The “Catcher In The Rye” is a very straight to the point kind of book. It started off catching my attention where I couldn’t keep my head out of the book, but then as the story went on it kind of got boring because he repeats the same things over and over again and that doesn’t keep anyone’s attention. Holden is the narrator of the book; to me he tends to state his opinion on every little thing going on in his life. He’s been through a lot in his life it seems and he is sick of everything and just gave up on the things that are most important.

In the book Holden talks about how he got kicked out of every school he went to, the teachers that taught him say he never tries hard enough. It is true that he just gives up on everything or gets sick of it. He always has some excuse that keeps him from succeeding and doing well in life. Holden is always complaining about the way others act like he can’t be around them because he’s better than them or something. To me he is very ignorant to others, he loves lying to people and making up things to make himself seem more interesting. I think Holden acts this way because of his little brother Allie that died, he says he used to tell Allie everything. That was a huge part of his life that was taken away from him, I think he still isn’t over it. At one part in the book he talks about how he should of let Allie go with him places when he wanted to, he regrets for not letting him go. Holden considers himself the dumb one out of all his siblings. What bothers me about this book is how he never tries his best at anything he does, he just assumes he isn’t going to be able to do it. Holden always talked about his little sister phoebe and how smart and pretty she was, he always said she understood everything he had to say and that’s what he loved about her most. Since Allie died, to me it seems that Holden tries replacing phoebe with the missing pieces of his broken heart. Even though he loved her very much when Allie was alive, Phoebe for some reason makes Holden listen and act right towards others. He cares about her dearly and would do anything for Phoebe .

Holden couldn’t quite figure out who he was as a person, and his purpose for being alive. He didn’t try to get kicked out of all the schools he went to on purpose, he kind of got into a routine that he was supposed to do that. Every school he went to he complained about how much everybody was phony. Since when do you go to a school nowadays without people not being phony, its life your going to have to deal with it one way or another you shouldn’t let others bother or intimidate you. Holden was scared to let people into his life, which explains all the lies he told to people and criticism he gave. His love life was very confusing he never knew what or whom he wanted. To me he was very lonely and just wanted someone to spend time with. The girls he did talk to he cared for, but not enough to let them in. The only girl he would let into his life if he had a chance was Jane Gallagher, she was someone who you can tell when he talked about her he had feelings for. Don’t get me wrong Holden was a extremely nice kid, but he was an emotional wreck and cared to much what others thought about him.

In conclusion this book taught you a lot of life lessons. One was not to be judgmental of others. Holden judged everyone he saw and that’s not a way someone should live through life, it makes your confidence go up sure but it still isn’t right. “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” This quote was the last sentence in the book it really left a mark on me. I couldn’t figure out what it meant, but what I think it means is once you start letting someone into your life and then leave them its easier to miss them because they have a little piece of your life that you shared with them. In Holden’s case I think it means since he used to tell his brother Allie everything, now since he’s gone the fact that he shared so much of his life with him he misses him even more. That effect can stay with him for a lifetime if you let it.

Focus Points:
Grammar
Sentence structureWhat affect it left on my readers and if they understood the point I was trying to get across

I loved reading “The Death of A Salesman”, even though I read it before I had an even better understanding of it this time. I really had a chance to think clearly about the play, since I knew what the whole story was about. The things I didn’t quite understand before I got the full meaning this time around. Reading this book for some reason was extremely fun it contained so much drama and excitement.

Willies dream was for his son Biff to become successful in life. He wants his son to get a job that makes him wealthier. Willy thinks his son is worth so much more, and he should take advantage of what he has to give. Linda is Biff and Happy’s mom and Willy’s wife; she is less fragile about handling situations than her husband is. Linda is always there for Willy till the very end, she loves him to death and would stick up for him in any situation possible. Biff and Happy’s Relationships are that Happy has always followed Biff his whole life. I feel like Happy felt he wasn’t good enough being just himself he wanted his dad to pay more attention to him and not so much to Biff. When Biff returned home from his twenty-eight dollar an hour job working on a ranch, Happy tried to help Biff get a better job and have a better life for himself. Biff is still trying to find himself; he is confused and doesn’t know who he really is. Happy tries to keep the peace between Biff and Willy, and also comfort Biff and try to better his future for the both of them to make their father proud.

The Visions Willy has from his past, at first were very confusing. The first time I read the book I didn’t understand what was going on I thought his visions were Willy having Alzheimer’s, and just thinking back on all the good times he had with his family before his time to go. After I read it for a second time I realized it was just fill ins to better the readers understanding of the story. That’s a very neat way to help the reader understand a story; I would of never thought of that. At first it’s complicated to get, but as the story goes on you start to understand why things happened and how they got where they are in life, and also why certain people are mentioned throughout the story. We also seen the film of the play in class, it helped me a lot. The movie helped me better comprehend the affair that Willy had with the other woman, also how Biff found out about it, and why Biff doesn’t get along with his dad that good anymore. I think it all has to do with that whole affair business. Willy is upset with himself and his life and doesn’t know who to take it out on so he takes it out on Biff. Willy regrets doing the things he did, but has no way to take them back. In the end Willy ends up giving in to all the pressure he had with making a perfect life for his family, and kills himself. The funny thing was he killed himself after they were set free. It was their last payment on the house, Biff and him settled all their differences and were eventually going to become close again, that would have made Willy so proud. His son meant the world to him. Who knew why Willy decided to kill himself after finally becoming a whole family again. I feel that he still deep down felt that he couldn’t go on living with the fact that he cheated on Linda that’s why he was so controlling and short tempered with her. It made him feel so guilty. She loved him so much and the fact that she had no idea that even went on made him feel horrible inside. Willy was alone mentally, the last couple years before he passed away. He was inhaling gas without anyone knowing, and struggling through things he never wanted anyone else to worry about. He wanted his family to think everything was fine and he would always be able to take care of them. The gas made him go crazy. He started to lose his mind. Linda being alone shouldn’t be that bad because she was alone for most of her life anyways. She just couldn’t get through to Willy she tried so hard, but he just had too much guilt to listen to anyone.
Overall this book was full of twists and turns that were very enjoyable. I feel bad for everything Willy went through in life. He wanted to make a perfect life with just enough money so his family can survive, but the stress got to him. Biff ended up finding himself in the end. He was just himself he didn’t want to be no suit and tie salesman he wanted to be Biff and Willy just couldn’t accept that. This book was called “The Death of A Salesman” because Willy was fighting a battle within himself that was not successful in the end as his career was not successful. When commenting: can you focus more on the point I was trying to get across to my readers, the way my writing is presented, and if i have any grammar issues.