The Bhagavad-Gita quote connects to Holden because he lives life by his own rules. He doesn't let other people influence him. Many people are fake to him because they are all the same, they don't venture out and be their own person. My understanding of the quote is it is better to live your own life, no matter how many mistakes you make, than to conform and live how you are expected to. "One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was
surrounded by phonies. That's all. They were coming in the goddam
window." He then goes on and talks about his principle, how he would only talk to the 'normal' or 'rich-looking' parents. Also, Holden doesn't seem to care about what others think of him. This is shown when he forgot all the equipment on the train, but he thought it was funny. This quote also fits Holden because he thinks if you die, but lived your own life according to your own rules, then you have lived successfully.
One of my favorite quotes is "Be who you are and say what you feel because those that mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" -Dr. Seuss. I think this connects to Holden because Holden doesn't care what people think about him. He is going to be himself no matter what. And the people in his life, like Jane, his sister, and Allie, who accept him for who he is. Being who you are is something I think is very important to Holden because he is always surrounded by phonies. So how do you know if people will really like you for who you are if you are not yourself 100% of the time?
I totally agree with you Sylvia, I think that he is trying to discover the phonies in his life, and he's trying to live his life the way he wants to; but don't you think he has issues being himself? Do you think that maybe Holden does care what people think of him? I mean he spends a lot of time thinking about himself and judging other people,maybe he's spending time judging other people because he's afraid of what they might be thinking of him. I don't know, maybe he doesn't care but subconsciously he does?
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you Sylvia, that Holden doesn't care what people think of him. It seems like he goes around with the attitude of I'm gonna do what I want and I don't care about the rules. I kind of feel that Holden does have some issues being himself thought, he lies a lot meaning that he is not being himself. If he didn't lie so much maybe I would believe he was ok with being himself. I think everyone some time in their life isnt happy being themselves. So I can kind of see where Holden is coming from. That is a good question Sylvia, about how do we know if people like us for who we are if we are notnus 100% of the time. I guess we will never know because we only know when we are not being ourselves.
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