made a contribution. If they just dropped their dough in her basket….she’d get bored. She’d hand in her basket and then
go some place swanky for lunch.” Ch 16, pg 103
He imagines what Sally’s mother would be like if she was collecting for charity. In a way his language is vaguely cheeky, “kissed her ass”. He uses slang, “swanky”, even though he is an intelligent young man who obviously has a much wider vocabulary than he displays most of the time to the reader. This is one way in which we are able to see that Holden is being rebellious to his view of what society wants him to be. At the time that the novel was written America was just starting to get embroiled in the Cold War with Russia and there was great unease within the country. Teenagers were just beginning to emerge and Rock and Roll, which was a great supporter of them, was getting started. This cultural change brought with it a new use of the language especially by the “new” social group, the teenagers. He then goes onto criticise the way in which in his view she would be phoney. Holden doesn’t see the deeper meaning of the matter, the fact that the nuns aren’t just standing on the street corner collecting “dough”. They have given up not just their afternoon but also their whole entire life to helping others mainly through following the teachings of Christ. So in fact we, as the reader are able to see more clearly than Holden and we can say that his mother is in fact being phoney as well; she collects for charity which gives her a sense of satisfaction through helping others but she then goes home to her family and has enough money to send her son to boarding school to gain a good education (if he chooses to do so!). Meanwhile she has little or no knowledge of the people for whom she collects the money. She has never met them and probably doesn’t give them another thought once she has handed her collecting basket to the people who do take the donated money and put it to good use. She is just as phoney as Holden himself and he is just as blind to her phoniness as he to his own. This is a strand of the novel that keeps reappearing in other chapters other than chapter 16. In turn he does show tremendous respect to the nuns. This is not increased though by the way in which society still views women. Despite the changing atmosphere in America at this time, the wider community is still very prejudiced against females. Their place in society though rapidly changing is still limited and men still dominate the main high-powered occupations.
In other parts of the novel we are able to feel the strong bond that exists between Holden and his younger sister, Phoebe. It is shown especially deeply in this chapter. Holden is trying to track down a particular record that he has heard and would like to buy for her as he thinks that she would enjoy it. This in itself is interesting because in his treatment of other females Holden in not normally so sensitive to their feelings. In his treatment of Phoebe he is uncharacteristically kind and caring. He spends a long time looking for a shop that would sell the record and then walks to the other side of New York to the park where he thinks that Phoebe will be playing with her friends. When he reaches the park and finds that Phoebe is not there he then takes the trouble to ask a little girl where she might be.
“It was Sunday and Phoebe goes roller-skating in the park on
Sundays quite frequently.” Ch 16, pg 104
Another part of the chapter that can be used to illustrate both of the main the of the book is on page 105 when Holden comes out of the record store having bought Phoebe the record and he passes a drugstore. He says;
“I figured maybe I’d give old Jane a buzz and see if she was
home for vacation yet. So I went in a phone booth and called
her up.” Ch 16, pg 105
Whilst he is wasting time before going to meet Sally Hayes for a date he calls up Jane Gallagher, an old girlfriend. This isn’t really treating either girl with respect. He calls up Jane because he needs something to do and at the same time he should be thinking about his date with Sally and not considering other girls who he would like to be spending time with. The language he uses, “old Jane”, is derogatory to women which again symbolises the tone of the decade that Salinger wrote the novel in. To call a girl who is about the same age as him “old” could be seen as rude and uncaring. However we already know that Holden seems to care deeply for this girl, Jane. On the other hand the care that Holden has already displayed for this female to us, the reader, could be phoney. This is one way in which it would be shown to us again in this chapter. Earlier in the novel (when he is still at school) he shows us that he still cares about Jane as more than a friend. In other words he is exploring two separate avenues at once. It’s almost as if he needs a back-up option in case all does not go to plan with Sally later on that day.
The points I have used in this essay show that the chapter deals with the themes that I have highlighted well. However other themes are also raised in this chapter, such as innocence. This is linked back to the title “The Catcher in the Rye”. This phrase is often used to signify children and innocence. On page 104 Holden describes to us seeing a poor family who had just come out of a church walking along the street. The image of a church shows represents innocence and the child of the family hopping along the street. Holden identifies with the child as he feels a slight yearning to be that boy. The child is completely oblivious to what is happening around him. He is just singing, “If a body catch a body coming through the rye”. This immediately takes us back to the title of the novel. It links the book into a circle and reminds us of the central meaning of the novel that Salinger wanted us to appreciate when reading it.
In my opinion Salinger has used this chapter to great effect to illustrate the main themes of the novel and remind us of the deeper meaning that is at other points hidden in the hurly burly of the simpler layer of the book.
Word count:1120
