The catcher in the rye

hey!
i need some help on the cather in the rye for my homework :biggrin:

i have to explain this quote: "Don't ever tell anybody anything. if you do, you start missing everybody" the book ends with this quote!
I would like to know what does holden mean by this quotes!
i have to use themes, symbols from the book!
i appriciate if anyone can help me!

Reply 1

princessshauna

mahtab_lovely

hey!
i need some help on the cather in the rye for my homework :biggrin:

i have to explain this quote: "Don't ever tell anybody anything. if you do, you start missing everybody" the book ends with this quote!
I would like to know what does holden mean by this quotes!
i have to use themes, symbols from the book!
i appriciate if anyone can help me!

The novel’s ending is ambiguous. It is unclear whether Holden will fulfill the promise of recovery that is suggested as he watches the carousel. Holden’s final statement—“Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody”— suggests that he is still shackled by the same problems he has dealt with throughout the book. He still seems scared and alone, and he continues to dread communication. On the other hand, his final words suggest that he has begun to shed the impenetrable skin of cynicism that he had grown around himself. He has begun to value, rather than dismiss, the people around him. His nostalgia—“missing everybody”—reveals that he is not as bitter and repressed as he was earlier in the book.

go to sparknotes.com

if you go there and type in The Catcher in the rye, it will give u a synopsis of all the chapters themes, motifis, symbols, important quotations ect...u might have to sign up, its free and its quick...this site will help u for every subject u have!! so i HIGHLY advise getting registered!!

Reply 2

markie

princessshauna

The novel’s ending is ambiguous. It is unclear whether Holden will fulfill the promise of recovery that is suggested as he watches the carousel. Holden’s final statement—“Don’t tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody”— suggests that he is still shackled by the same problems he has dealt with throughout the book. He still seems scared and alone, and he continues to dread communication. On the other hand, his final words suggest that he has begun to shed the impenetrable skin of cynicism that he had grown around himself. He has begun to value, rather than dismiss, the people around him. His nostalgia—“missing everybody”—reveals that he is not as bitter and repressed as he was earlier in the book.

go to sparknotes.com

if you go there and type in The Catcher in the rye, it will give u a synopsis of all the chapters themes, motifis, symbols, important quotations ect...u might have to sign up, its free and its quick...this site will help u for every subject u have!! so i HIGHLY advise getting registered!!

I never read the book at school but much later. I kinda thought he meant that once you tell someone something then you are "letting them in" instead of keeping himself separate from everyone,holding them in that kind of false contempt he has for them and their "phonieness". Once he does that then he admits he needs them and is then capable of missing them when they are not there.
Well thats what I thought when I read it. What do you think?
:smile:

Reply 3

mahtab_lovely

OP

thanks alot for ur help
the website is excellent...

but do you think that holden is a hero? :confused:

Reply 4

markie

mahtab_lovely

thanks alot for ur help
the website is excellent...

but do you think that holden is a hero? :confused:

I think that depends on the reader. I think he is, in his narrative he is constantly trying to tell things how they really are in his view. How many times does he start a sentence with "if you want to know the truth" or something like it. He is struggling all alone (he thinks) to come to terms with changing from child to adult, and deal with his peers who he mostly hates but still see some good in at times.
I love his reluctance to join in with the phonieness of adulthood as he sees it. There is so much truth in that theme and the way it has been written as the thoughts of a schoolboy is what make this book and the character truely poignant and unique imo.
In the part where he talks about being the "catcher in the rye" he is casting himself as a hero. A saviour of childhood, you've got to admire that in him I think. :smile:

Reply 5

mahtab_lovely

OP

thanks again
ur information was helpful.... :cool: