Friday, April 17, 2009
The Affects of Allie
After the class discussion on Thursday, I began to wonder just how much Allie's death impacted Holden. We may learn just how far much this tragic event changed Holden, but from what I've read so far I've come to some conclusions. I believe Jyothi (or Keiran) was the one that brought up how Holden didn't feel good enough, he spoke of his brother in such a positive light, he never said anything negative about Allie. So perhaps since he died he never thought he was good enough, not good enough for his parents or anything. Maybe Holden lost his confidence too, like how he really wanted to catch up with Jane, but he "wasn't in the mood". I feel that since Allie died Holden doesn't know how to react to things or how to keep moving in a productive way. He said to Old Spencer that he had taken the same English course at the last school he was at and that was why he wasn't failing here; but maybe he's excelling at English because of Allie. Allie's mitt had poems all over, and maybe literature is a way for Holden to feel close to his brother again. Those are my thoughts on the impact of Allie, and it is a little jumbled and mashed together, but they're just a rough sketch.
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i fully agree with this posting alyssa! i believe that allie's death really impacted holden and i hope we find out later in the novel. i can see how literature would be a way of getting closer to his deceased brother; holden did say that allie had written all over his baseball mitt.
ReplyDeleteGreat thinking, Alyssa. It's obvious Holden has an issue connecting with the people around him. Do you think that has something to do with him losing Allie or is it something bigger?
ReplyDeleteMrs. Jorgensen,
ReplyDeleteNot everyone knows how Holden feels, not many people can empathize. Even those that lost a brother may not be able to fully empathize with Holden; because he lost his younger brother. I sort of feel that HOlden feels he has to look after his younger siblings, like it's his responsibility, and so when Allie died...he failed. Not to mention that it seemed like Allie and him were really good friends, so he lost a little brother and a best friend. So after loosing someone like that it is easy to infer that he isn't able to relate to people as well as he had before. I hope that makes some sense...I may have been rambling.