Curiosity wrote:
WTB wrote:
MaliA wrote:
WTB wrote:
A whining kid "going around being miserable"? Are you sure you read the book?
Caulfield is a doleful idiot that repeatedly fails to see, or grasp, the opportunities in front of him He acts like a petulant and spoiled child. He's a hateful character for these reasons.
That's the entire fucking point! He's desperately holding onto childhood and its innocence. He doesn't go around "whinging", though. That's not even accurate.
It has been 15 years since I read it, but that's certainly the impression that I have of it. He seems to hate everything and moans about it all the time, despite him having a decent life (from what I remember). The whole book just annoyed me, as he was an idiot who thought he was clever, and I just wanted to hit him with an axe as he went on and on being a miserably whining little bitch. Man the fuck up, Holden!
I think you ought to read it again, or at least stop talking about it! 15 years is a long time. He doesn't moan about stuff at all. He just describes things like any narrator. Seems you're misremembering or something.
Besides, he's a classic unreliable narrator. You're supposed to recognise that he's not as smart as he claims to be. You're supposed to find holes in his arguments and rationalisation. You're supposed to do that and work out what the author is trying to say, not get annoyed at the "he thinks he's so clever" fictional frigging character.
He has failed out of a number of schools and is in the process of failing out of another. Of course he isn't as clever as he thinks he is. The novel practically draws you a diagram to the fact. It's not supposed to wind you up!