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The Catcher In The Rye - Passage analysis

 

            Passage B begins on page 190 of The Catcher In The Rye and ends on the second last page : 191.This passage takes place when Holden brings Phoebe to a merry-go-round right after vistiting most of a zoo. Phoebe had been mad at Holden because he had not wanted to take her with him on his journey to make a living elsewhere. They had even walked on opposite sides of the street. In this passage Holden and Phoebe reconcile and Phoebe gets a second ride on the merry-go-round. Holden had given her his famous red hunting hat and she has let him wear it for a while. In the second half it started to rain and Holden describes the wheather : " It started to rain like a bastard. In buckets." All the other parents moved under the carrousel but Holden remains alone on the bench taking in all the rain and getting soaked as hell. He stayed there because he was "so happy he was bawling". He ends this by saying that he wished that we had been there to see how "nice" his younger sister looked going around and around in her blue coat. The dialogue is only in the first half when they reconcile after their fight and Phoebe gives Holden a kiss. Then he tells us that he isn't going to "hit the road" and make a living elsewhere anymore. She asked him if he really meant it and he told her that he did. The interesting point in this passage would be the fact that they have reconciled after their brief fight. .
             This passage is written in the first person, hence, in Holden's speech. Holden's speech is not that of a teen-ager of his age now-adays. He is largely less vulgar and uses catch-phrases from the forties such as "it killed me". It isn't a very high-class level of language nor low-class, as most novels it is about the middle-class language.
             The kiss and the way Phobe handed the red hunting hat over to him might have symbolized their stop of fighting and could have been somewhat tokens of apology from her to Holden. The way Holden said he was "so damn happy" could have been a conclusion to the whole story of The Catcher In The Rye.


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