Holden is very much like any teenager of this time period. He is a very smart boy, but doesn't show it. he has flunked out of three previous schools and in the beginning of this book he has just flunked out of his fourth. He does not apply himself at all, when he could be a very smart boy.
"Do you blame me for flunking you, boy?" (pg12)"Do you have absolutely no concern for your future, boy?" Oh i feel some concern for my future, all right" (pg15)
This is proving it that he is like anyone of us. We think we know everything and think we can just walk our way through school failing then go out in the real world and do whatever we want.
Holden is also very shy with the women. All he talks about in this book is Jane, but he is too nervous to talk to her. He talks about hanging out with her in Maine in the summer, and is very defensive about how he explains his and her "relationship". He talks about how they were good friends and he'd hold her hand all the time, but talks to the reader about not thinking of her as an "icicle" because she didn't do a lot of stuff with him.
"I don't want you to get the idea she was a goddam icicle or something, just because we never necked or horsed around much." (pg 79)
He shows a lot of love for her and defends her a lot. But he is very shy around her as well.
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