hell's the difference if it's about a baseball glove?' 'God damn it.' He was sore as hell. He was really furious. 'You always do everything backasswards.' He looked at me. 'No wonder your flunking the hell out of here,' he said.'You don't do one damn thing the way you're supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.' 'All right, give it back to me, then.' I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddam hand. Then I tore it up." (Salinger 41) b. Because Allie got taken away from Holden at such a young age the majority of his life has been filled with sadness. i. He has had to watch his parents and siblings move on from his brothers death and it made him realize early that the world is not a happy place. c. Holden feels like he could have done something to avoid all this trauma and maybe have helped Allie. i. This is one of the reasons he wants to be the "catcher in the rye". He wishes to save all the children from jumping into childhood and shield them from all its hardships.

**V.** **Conclusion** a. Holden is constantly thinking about death because of the loss of his brother Allie of whom he loved so much. i. All of Holden's thoughts always come back to Allie.

1. Whether it's his comparisons to others, the thoughts of the after life, or the fear of adulthood.

ii. The loss of Allie would have been a lot easier on Holden if he had someone to go to such as his parents.

1. With support and someone to talk to he could have moved on from the tragedy and would have dealt with it easier.

iii. With Allie always on Holden's mind, it defines the relationship he has with other people.

1. He compares everyone he meets with Allie making it severely difficult to hold a relationship.

iv.Due to the fact that Holden could not move past Allie's death it jeopardized the rest of his life.

Death is brought upon everyone, and it can affect a person in devastating ways.Holden is constantly thinking about death because of the loss of his brother Allie of whom he loved so much. Whenever death is brought up to Holden he thinks about Allie, and the reality of adulthood. Also, Holden's parents were never really there to help him through the loss of Allie making it much harder for him. Allie defines Holden's relationships with others because in Holden’s mind Allie was the best.

Whenever death is brought up to Holden he thinks about Allie, and the reality of adulthood. Allie was part of his childhood and innocence and Holden obviously does not want to give that up. Holden holds Allie on a pedestal and the fact that no one is as good as Allie frightens him. This causes him to not be able to get close to anyone with the fear of them not comparing to Allie. Every time thoughts of Allie occur in Holden's mind he either gets upset or barricades himself from others. The first time this happened was when Holden's roommate didn't like the paper Holden wrote about Allie. This caused Holden to become angry and he lashed out physically ."I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don't blame them. I really don't. I slept in the garage the night he died, and i broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it. (Salinger)

Holden has issues having relationships with adults after the loss of Allie. He couldn't go to his parents and he figures he cannot go to any adults. He loved Allie so much that many people, especially adults all seem like phonies. He can't stand the lifestyle some adults have and dreads ever having to live like that. He has trouble reacting to adults and their actions such as when he gets patted on the head in his sleep and just leaves. He doesn't know how to deal with being patted on the head so he just runs. "Anyway, finally I had come right out and tell him that I had to write a composition for Stradlater, and that he had to clear the hell out, so I could concentrate." "The thing was, I couldn't think of a room or a house or anything to describe the way Stradlater said he had to have. I'm not too crazy about describing rooms and houses anyway. So what I did, I wrote about my brother Allie's baseball mitt." (Salinger 38)

Allie defines Holden's relationship with others. He has such low self-esteem and lack of confidence that it effects everyone around him. "All of a sudden, he said,'For Chrissake, Holden. This is about a goddam baseball glove' 'So what?' I Said. 'Wuddaya mean so what? I told ya it had to be about a goddam room or a house or something.' 'You said it had to be descriptive. What the hell's the difference if it's about a baseball glove?' 'God damn it.' He was sore as hell. He was really furious. 'You always do everything backasswards.' He looked at me. 'No wonder your flunking the hell out of here,' he said.'You don't do one damn thing the way you're supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.' 'All right, give it back to me, then.' I said. I went over and pulled it right out of his goddam hand. Then I tore it up." (Salinger 41) Because Allie got taken away from Holden at such a young age the majority of his life has been filled with sadness. He has had to watch his parents and siblings move on from his brothers death and it made him realize early that the world is not a happy place. Holden feels like he could have done something to avoid all this trauma and maybe have helped Allie. This is one of the reasons he wants to be the "catcher in the rye". He wishes to save all the children from jumping into childhood and shield them from all its hardships.

Holden is constantly thinking about death because of the loss of his brother Allie of whom he loved so much. All of Holden's thoughts always come back to Allie. Whether it's his comparisons to others, the thoughts of the after life, or the fear of adulthood. The loss of Allie would have been a lot easier on Holden if he had someone to go to such as his parents. With support and someone to talk to he could have moved on from the tragedy and would have dealt with it easier. With Allie always on Holden's mind, it defines the relationship he has with other people. He compares everyone he meets with Allie making it severely difficult to hold a relationship. Due to the fact that Holden could not move past Allie's death it jeopardized the rest of his life.