Holden's a Hero - or could be, anyways...

So while talking in class and looking through our blogs, I noticed some really negative responses to Holden. I question his morals and santity and all, but I think we're doing exactly what we don't like about him.

You may say "I don't like the way Holden hates everyone" and then go on and on about how much you dislike Holden. Um, what? I caught myself doing this, and then realized how silly that was. I recommend doing the same. Negativity gets us nowhere but down.

I liked the book. But I struggled and I gripped and I put Holden down constantly. I coudn't tell if I liked how he wrote, and knew I disliked how he lied terrifically, drank like an alcoholic fish, smoked pack after pack, did so little, fought... But by the end, as I looked at the emptyness after the last word, I felt--cheesy as it sounds--like I learned something. I felt good, and not just because I finally finished it.

The Catcher in the Rye is a good book (and would have been better, I think, if I didn't expect Holden to off someone every other page). You're confronted with a character and situations you don't like (or, at least, that's how it was for me) and then you get a choice. Do you A) take the easy road and seethe about how dumb Holden is, blah blah blah... or B) see where Holden fell and decide to climb instead? As in, oh, you don't like how Holden sat around and did nothing? Well. Do something!

Have you ever read The Things They Carried? Whether you did or didn't, liked it or hated it, it had a point. There are facts in fiction. The author may be unreliable and his story lies, but that doesn't mean it's without truth.