Catcher In The Rye Holden Liking Women More Than Men Essay, Research Paper

Holden encounters many different people, but he obviously thinks of men completely differently than women. He doesn t seem to like many of the men he encounters, but is usually able to get along with them. He will usually say things to get on peoples nerves. The first man he encounters is Mr. Spencer, whom he is visiting. It appears that he wanted to visit him, however he continuously complains – “`You didn t have to do all that, I d have come over to say good-by anyway. ” “The minute I went in, I was sort of sorry I d come.” He obviously just wanted to visit and didn t want to be lectured . He had also just been expelled from his school, so he obviously wasn t in the greatest of moods. His complaints about the appearance of his teacher were probably truthful, but the other complaints were probably due to his mood – “What made it even more depressing, old Spencer had on this very sad, ratty old bathrobe that he was probably born in or something.”.When Holden is in his room and Ackley barges in, Holden is obviously in a bitter mood. He complains even after Ackley says “Hi” – “`Hi ” he said. He always said it like he was terrifically bored or terrifically tired.”. It s obvious though, that he does not like this character, probably from experience with him. He knows how Ackley is, and what he will do. It is clear he does not like Ackley, so Holden should just not let him enter the room. If Holden told Ackley how he felt about him, he might be left alone. The one thing that Holden has in common with Ackley is that neither of them like Stradlater. There is no excuse needed for not liking Stradlater, he s a slob. Holden probably feels intimidated by Stradlater and should have stood up for himself when he was asked to do Stradlater s essay for him. It is possible for Holden to become friends with Stradlater, as long as he can talk to him about certain things. He seems to have trouble starting a good conversation with him. Holden should try talkingto Stradlater seriously. Holden is the type of character who could probably easily come to terms with someone he doesn t get along with all that well, and it s essential to come to terms with a roommate. Holden obviously does try making friends. When he is in his cab he starts up a conversation with the cab driver. It almost seems like he gets into an argument with every guy he meets. If Holden didn t ask such odd questions to people he barely knows, maybe he d make more friends. When he asks “Where do the ducks go…”, that s a fairly weird question that most people probably wouldn t know the answer to or even care about. After the first driver got angry about the question, Holden shouldn t have asked the second one. Another problem Holden has with making friends is that he asks them if they want to do something with him, even when he doesn t know them that well. He asked both cab drivers if they would care to join him for a drink. You can t expect a cab driver to hang out with someone who he doesn t even know when he s trying to make money, and he obviously cannot drive a cab while intoxicated. Another stupid thing Holden did was when he wouldn t give Maurice the extra five dollars that Maurice wanted – “`I don t owe you five bucks,” I said. “If you rough me up, I ll yell like hell… “. Holden was right about Maurice saying that the original price was five dollars, but, according to Holden, Maurice was huge. There s no point in refusing to a guy like that because either way, they re going to get their money. When Holden sees his old friend Luce, he should have been happy to see him and talked to him nicely, but instead he says things to purposely annoy him – “`How s your sex life? I asked him. He hated you to ask him stuff like that”. That s no way to keep a friend. And even when Luce tells Holden that he doesn t like it, Holden still continues. It s surprising Luce tolerates it. Then, after that, Holden begins asking questions to do with sex, and starts talking louder. Holden is actually quite lucky that Luce didn t just leave. He next came across a new night elevator boy that he already knew wasn t so bright. He makes up a believable reason to be going to the Dicksteins. He was only calling the new guy stupid probably because he didn t know him that well – “What made it even better, the new elevator boy was sort of on the stupid side.”. Knowing Holden, he probably thought that Pete, the usual night elevator boy, was stupid before he got to know him. Holden is often critical and assumes things about people just by looking at them. The person that Holden had the most respect for, and got along best with was Mr. Antolini. Everything Mr. Antolini did, Holden liked – “Mr. Antolini was very nice… He was about the best teacher I ever had, Mr. Antolini.”. The most ironic thing was that Holden had been expelled from several schools for the lousy grades he was given by his teachers, yet, the on person he really got along with was a teacher whom he d had at one of the schools that he d been asked to leave. Holden should really talk to all of his friends the way he does Mr. Antolini. He has a great amount of respect for him. If he had been more respectful to some of the other men he met, he might actually still be friends with them. Although Holden was able to get along with some of the guys he met, the only person he truly likes and appreciates is Mr. Antolini. Even though he is able to be friendly with Mr. Antolini, he doesn t seem to like many of the men he encounters, but is usually able to get along with them.