In all existence, everyone in life from the young to the old participate in the “game of life.” Weather we want to or not, we are forced to continue down the path until the end. In J. D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in The Rye, the main character, Holden Caulfield resents the ‘game’, and is not a believer. Holden states, “game my ass. Some game.
If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game all right- I’ll admit that. But if you are on the side where there aren’t any hot-shots, then what’s the game about? Nothing. No game.” (Salinger 8) Holden shows that he believes there’s no real game in his life. The phonies have the game though. They compete in life so they can one day buy a Cadillac, as Holden explains. The game is real however.
You may not think so, but everyone must play it- and play by the rules. The game is played until the end of your days, and the winners are the people who succeed in life. If you can be proud of yourself and accomplish many things, you have won in the game. In any view, the game exists. For whatever reasons, Holden decides not to play by the rules. He makes the attempt to get off course and do things his way.
With those choices, he is a failure. Holden Caulfield fails out of three different schools because he didn’t apply himself. This is against the rules of the “game” because you need to achieve academic triumph. With that, the game keeps going forward, and guides you to the right direction. Holden gets confused, and decides that he is going to run away from the world, and live off in another state. When he’s in a caf’e, he tries to persuade his friend, Sally Hayes to stop playing the game by the rules, and join him.
The Term Paper on Mortiz Schlick: the Meaning of Life in Play
I do not agree with Schlick’s contention that the meaning of life is grounded in the act of play and not work. I disagree for three main reasons. First, I find Schlicks account of forgetting the purpose of activities to be somewhat flawed. He demonstrates how the purpose of an activity does not yield meaning and that work is a means to a goal. I find a discrepancy in this in regards to his ...
Holden tells her, ” Tomorrow morning we can drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont. We can stay in these cabins and stuff until the money runs out. Then we can buy a place with a brook when I get a job. We can even get married down the road.” (Salinger 132).
If not for Sally keeping him sane, he would ” ve run away, and starved to death. He wouldn’t survive without money to provide him with food.
He has not enough education to get a well enough job to keep himself alive. It’s an impossible dream, and it fails to obey the rules. That is a task that may be accomplished many years down the road, when he is older, wiser, and is on more stable ground with his life. Another place where Holden fails is internally. When he realizes that he can’t be that Catcher in the rye.
Saving the children from growing up, and becoming phonies was his dream job. Seeing the young like Phoebe being so innocent was precious to him. He wanted her to grow up in a safe environment. When he sees the vulgar message written on the wall, he gets mighty upset, and tries to erase it off. The message makes him depressed again, because he doesn’t want the young children to see that message, and wonder what it meant. He knew that some other kid would come along and tell them all what it meant, and they would be scared.
Holden sees these messages all around in the area, and tries to rub them off. He wants so desperately wants to protect the youth. The game is played well, by at least two other people in the novel. Holden should ” ve played like them, because they understand the game, and they have accomplished many things because of it. One person is Sally Hayes. When Holden presented her with his wild idea about running away, she puts his head back into reality.
She tells him, “You just can’t do something like that” (Salinger 132).
She proceeds to remind him that they are still almost children, and that would be an impossible mission in this stage of life. Sally is presented like a person who does everything she is told, and understands life well. She has your eyes set on success in the game.
The Term Paper on Video Game Violence Games Violent Play
Video Game Pop Culture Misunderstanding Our society isn't safe for our children anymore because of drugs and alcohol abuse, sex, violence, war, playing video games... Playing video games? This is the last straw; some video games are made the focus of controversy when much better things can be argued over. Well, don't get me wrong, some of these games show horrific acts of and much less to our ...
Another character that plays the game, as it should be, is the first cab driver that Holden meets when he is in New York. During a lift, he asks the cabby to stop with him, and have a cocktail. The driver understands his job, and duties, and refuses, by saying to Holden, “Can’t do it, Mac. Sorry” (Salinger 61).
The driver doesn’t want to be punished by his employer, and knows that he must work to make a living, and win, in the game of life. He knows where he wants to get in life The game of life must be seen as seen by Sally and the cabby.
They understand the game, and the rules to abide by. Holden didn’t play by the rules, and he gets punished, by being placed into an institution. He realizes in the end, he needs to play properly, and decides at that point of time, he is going to apply himself when he gets free. Holden has a tough challenge lying ahead.
Will he work hard to achieve victory? Only time will tell.
