the hotel analysis for catcher

[caitlinfindlay]

can anyone explain the point of the hotel quotes in catcher , like why are they important?


thanks !

[thethoughtpolice]

The Hotel

Holden believes that the adult world is a threatening and corrupt place. This is shown most clearly when he visits a seedy hotel. Holden believes:

“the hotel was lousy with perverts. I was probably the only normal bastard in the whole place”

Holden views the adult world with suspicion and thinks that there are many deviants in the hotel. He is generally threatened by the prospect of sexual activity and thinks that it is part of what defines an adult. Therefore, he believes he is the only normal person, suggesting he he feels more isolated. Salinger adds to this threatening impression of adulthood through describing:

“It smelled like fifty million dead cigars.”

Holden sees smoking as part of adult life and something disgusting. His exaggeration of the smell of the hotel suggests it is a decayed and corrupt place, which shows us how Holden views adulthood.



This next bit is from the crisis point essay:


Holden attempts to cope with his insecurities about the transition from childhood into adulthood by trying to jumpstart the process. Holden sees having sexual intercourse as one of the key things that define being an adult. Therefore, he believes if he has sex, he will suddenly be an adult. To do this, Holden hires the prostitute, Sunny for a ‘throw’. This suggests that even while hiring Sunny, Holden is unwilling to go through with intercourse itself. When Holden is faced by the prospect of going through with the ‘throw’, he cannot bring himself to do it and wants to ‘just talk’ with her. This is partly what triggers Holden’s mental deterioration as he is still very much a child inside and cannot cope with the way he is going about the transition. Yet, it is also triggered by the fact that Holden begins to identify with Sunny and thinks she has a ‘teeny weeny voice’. This suggests that Holden believes that she is a child similar in age to himself and that she has been corrupted by the adult world. Holden immediately feels ‘depressed as hell’ and to cope with this crisis point, begins to want to protect himself and other children from the corrupt world of adulthood.

[caitlinfindlay]

thank you !