CPT Secondary Research: Annotated
Bibliography
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
McClinton-Temple, Jennifer.
“abandonment.” McClinton-Temple, Jennifer, ed.
Encyclopedia of Themes
in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011.
Bloom’s Literature. Facts On
File, Inc. www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=
WE54&WID=101976&SID=5&iPin=ETL0001&SingleRecord=True.
l Abandonment does not only have a
negative connotation since active choices can be made.
l One of the example can be found in Bible
when Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden, and they were abandoned
by God in their point of view.
l It does not only appear in the Bible,
but it is also found in literature as well, like it is reflected in the story
of Oskar who feels like being abandoned by his father because of the death of
his father.
l While abandonment results in happy
ending in some of literatures as the story of Adam and Eve, it also results in
tragedy as in Sophocles' Oedipus the King.
l Some philosophers believe that the
physical separation between babies and their mother when they are born gives
them a major strength in their life, and this can be one of the reason why
Oskar successfully grows up by overcoming his grief.
l McClinton-Temple mentions: “Yi Fu claims
that adult anxiety disorders can be attributed to specific child-rearing
practices; in particular, he says, frequent and regular separations, or even
frequent and regular threats of abandonment have huge consequences later in life,”
and it highlights the importance of overcoming one’s ordeals in order to grow
up successfully as Oskar does.
l McClinton-Temple recognizes that people
live with the fear of losing their lover and this is the element that makes us
weakened, since she states: “[H]umans innately fear being abandoned and that as
we grow older, we are consumed by a feeling that we will lose our most prized
object: another human being.”
l The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre
does not believe that humans have the ability to understand the ordered world,
and that is the reason why he declaims that people are alone and are abandoned
in the world, as Oskar feels after the sudden death of his father.
l McClinton-Temple states: “On a personal
level, all human beings feel a fear of abandonment stemming from our childhood
separations from our parents. Additionally, however, in the modern world, whole
communities might live in a general state of abandonment based on that world’s
impersonal, disconnected nature,” as it appears when Oskar tries to find all of
the people who have the last name ‘Black’ and they do not welcome Oskar at
first.
McClinton-Temple, Jennifer. “family.”
McClinton-Temple, Jennifer, ed. Encyclopedia of
Themes
in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom’s Literature.
Facts On
File, Inc. www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=1019
76&SID=5&iPin=ETL0013&SingleRecord=True.
l As Leo Tolstoy left one of the most
famous comments on a family that highlights the importance of family happiness,
Oskar lives in a happy family and his father is the greatest person in the
world at least for him, but his happiness is totally broken after the death of
his father.
l From family children get their beliefs
and values, learn the real world of adults, which deeply affects their life,
and this is the reason why Oskar overcomes his grief and grows up because he
follows the teaching of his father.
l Family ties lead people to have the
power against their hardships, but it also can be a weakness which eventually
destroys them, as it is reflected in the story of Oskar who is weakened due to
the death of his father, but he grows up eventually by overcoming his grief
with the support of his mother.
l As McClinton-Temple cites the
sociologist Jerome Kagan that “children identify most readily with their
parents, and that before adolescence they believe they share the same basic
qualities and values with their ‘parental models,’” Oskar gets a huge shock due
to the death of his father since his father is his role model.
l “In addition to helping to identify us,
family also provides us with a haven in times of adversity,” since “[f]amilies
have a tendency to protect their own and to shut out the outside world if need
be” (McClinton-Temple).
l People are deeply saddened when they lose
somebody that they love, such as a family member. In the case of Oskar, he
loses his father.
l The ancient Greek philosopher Plato
highlights that family is important for people since it gives a “sanctuary from
public life,” as Oskar’s sanctuary is given by his father.
l People need to know the beauty of the
elements of daily life, and they need to appreciate for that.
l Not all family provides comfort.
Oppositely, many people makes their family’s life harder.
l McClinton-Temple states: “When family, for
whatever reason, disappoints us, we turn to others to provide identification,
support, comfort, and sanctuary,” and this is found in the story of Oskar who
leaves his mother and wandering around New York since he thinks that his mother
does not love him anymore.
l When Oskar comes back home, he realizes
that his mother supports him and loves him, which emphasizes the importance of
family, as McClinton-Temple mentions that a lot of things are getting weaker
because of the changes and problems in the modern world, but family is far away
from it, so stable.
McClinton-Temple, Jennifer. “grief.”
McClinton-Temple, Jennifer, ed. Encyclopedia of
Themes in
Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom’s Literature.
Facts On
File, Inc.www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=1019
76&SID=5&iPin=ETL0018&SingleRecord=True.
l When people encounter the grief, it
brings chaos in our life—especially for the loss of a loved one as Oskar closes
himself off from the world after the death of his father.
l On the one hand, grief gives us huge
stress, on the other hand, it gives us the power that leads us to find the
meaning of our life. That is reason why Oskar wanders around New York to find
all people who have a last name ‘Black.’
l Literature is the one of the most
effective ways to express one’s grief, and historically, it has been used to
help people overcome their grief.
l As McClinton-Temple states: “Grief, by
its very nature, disrupts us, places us at a loss for words,” Oskar closes
himself from the world and stays in his room everyday.
l Mourning, due to a loss of a loved one,
makes people think that their world is not working properly, as Oskar loses the
meaning of life after his father’s sudden death.
l It is hard to overcome one’s grief as it
is reflected in the story of Oskar: “Moving through grief requires a great deal
of hard work on the part of the mourner” (McClinton-Temple).
l There is stages of grief, suggested by
Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, which comes after the death of one’s
lover, and it “followed by a period of anger, followed by some kind of
depression or disorganization, with a final period of acceptance or
reorganization” (McClinton-Temple).
l “Grief has been defined by many as an
‘open wound’—and others want to look away from that wound, because to
acknowledge it is invariably difficult and confusing” (McClinton-Temple), which
makes it harder for people to overcome their grief.
l It may be impossible to overcome their
grief even though mourners acknowledge it. This is shown in Hamlet when Ophelia
commits suicide because she cannot overcome her grief occurred by the death of
her father, and this is the reason why Oskar successfully grows up.
l Literature is maybe one of the most
important ways that leads readers to overcome their grief as a therapy. The
Catcher in the Rye
Han, Xiaomei. “A study on the painful
transition of adolescent in J. D. Salinger’s writing.”
Theory
and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 4, no. 11, 2014, p. 2384+.
Academic OneFile,
go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=ko_k12hs_d7
1&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA394184505&asid=eef3b782312bd685434ae28e0
d74060a.
Accessed 26 Nov.
2016.
l The adolescence means to become adult
and it frequently causes a painful “identity crisis;” it eventually leads one’s
physical and mental growth.
l Holden ultimately grows up as Han
states: “After experiencing the fall of idealism and a series of symbolic
death, [Holden] finally found his place in the adult world.”
l Holden experiences a painful transition
during his adolescence since he rejects adaptation to the world of adults,
which results in him not belonging to either child or adult worlds.
l Holden does not acknowledge reality and
is trying to find idealism in an adult’s world that is full of phonies and
liars, and this is the first task for Holden that he needs to overcome in order
to grow up.
l There are some adolescents who refuse to
grow up, such as Holden, since they cannot accept injustice, ugliness, and
pain.
l The difference between Holden and the
most of other adolescents is that Holden stands against the ugliness of society
for his idealism while others just ignore it.
l Symbolic death—or blood—is important in
a process of maturing, and it appears when Holden is knocked out with blood due
to the fight with Stradlater, which ultimately leads him to leave the school:
“In fact, this is the beginning of his maturing journey” (Han).
l After Holden leaves the school, he
experiences the symbolic death again when he has a fight with Maurice in New
York, and it makes him consider committing suicide due to his sorrow and
depression, which represents the climax of Holden’s process of growing up.
l As Han says: “Even though Holden loves
niceness and purity, he can't break away from the evil and ugliness of the
society. He has no other choice but to enter adulthood. In this sense he really
needs a symbolic death as a child and a rebirth as an adult,” Holden does not
freely grow up, but is forced to.
l Holden ends his adolescence—which means
he grows up ultimately—when he first agrees the existence of God while he
watching his sister Phoebe riding merry-go-round.
l Holden’s meaningless wandering in New
York symbolizes his important and unavoidable journey from adolescence to
adulthood, and he conquers his hardships in his journey with his bravery.
l Holden wants to be the catcher in the
rye who helps children to keep their innocence, but by the end of the novel, he
gives up his dream since he realizes that it is basically bad for children’s
growth and his dream is unachievable.
l By the end of the novel, Holden reveals
that he receives therapy due to the dilemma of his unachievable dream, which
indicates the fact that he fails to be the catcher of the rye and is forced to
grow up by accepting the world of adults.
l “The whole novel shows a painful
transition of Holden from childhood into adulthood. Even though the future is
uncertain, Holden bravely breaks off his severed ties with the dead past in
order to accept maturity. At his most triumphant moment, Holden has ended his
story beyond the world’s woes and disillusionments” (Han).
l Through this novel, readers indirectly
experience the social codes in that period in America; moreover, it leads
people to think about adolescent crisis nowadays. Pettineo, Jeff. “Innocence
and Experience in The Catcher in the Rye.”
Pettineo, Jeff. “Innocence and Experience in The Catcher in the Rye.” McClinton-Temple,
Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing,
2011. Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?It
emID=WE54&WID=101976&SID=5&iPin=ETL0975&SingleRecord=True.
l Holden tries to protect innocence of
children that he cares, such as Phoebe, which indicates the reason why he says
that he wants to be the catcher in the rye, and this represents his wish that
he wants to stay in his adolescence.
l “Holden wishes to be the one who
preserves the innocence of youth, even though it is Phoebe, his young sister,
who ‘saves’ him from his fall” (Pettineo).
l Holden has a fear of the adult’s world
that is full of phonies, wealth, and sex since it makes him confused. However,
he loves children due to his brother Allie who is dead now.
l His efforts toward keeping children’s
innocence appears when he sees a “fuck you” inscription and tries to erase it.
l Pettineo comments: “As a teenager,
[Holden] is also trying to understand human sex and sexuality, stimulated and
excited by the prospect of sexual contact but also terrified by the ‘unknown,’
confessing at one point that he is a virgin.”
l Holden wants children to have life
experiences, but this is inconflict with his wish for children to keep their
innocence. As a result, there is an awkwardness because in order to experience
something, children need to know what failure is, and this is the main reason
why he decides not to be the catcher in the rye anymore.
l Holden seems like he does not change
much after he passes his adolescence. Oppositely, he partially changes since
“he is starting to come to terms with the ephemeral and dynamic nature of human
existence” (Pettineo), which reveals the fact that he actually grows up even
though he is forced to. Pettineo, Jeff. “Isolation in The Catcher in the Rye.”
Pettineo, Jeff. “Isolation in The Catcher in the Rye.” McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed.
Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011.
Bloom’s Literature. Facts On File, Inc. www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=
WE54&WID=101976&SID=5&iPin=ETL0976&SingleRecord=True.
l Holden isolates himself since he tries
to provoke others by deprecating them that they are inferiority, which
indicates that Holden does not fit into the society of adults due to his
aggressive personality toward liars.
l Holden wants to have an acquaintance,
but he rejects everybody since they have ambivalent personality—they are
phonies and liars, and this is the main reason why he does not want to be a
part of adults’ society.
l Firstly, he isolates himself from his
own classmate and he feels lonely a lot as he feels that he has a fear of
disappearing, and from this it is revealed that Holden is not strong enough to
survive in the society of adults.
l Later on, Holden thinks that he can go
West and live anonymously, which also proves that he has a weak personality
since he tries to avoid his ordeals instead of encountering them.
l Holden maybe thinks that the only way to
keep his innocence is to disconnect himself from the world, and he even writes a
letter to his sister Phoebe. This reveals that Holden still has a connection
with his sister unlike his will to live alone.
l However, when Phoebe comes to the museum
and says that she will follow him, he gives up his plan because he realizes
that his plan will ruin Phoebe, which indicates the fact that he decides to
stand against the world of adults that is full of phonies and liars in order to
protect the children’s innocence.
l Like Pettineo states: “[T]he novel’s
final passage is an almost ‘mature’ understanding of the fleeting nature of
relationships . . . perhaps he begins to realize that the time he has to spend
with people is precious and not to be wasted,” Holden reveals that he starts to
accept the world—not just standing against it—and he ultimately grows up.
l Although Holden says that he plans to go
West and be a mute to disconnect himself from society, he still leaves a
connection with others by indicating that he still wants to help children.
