                                               
                
              
                   
Mo.iMP                     
                     
                          
                         
                      
                               
                      
            
                   
                                  
          ARRoGANT                CoURiERS      WiTH     ESSaYS

Grade Level:       Type of Work           Subject/Topic is on:
 [ ]6-8                 [ ]Class Notes    [The Book Catcher in the ]
 [ ]9-10                [ ]Cliff Notes    [Rye and how it relates  ]
 [x]11-12               [x]Essay/Report   [to me(you).             ]
 [ ]College             [ ]Misc           [                        ]

 Dizzed: 08/94  # of Words:925   School:Prep/All Boys   State:CT
>>>Chop Here>>>>
     The book Catcher in the Rye tells of Holden Caulfield's
insight about life and the world around him. Holden shares
many of his opinions about people and leads the reader on a 5
day visit into his mind.  Holden, throughout the book, made
other people feel inferior to his own. I can relate to this
because although I do not view people inferior to myself, I
do judge others unequally.  Holden and I both have similar
judgements of people from the way they act and behave.  We
also share feelings about motivation as well as lack of it.
After reading this book, I came to the conclusion that Holden
and I are much more similar than I initially believed.

     Holden portrayed others to be inferior to his own kind
all throughout the book.  He made several references as to
how people aren't as perfect as he was. "The reason he
[Stradlater] fixed himself up to look good was because he was
madly in love with himself."  (pg. 27)  Holden had an
inferiority complex.  He was afraid of not having any special
talents or abilities and used other methods to make him out
to be a rough tough boy. "Boy, I sat at that goddam bar till
around one o'clock or so, getting drunk as a bastard.  I
could hardly see straight." (pg. 150)  Holden tried all he
could to fit in. He drank, cursed and criticized life in
general to make it seem he was very knowing of these habits.
I myself have found me doing this at times, also.  I, at
times, feel the need to fit in to a group and do things
similar to what others do in order to gain acceptance by
them.  I smoked a cigar once with two friends of mine because
they kept going on and on about how great cigars were, but
that was only once.  Holden and I both place people on levels
other than our own for amount of knowledge and likeness to
ourselves.

     Holden used the term 'phonies' to describe more than a
few people in this book.  He used the term to be what a
person is if they don't act naturally and follow other
people's manners and grace.  Holden didn't like phonies, he
thought of them as if they were trying to show off.  He
didn't like it when they showed off because it seemed so fake
and unnatural every time they would do so.
     "At the end of the first act we went out with all
     the other jerks for a cigarette.  What a deal that
     was. You never saw so many phonies in all your life,
     everybody smoking their ears off and talking about
     the play so that everybody could hear how sharp they
     were." (pg. 126)
I know many people like this as well.  I do not like phonies
either.  I have many friends who talk using full vocabulary
just to try to impress you, and others who make note of
everything they see to show you how perceptible they are.
People do this when they have a fear of their own
individuality and feel that they need to ace different to get
people to like them.  Holden and I both dislike phonies.  We
do not like people who take on roles of others to seem more
likeable because they are insecure.

     Throughout the book Holden displays a lack of motivation
for many things in which he should do.  Holden couldn't even
call up an old girlfriend whom he knew a long time ago.
      "But when I got inside this phone booth, I
      wasn't much in the mood any more to give old
      Jane a buzz." (Pg.  150)
Holden also had a problem getting his motivation together in
order to complete schoolwork and succeed in his prep school.
I have similar problems with my motivation and find at times
I must be in the mood to do something in order for me to
accomplish it.  This stems from our experience in the past
being that we can get through life, or the part we've been
through already, with minimal effort.  Holden has had this
opportunity to notice this as his parents have been shuffling
him around to different schools every time he flunks.  He
feels his parents will be there to move him somewhere else
and take care of him every time something goes wrong.  I
found out in eighth grade that the schoolwork I had was far
less than the schoolwork I did and I began to slack off, this
caused me to believe that I could get away with minimal true
effort in my schoolwork and it has also followed me into
other courses of my daily routine.  I find my forgetting to
do things and having my parents doing them for me.  I find I
am basically pampered to my every will and need at home.
This is a bad habit though and I am trying to get out of this
lifestyle because I realize I won't always have someone to
fall back on.  Holden and I both have similar motivational
problems stemming from our childhood.

     Holden Caulfield and I are very similar in many ways.
We tend to judge different people similar ways.  We both
dislike people who act phony because of insecurity.  We also
both lack motivation because of previous childhood
experiences which have shaped our lives.  Holden Caulfield
and I have began our great journey through life with similar
ideas to each other.
