The Stranger

Upon reading chapters 7-14 I’ve come across personal feelings of disbelief. I was lead to believe Holden was selective to who he talked to or liked but I now believe he is almost open minded to talking to anyone to not feel alone. He begins his chosen journey with “Sleep tight, ya morons” almost before chapter 8, basically slowly unraveling his coolheaded aloof persona. I say this because he is revealing his frustration in what I believe not being excepted by others.

        Almost immediately after he is freed his past catches up to him in the form of Mrs. Morrow. Holden describes her with subtle sex appeal and experess his liking for her but still ends up shutting her out. Holden goes by the name Rudolf Schmidt in this instance and grabs Mrs.Morrows attention with fake stories of her son from Pencey which I feel is mentioned not because of his dislike for her son but because he cant seem to connect with anyone without lying. He further elaborates his own life by stating he is off to go into surgery for a small brain tumor. This could be a stretch but I perceived this specific condition as an overall symbol of Holden not being exactly stable mentally. 

      Chapter 9 grows to be a little  twisted. Although it starts off a little mundane with his thought process of who to call after getting off at Penn Station he eventually decideds he cant call anoyone so he gets a cab and without realizing he gives the man his home address. This I sense was a point of vulnerability shared with the reader to hint at the fact Holden is still a yoing kid who misses home as much as he feels he doesnt belong there. After he realizes his mistake he is soon taken to a hotel and is described to be watching people through his window. Despite the fact that this part can be seen as nothing but Holden spying on a couple because thats what he wants and can explain why he got horny but I dont agree with that. Im sure a part of him likes the thought of being close to someone but I theorize that the man cross dressing was more important. Holden is known for hidding his trueself and if anyone described Holdens emtions in a physical way i’d agree that Holden would metaphorically be a cross dresser. Constantly he puts on masks, convincing himself he is someone else until he remembers hes not so he goes out and looks for a distraction which he does moments later. Firstly thought he justifies that he can be seen as some huge sex manic but doesnt even like the idea which is completely false in some ways. I only feel he is saying this because who is is talking to is no one he wants to open up to so pretending to feel nothing towards human interaction is a shield. Holden then continues taking some attention off himself to talk about a girl, Sally who was crumbier than him, mkaing him seem like hes normal before being distracted by thoughts of longing for Jane again.  Getting off that topc however he admits his feelings of being horny and remembering he kept a number of a girl from an Eddie Birdsell who claims she would be willing go have sex casually. Within moments he finds her number and calls her with intentions of acting  sauve but really in my opinion comes off as being desperate. Its reveled her name is Faith Cavemdish and since I’ve been taught that all names have meanings, I relate this back to Holden having faith in getting laid tonight with his “charm”. Holden later on claims he always stops when a girl says no but he fails to be aware of  Faiths excuses which could be a sign he still doesnt have a sense of when he needs to stop. Holden now validating my previous beliefs that he feels alone and is in need  of acceptance and not just with females. 

     Chapter 10 to me shows off his lost innocent, child years when mentioning his kid sister Phoebe; mentioning her multiple times before. Personally, having a longing for both Phoebe and Jane even thought in somewaht different ways theyre set in his past. He treats them both with as much respect as he’s capable of giving which is very different than how he treats most girls. For instance, as the chapter goes on hes focused on three women he doesnt feel are decently attractive besides the blonde, Bernice. Again, trying to be charming he interacts with them now pretending to be twenty two years old, saying anything to get one but more specifically, Bernice to dance with him by saying he will dance with all three ladies. At this point I assume he is being social because his needs for sex weren’t completed but I further learn its much deeper than that. After Holden goes theough what feels like forever for him they finally decided to leave but he shows he desperately doesn't want them to. Holden realizes they wont stay any longer and is discouraged at the fact that he still isnt satisfied. Although what happens as the book continues with his intimate story with Jane explains his liking for her I am under the impression that the prostitute he meets through a man he meets in an elevator is more important. Endlessly we are taken back to Holden trying to be pleasured and with the offering of a prostitute it is now definte, so we were believed to think. Holden cant go through with it, he claims she makes him sad and comes up with another medical related story to why he cant have sex tonight. With a little more persistence she gets off him and leaves with the money in hand. I dont feel he couldnt have sex with her because he is sad about jane and I dont feel it was only the prostitute, Sunny  that made him sad. In the perspective of names having meaning it’d be out of character for a women named Sunny, a possitive and uplifting name unable to make someone happy or feel good especially considering her occupation is making people feel good. Holden couldnt go through with it because he took off his sauve mask, thats not who he is. Holden realized temporary sex isnt going to help him feel less alone. His fake spinal injury representing that he cant stand like a man today because he is too broken. 

Holden is in recovery, its too late to rely on company to get past his problems.