Jake Parsons
Mrs. Parkinson
English III
10 November 2015
Blog
Post Option #1
The
article uses the car’s rattle as a symbol to represent the issues someone is
going through in their life just as Allie’s baseball mitt represents what
haunts Holden. The Daryn Kagan, the author of this article, uses the rattle as
a comparison to problems that can make it difficult for a person to function
through everyday life. This comparison allows the reader to understand what these
problems are like. Only the person suffering through a problem like this will
actually know what it is. Others may try to help them, but there is nothing
they can do since they don’t understand.
The
Second half of this article fits Holden perfectly as he has his own “rattle”. The problem that plagues him could be one of
many things. However, it can easily be narrowed down to, as Kagan phrased it, “The
heartbreak you should be passed already.” This in particular applies to Holden
as he is still trying to cope with the death of his brother, Allie, years
later. He carries Allie’s old baseball mitt around with him as a sort of
reminder. The mitt is like the sound the care makes. The actual rattle would be
Allie’s death as it is what is preventing Holden from functioning, but the
baseball glove is the sound as it constantly reminds him.
Holden’s rattle is best portrayed in chapter 5 when he is
reliving his reaction to the news that Allie had died from Leukemia. On page 50
(well at least for me because all of the books are different and the pages are
funky) Holden says, “I broke all of the windows in the garage” and he later
goes on to state, “I even tried to break the windows on the station wagon we
had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time and
I couldn’t do it.” This shows us the severity of rattle and what a drastic
impact it has had on Holden’s ability to live a normal life. If this where
something small like he poured cereal and then found out there was no milk and
had to pour the cereal back into the bag he wouldn’t have this psycho
breakdown. Or maybe he would I don’t know how passionate he is about cereal. A freak-out
like this can only be tied to a devastating event such as the death of a loved
one.
WOW! This is a good post. Its a lot like my own. I appreciated how you included multiple quoted because it improved your credibility and I believe what you were saying more. Do you think Holden's erratic behavior may be due to his loss of Allie.
ReplyDeleteShrey, I appreciate your post as it forced me to reconsider the causes of Holden's issues in school and what not. I do think his erratic behavior is a result of the loss of Allie because it caused him to break all the windows in the garage. Since you asked, do you think there are any other factors contributing to his behavior?
DeleteShrey, I think some of Holden's behavior is due to the death of Allie. The fight between him and Stradlater was in a way started by Allie's baseball mitt. But most of Holdens problems are caused by his sadness and lonelyness. This is why he decides to go to New York. Holden has a lot of problems. Agree or disagree?
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out how Holden has his own "rattle." I also like how you showed Holden's reaction to Allie's death and linked it to the glove. My question is, do you think that Allie's death still affects Holden's day to day actions? If so, how much of an affect does it have?
ReplyDelete