The Time is Ticking

The room was completely white. The walls, the floor, the corners, not even a shade of another color-- just white. I found myself sitting in the middle of the room. I looked around and I saw nothing. No windows and no light. I looked down; I was wearing a pale pink dress. As I slowly raised my hands to straighten out the wrinkles on the dress, I saw a watch on my left arm. It was a silver Rolex watch with a blue face. It looked like an antique as it had scratches on the sides. The time stopped at 4:37 and the date was set to the 27^th. I did not really care for the watch at the moment; my mind was too focused on trying to find out where I was. I slowly slid on my chair in order for my two feet to touch the ground. The ground felt cold, I started wiggling my toes around as I got up. I turned to my right then I turned to my left. Still nothing. I started walking straight and a blur started forming. The closer I got to it the more focused it got. I began to run towards the blur, and then I realized it was a door. I started running towards the door and finally reached it. The handle was gold, but had rust surrounding it. From the knob, I saw my reflection. I looked so different I thought it was a stranger staring back at me.  My cheeks were sunken in with no presence of pink on my face. I decided to ignore my horrid visage and decided to open the door. I placed my hand on the handle, but I was too scared for what was to come. I was scared that this would be a trap and that I would have to live in this white box forever. I became hesitant. But, I decided to take a risk and open the door. It was a bright shining light so I had my hand act as a shade for my face. From a distance, I saw a man coming towards me.  I stepped backwards as I let him approach me. As he came closer, my eyes closed and I heard a whisper in my ear. He said, “Welcome, to your beginning.”

It was a warm Sunday and the cherry blossoms had just blossomed. My mom had just woken me up from my sleep with tears filling up her eyes. I woke up worried and asked her what was wrong.

“Oh Sammy, I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve this. How about we just spend this day with the family, okay?” she said.

I was confused, but I just stayed quite and let her hold me in her arms. I didn’t know what was going on, but I started tearing up as well. For some odd reason, I knew that this was going to be about me. She pulled herself away and said, “You only have 24 hours to live.” I couldn’t handle the story, so I acted as if I didn’t hear it and went on with my daily morning routine.

I was standing right in front of my closet deciding what to wear. Knowing that it was going to be my last outfit, I knew I had to at least look good for my grandparents. I started scratching the side of my face trying to think of a nice outfit. I wanted to look good for my grandparents. My family and I come visit them every Sunday and we always look forward to it. I opened up all my closet doors and saw a pink dress peeking out from all my other dresses. I had not worn it in a long time, so I decided to try it on. I put on my white bag across my shoulders and was ready to head out with my family. I was about to walk out the door, when I stopped and turned back. I looked at the mirror one last time. I wanted to check how I looked, I said to myself, “Better look good for you last day.” I put on my white ballet flats and walked out the door. My parents and my older brother were waiting for me in the car. They all had sunken looks on their faces and the car ride to our grandparent’s house was silent. I looked out the window and saw the cherry blossoms surrounding the city. Everything seemed normal and I still couldn’t believe that my life was going to be over in 24 hours.  The car ride to my grandparent’s house was the most dreadful ride ever. It felt like hours to arrive there when it usually only took 30 minutes. When my dad parked the car, everyone just sat there for a while. We didn’t know what to say. I knew everybody was upset and they didn’t know how to handle the situation. Then my mom broke the ice, but in a sad way, “They should have taken me.” When I heard this, I screamed. I had let out all my anger at this moment.

“Don’t ever say that, mom. They took my for a reason, don’t blame yourself for this.” I said.

            I then walked out of the car and rang my grandparent’s doorbell. The doorbell was pink and had a floral printing for the background. My grandma had opened the door with a big smile. She always had that smile on whenever we came to visit. She greeted each and every one of us and told us to come in for lunch. She had the whole table set up for us. When everyone sat down on their chairs, I noticed my grandpa wasn’t sitting with us. I asked my grandma where he was, and she said he did not feel well and was lying in bed.  I excused myself from the table and went into my grandpa’s room. My grandpa was my favorite person in the whole world, besides my grandma. I looked up to him as a role model and a best friend. 

What is Cassius suggesting and how does he build his argument?

Cassius believes Caesar is not capable of ruling Rome. He believes Brutus would be a much better leader than a man who is weak and inferior. Cassius asks if Brutus sees himself as a person, but he says he cannot, to which Cassius replies, “That you have no such mirrors as will turn/ Your hidden worthiness into your eye” (I ii 56-57). He tells Brutus that he will be his personal mirror so that he can see what kind of a man he is. Cassius says that the people of Rome believe Brutus is worthy and honorable, but it is just him that does not believe so. He tries to build up his argument and convince Brutus he is capable of being a leader, by comparing themselves to Caesar. He says, “I had as life not be, as live to be/ In awe of such a thing as I myself” (I ii 95-96). Cassius says that he “was born free as Caesar; so were you:/ We both have fed as well, and we can both/ Endure the winter’s cold as well as he” (I ii 97-99). He believes even he himself and Brutus are the same as Caesar, there is nothing special about this man. If Caesar was so amazing, he would be different from everyone else. Cassius builds up his argument by telling the stories of the times where Caesar was weak and vulnerable, and that rulers should not be like this. He tells the story of when Caesar was swimming in Tiber River and he was too weak and started sinking as he cried for help. He does not understand how he can save Caesar, who is weak, but now he has become a god in the eyes of others. And the other time when Caesar had a fever in Spain, he started to shake. Cassius questions if god’s shake or even manage to get sick with sickness commoners get. Cassius adds on by saying, “Men at some time are masters of their fates:/ The fault, dear Brustus, is not in our stars,/ But in ourselves” (I ii 139-142). He believes men should decide their fate and take action. He then questions what the difference is with the names Brutus and Casear. “What should be in that “Caesar”?. Why should that name be sounded more than yours?” He compares the names constantly as he adds in the word “as” to everything Brutus and Caesar have equally. Cassius is able to sway his thoughts and consider what he is saying. 

How might you refute the argument that Holden's plight derives from him simply being a misanthrope and/or hypocrite?

Throughout the book, The Catcher in the Rye, we see that Holden gets himself in a lot of tough situations, such as getting in a fight with Stradlater, or even getting kicked out of Pencey. Behind every problem there is a reason why. The difficult situation some readers find is that Holden cannot accept the corrupt world. He believes that the majority of the people on this planet are phonies. As I have said before, behind every story there is a reason. Holden could have started believing the world was so unfair after the loss of his younger brother. In the book, there are only a couple people Holden admire, his two siblings, Allie and Phoebe, Carl Luce, and the two nuns. The only reason why he does not think of them as phonies is because they have valuable qualities. They please Holden, they interest Holden, and they also amuse Holden. Holden does not shun himself away from others. We see that Holden still interacts with people throughout the book. Therefore, he is not a complete misanthrope. When Holden’s younger brother passed away, Holden had no idea how to handle this situation. The day of Allie’s death, we find him in the hospital. Holden does not know how to control his feelings. Therefore, he takes them out on the world. He wants to believe the world is corrupt for taking away his beloved younger brother. Holden gets himself into difficult situations for his actions. We cannot always say, “Oh, it’s because his younger brother died.” There are a lot of people out there that lose a valuable family member, but we do not see them failing at life. They want to succeed, and carry on with their life. Holden just uses his brother’s death as an excuse to escape from the real world, and enter his idealistic version of a “real world” so that he does not ever have to face reality. This part of Holden is immature.  

Holden’s claim that he loves the museum

Every since Holden was a little boy, he would always visit the Museum of Natural History. It was his favorite part of New York. He knew the museum like the back of his hand. Holden claims that he loves the Museum of Natural History because nothing ever changes. Since the age of a young boy and till now, the Eskimo is still fishing for the fish, the Native American woman still has her bum showing, and the birds are still “flying” in the air. The museum exhibits would and always will be in the right place. That was one of the reasons why he loved it so much. For Holden, the museum was a place for him to escape from reality. Everything there would stay the same. Holden didn’t adapt to change very well. He has that sort of personality. He wanted his own life to stay the same and never change. Holden’s love for the museum represents that he can’t adapt to reality. In the world we live in today, there will always be phonies. But, Holden can’t accept that fact and doesn’t understand why people change so often. He wants his life to be simple, never changing, and comprehendible. Another reason why Holden claims he loves the museum is because the exhibits will never judge him back, and he can do all the judging. We can tell from the book that Holden has a lot of interest in the museum. For example, he always ends up near there whenever he finds himself in some sort of problem. For instance, the time when he went on a date with Sally and got in a huge fight. He found himself walking towards the museum. And another example is when he is about to leave his family behind, but his last farewell place is near the museum. The museum is a big symbol in Holden’s life. He wants to cling onto something that he knows will never change.

The Cater in the Rye Cover page

I decided to draw my cover page of Holden smoking a cigarette in the streets of New York. As I was reading throughout the book, I realized that Holden is very depressed. He criticizes the people around him, calling them all phony. He isolates himself from the world and even his friends. That is why I drew Holden a lone, smoking his cigarette. The cigarette symbolizes the stress he has built up inside of him. Every time he exhales the smoke, it is him exhaling the stress and getting it out of his system. In the picture, the smoke shape is of duck. The reason for this is because throughout the book, Holden constantly mentions the duck to the taxi drivers. In English class, we learn that repetition means it is something important the author is trying to point out. The ducks could mean freedom, or even moving on. As we all know, the ducks tend to migrate when the climate becomes colder. Maybe, the author is trying to say Holden is trying to migrate from his past and start a new, better life. As you can see, the only object that I have colored in is the red hunting hat Holden has on his head. The reason of this is because the hat symbolizes the color of Allie's and Phoebe's hair color. No matter where he goes, he always has his two beloved siblings along with him. The hat gives him security and acts as a barrier for Holden. We realize that he always puts on his hat when he feels lonely or uneasy. Also, I drew Holden with the ear flaps down. There is an instance in the book, when Holden is walking on the streets and puts his earflaps down. To me, I believe he is doing so because he is muting the world out. 

Why do you think Holden cries before he leaves Pency?

Holden leaves Pency due to the fact that he cannot handle the morons and the phonies at his school. He realizes that it would be easier to leave earlier than the actual day he is supposed to. Before he left, Holden put on his red hunting cap and yelled out, “sleep tight ya morons!” Then after, he looks at the hallways and begins to cry. Holden starts to cry because he feels as if he never accomplishes anything. He never finishes what he has started. It could be the burden of being the only child in his family that is not successful in life. After being kicked out of a very prestigious school, and never having the chance to wear those hockey skates that his mother gave him makes him depressed inside. In the book, Holden portrays himself as a dark boy who is alone and usually finds himself thinking more than talking. Holden’s cries also portray the failures he has gone through. Not only did he fail almost all his classes, but he does not even have the guts to talk to a girl he has not kept in touch with for a really long time.  Personally, I believe Holden’s cries are full of shame for all the past mistakes he has made. Before he does cry, he puts on his red hunting cap. The red hunting cap is a symbol of his younger brother and sister’s hair color. Having that cap on his head makes him remind himself of his own childhood. Throughout the book, we realize that Holden always puts on his red hunting cap when he wants to be isolated from others. Kids find themselves isolating themselves from the problems they face. In a way, Holden is a kid. The red hunting cap makes him childish. That is why he cries before leaving Pency and yells out “sleep tight ya morons”.