Prewriting+Questions


 * // Death/Kill/Die //**

• How does the symbol/motif come up in the novel, and how does it impact what is going on? What happens immediately preceding or immediately following a mention or discussion of this idea or thing?

 This symbol arises when Holden begins to speak about his younger brother Allie, who has died from Leukemia. It is clear that Allie's death affected Holden throughout the book. After the death, Holden slept in the garage which shows his insecurity, and breaks all the windows in the garage. He also attempted to break the car window, however he failed and broke his wrist. While he was recovering in the hospital, Holden's family attended Allie's funeral. After Allie's death, Holden felt lonely, depressed, and displaced. Holden adored Allie, and after his death he felt that Allie was watching over him from above, which we believed helped with Holden's insecurities a tiny bit. What is the mood when this idea or thing is brought up? Would you associate this with times when Holden is content? frightened? frantic? confused? Is this mood consistent with every incidence of this motif? There is a depressing lonely mood whenever death is brought up throughout this book. I would not associate death to when Holden is content, frightened, frantic, or confused, only when he is feeling depressed and/or lonely. Is Holden alone when this motif/symbol occurs? If not, with whom is he interacting? How would you characterize that interaction? Does this motif occur both when he is alone and when he is with other people? Is there a connection to be made?

This only occurs when Holden is alone, never with any other people. Therefore there is no interaction. The only connection that can be made is that it happens when Holden is feeling lonely and/or depressed. What does this motif/symbol tell you about Holden, in a “big picture” way - Does this suggest anything about his personality? His weaknesses or strengths? His sense of himself?

In a big picture way, Holden is affected throughout the novel because it seems that he is socially inapt. This suggests that Allie's death has given Holden insecurity issues, and his ability to cope isn't that great. Allie's death is probably his weakness because whenever he's depressed or lonely it comes up. The only way it affects his sense of himself is that i believe he believes that he should have spent more time with him and that he should have attended his funeral. I also believe that since Allie was more well-rounded than Holden, Holden feels a lot of pressure that he cannot handle, which makes him just give up with everything. Tie it all together: Did any pattern emerge? Pick out other words or ideas used in conjunction with this motif. Look back on your investigation and come up with a single sentence that sums up what you’ve discovered. Allie's death has put a permanent damper on Holden's happiness.