blog #3

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Chapters 10 - 14 This portion of the book contained a lot of events as it did in previous chapters. To start off with, Holden reminisces about Pheobe, how he liked her a lot. Then, he goes to a nightclub and flirts with some girls for a while and leaves because he is annoyed. Then, he thinks about Jane and the good old times with her. He says the time with Jane was like heaven. Thinking about her made him upset, so he went to another nightclub called Ernie's, where he met a girl he doesn't like, so returns to the hotel. While going up to his room in the elevator, the operator offers a prostitute, and to my surprise, Holden accepts. He thinks a lot while he's waiting in his room about the choice he made and about his past. When the young-looking prostitue came in, Holden became extremely nervous and lies that he can't have sex. He gives her 5 bucks, but she asks for another 5 and Holden refuses. After she leaves, Holden tries to sleep just when there's a knock on his door. Maurice, the elevator operator comes in with Sunny demanding 5 more bucks. Holden refuses and gets beaten up. Holden acts like a movie star pretending he's hit by a gangster's bullet and then sleeps.

This chapter was kind of amusing to me, especially the ending where Holden acts like a movie star. This fact that he's trying to avoid the situation makes me think that he's just acting more immature and like a baby. While throughout the book so far, Holden continuously insists on that he is "better" in a sense of looking older and being smarter than anyone else. He looks down on others and indirectly state that others are inferior as everyone is "phony." In these chapters, to be specific, Holden reminisces a lot about good times of his life. I think these flashbacks contradict his current life, which can almost be considered as failure. As the chapter ends with a beating of Holden, his life does not seem happy to me.