Holden

The main character in The Catcher In The Rye is names Holden. Holden has a very interesting view on life. For example, his view when he went to the museum really interested me (Salinger 122).

He thought about how nothing ever changed in the museum. When you would go there, you would see things like Indians weaving a blanket like he saw. Overtime you would visit multiple times, but nothing ever changed. The Indian would always be weaving the blanket, and the people in the boat would always be paddling. Their facial expressions would never change. They were just statues, but they looked so real.

Although they never changed a bit, the people in the museum were always changing. I would go to the museum as a little girl and look at all the statues. Going back, they are exactly the same. I am the one who has changed. I have changed physically and emotionally. Before I was amazed and a little scared, and now I am not too impressed and even sometimes bored. It’s the exact same thing that I’m looking at. The only thing that has changed is me. It is amazing how a person could feel two completely different things about the exact same thing just because you are at a different part in your life.

Holden explained this very well. Salinger wrote, “Then a funny thing happened. When I got to the museum, all of a sudden I wouldn’t have gone inside for a million bucks.” He feels the exact same way that I do. He used to love the museum, and now he has no interest for it at all. He actually does not want to even think about going in the museum. I am sure he is exaggerating on the money part, because I know that if I was offered that much money, I would live in a museum. But you catch the drift.

I just think it is so interesting how this works. Holden really makes you think about things that you would not think about normally. It is really an amazing thing.

Old Man and the sea: Old man and the young boy

The old man and the young boy have an interesting relationship. The narrator often refers to these characters as the young boy and the old man. They are very close and seem to have a father- son relationship.

Santiago, the old man, is a great influence on the young boy. He is very protective over the young boy. He seems to care deeply for the young boy. They seem to have had a friendship for a long time. The young boy had parents, but they do not really get mentioned too much in the book. The boy seems to be the closest person of the old man.

Santiago seemed to think of the boy a lot when he is out at see by himself. The young boy once cried when Santiago passed out. Their relationship seems very strong.

The only person that the old man seems to associate with is the young boy. Luckily the young boy likes the old man and appreciates his mentoring. Even though his parents do not like the old man for his bad luck and inability to catch any fish, the young boy still pursues him. The boy also helps the old man. He feeds him and brings him bait for their fishing journeys. Even though his parents do not allow him to go on the long journey, he still helps him get ready for it. The old man misses the young boy so much. I feel bad for him and his loneliness. I assume the young boy was thinking about how hard it would be when the old man passed away. I assume he would be very said. I think about my relationship with my grandpa and think of how said I would be if something like that would happen. I like being able to relate with characters in a story. In this book, I feel as if I can relate to the young boy as if my grand father was the old man (Santiago). I can not imagine how bad the young boy was feeling when he passed out. I would never want to go through that. That just proves how strong their bond is and how great their relationship is.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Old man and the sea: Santiago

Santiago is the main character out of the few characters in this story, unless you count the fish. He is an elderly fisherman living in a small village. He mentors a young boy. The young boy likes the old man, but his parents do not. Santiago teaches him lots of things about fishing and the young boy helps Santiago by bringing bait and such to the fishing site of the day.

He is a very courageous man with dedication to the things he loves. He didn't catch any fish for a long time so he worked harder to get one by traveling further and using all of his strength that he possibly could. He had a lot of mental strength as well.

Personally, I really enjoyed his thoughts about life. He would randomly talk about his opinions on things, and even if I didn't agree with them before, I would tend to agree because of his wording. Everything he said sounded true. He probably could have been the type of person to talk someone into a very important business decision. I felt like he was a very deep person who anyone could connect to. I found myself excited and sitting at the edge of my chair more when he was talking about his thoughts of life more than when he was fishing and fighting the marlin.

He also had a lot of determination. Whenever he set out to do something, he would do it. A lot of people in this day and age would just quit when they had such bad luck for so long. Santiago did not quit, though. He worked harder and harder until he reached his goal. Some of the villagers made fun of him and thought less of him, which would have also set a lot of people back and forced them to give up. But with Santiago, it did not bother him. He kept going. It was as if he did not care about anything that people were saying. I wish I could be more like that. I am sure a lot of people wish they could be more like him in that way.

Question 8: Old Man and the Sea

Okay, in my opinion, Hemingway reflects history well in this book.

Santiago is poor and a fishermen. In this time period, that seems to be true. Fishermen never really did make a lot of money. Also, fishermen were not really a respected group of people. Hemingway made a point to show that the village did not respect Santiago and that they looked down on him. The young boy's parents did not want him hanging around Santiago because he was not catching any fish. This relates to history very well.

Fishing and baseball were very two important topics in this story. All of the references to the two sports are true. This relates to history well. It makes you think that the story line may also be true. It is believable and when the history matches up with the story, it makes you wonder. Especially with the way Hemingway wrote.

The relationship between the old man and the young man seem to be the ideal relationship with younger and older generations. The elderly teach the younger generations how to do things; in this case, Santiago teaches him how to fish. The boy also helps Santiago by bringing him things. After time, they create a nice bond. This seems to be the ideal relationship between older and younger generations. Teaching and learning is key. There is love and respect for all the aspects involved.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Question 7: Old Man and the Sea

Hemingway seems to use many techniques to get the reader's attention and to get them involved. Character development seems to be a good technique used by Hemingway. Suspense is another technique. At least, these are the two techniques that kept me engaged in Santiago's story.

Characters were always developing throughout this novel. The old man seemed to develop the most, in my opinion. He would always talk about his thoughts on life. Those thoughts kept me interested. At times I found the book very dull, but those times were never when Santiago was thinking and giving his opinions on life. Those parts always kept me interested. I would feel like he was speaking the truth and everything great with the way it was written, and then when he changed his mind I agreed with that as well. There was never a dull moment when Santiago shared his views on life. Hemingway made Santiago an amazing character that the reader could love. I know I did.

Along with using character development, Hemingway also seemed to use suspense. For example, the fight with the fish was very suspenseful (Hemingway 25). He talked to the fish and to himself during this struggle. It was a very long struggle, but you were not bored at all because of the way Hemingway wrote it. You can tell how much the old man feels for the fish. He tries to convince the fish and himself to win this struggle for himself. It is full of suspense. You know one of them will die, you just do not know which one it will be. It could not get more suspenseful than that!

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Question 6: Old Man and the Sea

Although I do not fancy this book, I think other people choose to read it because it is inspiring. It gives people hope.

This book is very, very inspiring. The old man goes through so many struggles and yet has the courage and the determination to not give up. It is amazing how he keeps going with all the bad things that life throws in his way, such as the streak of not catching the fish, the fight with the marlin, the sharks eating the marlin, and the journey back. Going through all that, he also has to deal with being alone, not being able to take the boy with him on his journey, and all the villagers disliking him because of his bad luck. He shows pure determination. I think that all the readers grow a great deal of respect for Santiago by the time they finish the book. You learn to love him because of how he looks at life and how he does not let petty things stop him like a lot of people do/would. He refused to let his pain get in his way. In a way, I think all the readers of this book wish that they could be more like the old man. I know I do. I was truly inspired. I realized that it is incredibly hard to get through the things life throws in your way, but it is totally worth the hardship in the end.

Sometimes when I read a book, I do not connect with the characters. That even includes when the characters are sixteen year old girls. I feel like I connected with Santiago, though. That's the magic in the book and why everyone keeps reading it. That's why it's being assigned in English classes. You truly are connected to Santiago, whether you're a girl or a boy and regardless of age, more than you would connect to a character in Twilight.

By the time I finished, I realized how inspiring the book truly was.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.

Question 5: Old Man and the Sea

Out of the topics to talk about for this question, I am going to talk about the social issues because I think it will be easy to reflect on, such as Santiago being poor. Another social issue, which in my opinion is the biggest one, is that the villagers did not like Santiago because he couldn't catch any fish.

Santaigo did not have very much money. When this book was written, fishing was not very profitable. But from my understandings, I think that the majority of the men in the village were fishermen. Santaigo never knew what his next meal would be. I could not imagine not knowing that. In this day and age, our biggest problem is not being able to decide between McDonalds and Wendy's. It really makes you think about how bad you could have it. Santiago must have had a lot of faith and determination to not give up in life.

Santiago was nice to everyone in the village. He would always wave and be friendly, but still the villagers looked down on him just because of his bad luck. This kind of thing reminds me of high school. I think it relates because people do not like other people just because of petty things. Sorry to ramble off there. Anyways, even the boy's parents did not like the old man because of his bad luck. The boy looked up to Santaigo even though his parents did not. Hemingway showed us how the world dislikes people other than themselves.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.