ENG 1501 EXAM PACK

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE ;NOV 2015

‘’The trouble is I get to feeling sorry for them I mean most girls are dumb and all. After you neck them
for a while you can really watch them losing their brains, she just hasn’t any brains.’’

How does Holden view women in the novel?

Holden views women as phony. He believes they are only interested in material things. This is brought
out when Holden takes Sally on a date, he is annoyed and disgusted with her when she goes to talk to
another boy. It seemed to Holden that she liked the boy because he is “Ivy league”.

“Then all of a sudden she saw some jerk she knew on the other side of the lobby, strictly Ivy league. Old
Sally kept saying ‘I know that guy from somewhere’

He also views girls as sex tools that only enjoy sex and only exist for that reason. Holden spies at a
couple at the hotel who are squirting water on each other, then he immediately thinks of himself being
intimate with the girl. And again he reminisces on a time he was with some girl named Anne Louise on a
certain night. He says,

“Im probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw. Sometimes I can even think of crumpy stuff I
wouldn’t mind doing if the opportunity came up.” (p67)

In chapter 17 Holden sits in the lobby and starts watching girls that were hanging around. His mind goes
straight to their legs and physique showing how he views women as sexual objects. He comments
saying, “… girls with their legs crossed, girls with legs not crossed, with lousy legs, girls that looked like
they would be bitches.”

The encounter with the prostitute in New York brought out Holden’s views on women as not intelligent,
illiterate. He refuses to sleep with her because she is the type that sits down and wastes time on
watching movies. ‘I don’t think I could ever do it with somebody like that that sits in a stupid movie all
day long.’ (p105)

He however also feels pity and sympathy of the prostitute as he felt sad after noticing that the girl was
young. He views women through Sunny as objects that are just there to be used and thrown away.

Throughout the novel Holden seems to have a contradicting view of women. He sees them as
materialistic and phony but also shows respect to them that most people of his age do not.

Holden has respect and love for his little sister Phoebe who acts almost like an opposite to him. She is
more sociable to people and friendly than Holden. He is very fond of her and treats her differently from
the rest of the world.. She Is the only person that he is connected to psychologically.
His respective view on women is shown as he says,

‘I think if you don’t really like a girl you shouldn’t horse around with her at all.’

Holden also views women as fragile beings that need to be protected.

“I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy if you want to know the truth.”

Holden says this line when Phoebe is riding on the carousal. This represents Holden thinking she is
innocent and wants to be protected.

‘I kept thinking about Jane and about Stradlater having a date with her and all. It made me so nervous I
nearly went crazy.’

This brings out Holden’s insecurity and how he views women as objects that can be possessed.

Holden is emotionally distant from his mother after the loss of his younger brother.He is not attached or
bonded with her as expected of mother and child. Thus he views his mother as only available for the
reason of producing babies only.

He also views women as fragile through his mother’s state of nervous condition.

The quotation in Chapter 13 reveals that Holden has issues with women in general, He does not view
women as smart people. He believes that women are driven by insignificant things such as instinct. He
felt that way mainly because that was the sort of women he hanged around withand also because he
tends to generalize. He sees women as dumb, immature and weak.
ROAD TO MECCA; NOV 2015

Helen’s role as an artist.

Miss Helen’s role as an artist is to express the freedom to worship whatever religion one is comfortable
in. She brings out the idea that a single religion is not that important. What is important is how a religion
gives a person comfort. This is brought out on the day she decides to stay home and work on her first
statue instead of going to church like she had done for the past twenty years of her life.

‘I was at the point of leaving this room but I knew if I did I would never make that owl ….’

She stops attending church and socializing after her husband dies and she takes on a hobby of arts,
sculpturing. Her church became her home, her sanctuary and her worship was her sculpturing. Her art
helped her keep spiritual darkness away from her.

Her artistic role was to provide comfort for herself in her lonely life. She did not expect any audience
knowing how her community detested her sculptures. She did it to keep herself occupied.

To express herself and her emotions, Miss Helen spent most of her time creating her miracle room of
glass and lighting, a more profound art. She brought out her emotions through art. She explains to Elsa,

‘you see when I lit the candles you were finally going to see all of me,’

The image of the Mecca represents the spiritual freedom for Helen. Her role as an artist is to creatively
express one’s existence and vitality. Helen’s art brings an interest to life, making her feel productive and
vibrant. The sculpture nourishes Helen and satisfy her filling her with happiness. She says,

‘The only reason I have got for being alive is my Mecca , without that im nothing a useless being.’

As Rich says, artists are driven to forge their version of the truth, Miss Helen’s role as an artist is to
reflect on women’s struggles for self-expression and self- fulfillment in a society that controls the
powerless. She therefore defies the society’s expectations of women by creating statues and sculpturing
which was regarded as a male activity.

Helen admits to have never loved her husband. She thinks back on the ‘darkness that nearly smothered’
her life, the emptiness that she felt till after the funeral. She does not opt of being a pitiful church-going
widow. She stopped going to church and became an artist, signifying her new found freedom.

Miss Helen dresses conservatively and is soft spoken and does not resort to any gimmicks. Even though
she creates strange sculptures on her front lawn, walls of her house are covered in glitters and te only
source of light in her house is from candles,she is a quiet being until she begins to speak herself. This is a
common character and personality of artists as they forge their version of the truth through their art
creations even when they have no hope of an audience.
According to Rich, artists are frightening to those who would suppress freedom. This is true for Miss
Helen as witnessedby members of the community trying to push her out of the village to an old people’s
home. They evidently want to sipress her freedom, her art of the Mecca. By her refusal to sign the Old
People’s home papers brings out her role as an artist to exemplify freedom.
When Rain Clouds Gather; NOV 2015

‘When Rain Clouds Gather’ speaks of a small impoverished village of Golema Mmidi that is a sanctuary
for many exiles from afar. Therefore the village brought many people of different backgrounds and
personalities together.

The village is in a semi-desert area of Botswana where the soil and weather conditions are not conjucive
for healthy plant growth. Because of this, the village battled with food production. Their local food was
mainly sour milk and goat meat.

Golema mmidi suffered a drought since there were no cultivation activities, the land and streams were
taken over by dry grass. ‘The country presented overwhelming challenges, not only because the rainfall
was poor but because the people engaged in subsistence farming….’.

In the book, human relations and interactions are formed as different kinds of people are brought
together in Golema Mmidi. The village homes exiles from different countries including Gilbert a white
man from England and Makhaya from South Africa.

There is little education in the village and villagers prefer to stick to their traditions as a way of life. Both
the literate and semi-literate exist. Gilbert represents the literate as evidenced by him starting the
agriculture project and also by him teaching Maria to read and write the English language.

The book features all kinds of people such as chief, politicians (Makhaya), a man who is eager to change
the circumstances in the village (Gilbert), authorities and ordinary people. There is Maria a reserved,
attractive, intelligent woman who is humble, quiet and independent. Then there are women like Paulina
that are loud, carefree and illiterate.

Everyone is welcome in the village as shown in the way Dinorego unhesitantly invites Mkahaya to his
home and even settles him a job in Golema Mmidi.

Golema Mmidi consists of individuals who have fled the tragedies of life. Golema Mmidi acquired its
name from the occupation of the villagers which was crop growing. It was one of the few areas in the
country where people were permanently settled on the land.
The Catcher in the Rye; JUNE 2016

Throughout the novel, Holden alienates himself from the rest of the world as he seems not to fit in. he
isolates himself as a way of comfort from the harsh expectations of his peers.

He faces denial and rejection from all angles and shields himself by isolation. The alienation protects him
but also harm him in a way. It protects him by ensuring that he will not have connections with other
people who might cause him pain or rejection. Alienation harms him by leaving him lonely and
depressed.

While watching the game at school, Holden alienates himself. Instead of watching the game with the
others, he stands away from them instead of connecting with them. This is evidenced by,

‘I remember around 3o’clock I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill.’

Holden is alienated as he stands by the window and stares outside, revealing his loneliness. (chapter 7).

‘I got up and went over and looked out the window. I felt so lonesome all of a sudden.’

He alienates himself as he leaves Prencey earlier than expected and goes to New York until things settle
down with his parents. He says, “I decided I’d take a room in a hotel in New York and just take it easy till
Wednesday”. (chapter 7)

Holden loves his little sister Phoebe and so he feels alienated by not being able to get hold of her. He is
looking for a real connection with a human and he can only get it from Phoebe because she accepts him
as he is .this is revealed by, ‘I certainly wouldn’t mind shooting the crap with old Phoebe for a while.”

His alienation is clearly brought out as he goes out on a Saturday night only to find the streets empty. He
comments that, ‘it was so quiet and lonesome out there even though it was a Saturday.’ It shows how
isolated he felt without people around him. He goes on to say ‘it makes you feel lonely and depressed.’
(p80)

Holden’s alienation method harms him as is shown when he asks the cab driver to go out with him for
drinks. Its abnormal and awkward asking a cabdriver to keep one company as it is known that they are
always busy. ‘Would you care to have a drink with me somewhere?’

He further alienates himself from people when he goes to Ernie’s bar and Ernie was playing the piano.
Everyone else cheered on in awe but he did not see the need. He says ‘you should have heard the crowd
though ….’

He then leaves the bar early, not because he wanted to but because he could not spend any more time
with the rest of the crowd, although he felt lonely soon after. He says, ‘… and I went back to the hotel
but it was too early and didn’t feel like being alone.’ (p92)
Another feeling of alienation comes out as Holden goes back to the hotel and finds the lobby empty.
That makes him feel lonely as he says, “The whole lobby was empty. I felt so depressed and I started
talking loud.”

Holden’s loneliness is shown through his date with Sally but his alienation causes him to insult and drive
Sally away. ‘You give me a royal pain in the ass if you want to know the truth.’

Holden again tries to reach his peers but gets shut down. Despite being depressed and lonely, Holden is
desperate for some form of social interaction. He attempts to reach his peers but when the attempt fails
he feels so alone. “I guess it was because I was feeling so damn lonesome.”
The Road to Mecca;JUNE 2016

How is juxtaposition used to bring out contrast and contradictions.

Juxtaposition is used in the book to bring contrast and contradictions. There is Elsa and Miss Helen in the
house. Miss Helen is described as a frail little woman in her sixties in contrast to Elsa a young woman her
late twenties. Fugard uses juxtaposition to reveal the difference in age groups.

The way in which Miss Helen and Elsa are dressed brings out the juxtaposition in contrasting generation.
Miss Helen is wearing clothes which are shabby and non-fitting whereas Elsa is dresed in a neat
tracksuit.

Juxtaposition is revealed through the difference in ages between little Katrine and Marius an old man.
They are both talked of by Miss Helen as the only ones visiting her. (p23)

Miss Helen is a spiritual person who at first believed in Christianity then the Mecca and Marius I s
spiritual in Christianity in contrast to Elsa who is not spiritual at all, she is carefree, independent and a
free soul. She even had an abortion which Miss Helen was against.
When Rain Clouds gather; JUNE 2016

How is Gilbert portrayed as messianic in the novel.

Gilbert is portrayed as messianic as he has brought hope to the village of Golema Mmidi. He is an
agriculturist and applies his skills to the village that had lost hope on its own land.

Gilbert is full of ideas on how to turn the village around and make people people practice the agriculture
that would be more profitable and sustainable. “.. and that to his visit he owed his choice of career to
assist in agricultural development and improved techniques of food production.” (p18)

To support his messianic figure, Gilbert brought plans to uplift the poor who constituted a large number
of the village. This is shown by, ‘the Englishman had behind him the backing of a number of voluntary
organisations who were prepared to finance his schemes at no cost to the country,’

All along, the people of Golema Mmidi would dig into the ground using as spade, which was a labourous
process to obtain water. Gilbert comes along and informs them of dams built using scrappers. These
scrappers made the whole process easy and fast therefore reveals Gilbert as a messianic figure.

‘Now along comes someone and tells them about rainwater dams that are made with scrappers.’

Gilbert settled in the village,lived the lives they were living and worked to make an impact on their
agricultural system from within. He worked to understand the people, their culture and their tradition.

Gilbert formed a cooperative society which stopped Matenge from being sole cattle dealer in the village.

‘Before Gilbert came, Pelotona used to work for the chief because he was the big cattle speculator of
the village.’

Gilbert sought to improve on the communal mode of property ownership which results in the tragedy of
the commons and is therefore unsustainable financially and environmentally .

He imparts his knowledge freely and willingly to the people as reflected by, ‘if Gilbert goes who will pour
out knowledge like rain? Everyone is selfish and wants to keep what he has to himself . Gilbert even
gives Maria some English lessons for free.
THE Catcher in the Rye;NOV 2016

The impact of Allie’s death on Holden

Although we have never met him, Allie is talked of a lot in the novel. Allies death affects Holden
immensely to the extent that he no longer allows himself to connect with other people after this
tragedy. He is quick to make judgments on other people.

Holden now rejects those who have lost their childhood innocence and lack integrity and are phony. He
judges his brother D.B that he once wrote authentic stories but since he has been to Hollywood he has
prostituted himself and written worthless stories just for money.

Holden now views the world as total darkness, castigating almost everyone for being phony. For
instance when he hears that Stradtler has gone on a date with Jane, whom he likes, he is disappointed
and angered that she would chill in a parked car with Stradlater. He feels that Jane has compromised
herself by going on a date with a superficial athlete who just wants to score with a girl.

The night of Allie’s death, Holden breaks all the windows in the garage and had to be hospitalise. This
shows the intense impact of his death. The anger he felt pushed him to be violent.

According to Holden, Allie was the most intelligent, nicest, sweetest with the best humour. Holden’s
love for his brother and the impact of his death has made him to glorify Allie into soma saint, “it wasn’t
just that he was the most intelligent member of my family. He was also the nicest being a saint, innocent
and young deceased person makes Allie an ideal comfort to go to for Holden in times of distress and
loneliness. For example when he is walking down the street and thinking of disappearing. He says,
‘Anyway I kept walking and walking up fifth Avenue without any tie or anything. I thought I’d just go
down and nobody‘d ever see me again.

The extent to which Holden was affected by his brother’s death is reflected in the way that Holden
wants to be The catcher in the rye in Robert Burn’s poem. He would catch the children before they go
over the cliff. By this Holden means that he would protect the children’s innocence and prevent them
from falling into the dangers of adulthood.

The death of his brother affected him badly. He still talks to him as if he were alive. Throughout the
entire novel Holden struggles to keep focus on the future reflected in the way keeps going back to
thinking of Allie. He reflects how the emotional scars of the past still dictate his his future.

The impact of Allie’s death causes Holden to struggle with depression, anxiety, fear and anger. It affects
his attitude, behavior and perception in a bad way.

Holden never got professional counselling to cope with Allie’s death and thus he never got over the loss.
Even on the time that he has to write a composition for Stradlater he decides to write about Allie’s
baseball mitt.
He admits to acting immaturely for his age which is an effect associated with the loss of his brother. He
does not want to move on with his life and so he mentally puts his life on hold to the time he was with
Allie. He is emotionally still. He narrates, ‘I was sixteen then and I’m seventeen now but sometimes I
think like I’m thirteen.’

Holden repeatedly uses the word crap. The word identifies with his life. He feels dirty and worthless and
so makes the world a reflection of his own image. He screams that the world makes him want to puke.
This is because Holden’s world itself has turned to vomit since his brother’s death.

Holden is in an almost suicidal state as he believes there is nothing anymore for him to live for. The
significance of his repeated use of variations in the phrase ‘that killed me’ is evidence of his obsession
with death. It tells that he wishes himself dead, punished and then reunited with Aliie.

His continuous use of the hostile language reflects Holden’s despair and cry for her help. His language
satisfies his anger and isolates him further. Holden is trapped into his grief and locked out of family and
society. ‘What I was relly feelinglike though was committing suicide,I felt like jumping out the winter ..’
Holden says this phrase after Maurice assaulted him. This shows that he constantly thinks of deathas an
easy way out.

Holden pours out his feelings to Sally about his anger at the phony world. He says, ‘I don’t get hardly
anything out of anything,im in a bad shape.’

He then asks Sally to run away with him of which she rejects and that depresses him even more. To
bring out the effects of his brother’s death, Holden starts to think of the time he had sat with Allie
watching a favourite drummer.

Allie’s death causes Holden to want to protect children who are m,ost likely the same age with Allie
when he died.
The Road to Mecca; NOV 2016

How men feature in women’s lives and how each woman struggles to break away.

The female characters experience all sorts of struggles from the male characters. They suffer
oppression, such as religious, social, marital and racial oppression.

Miss Helen, a seventy year old woman confesses to have endured a loveless marriage. Circumstances
forced her into staying in that marriage. she was probably abused. Fortunately for her she breaks away
when the husband dies. She says, ‘He was a good man but I never loved him. While Stefanus was alive
there was some pretence at it.’

The town’s people object to her sculptures that they sent Marius a man to try and talk her into staying
in an old people’s home and get rid of her idolatry. She breaks away from this by objecting to the
pastor’s persuasion. She refuses to be sent away. ‘The only reason I’ve got for being alive is my Mecca.’

Katrina is abused by her husband, the man she loves and who is supposed to care for her. Her situation
is that of an oppressed woman. She is a young teenager inexperienced in marriage. She endured this
tough marriage because she did not have the freedom to express herself.

Elsa was dependent on men as evidenced by her affair with a married man. She always believed that he
would leave his wife for her of which she ends up being the victim of the situation. (p30) she then breaks
away by ending the affair. She then goes on to abort the pregnancy signifying her breaking off all ties
with the man.

Elsa represents women that believe in human rights and freedom of speech. She tells Helen to tell
Getruda to demand her rights to get up there and put her case. (p24)

Elsa suffers from social oppression as pastor tries to pressure to convince Helen to sign the papers for
admission to the sunshine home.
When rain clouds gather;NOV 2016

Dinorego’s role in the process of healing and recovery for several people.

Dinorego represents a father figure to almost everyone. He is smart, wise, mature and generous. He is a
role model not only to Mkhaya but to everyone because he tries to reinforce and expand the idea of
generosity to the people.

Makhaya fleds apartheid from South Africa. He is looking for his identity which he finds in Botswana. He
suffered low self esteem and emotional trauma through apartheid. he meets Dinorego who quickly
offers him a place to stay in the village and a job too. This aids Mkhaya in his road to healing and
recovery.

Dinorego further plays a major role in Makhaya’s recovery by letting him marry Pauline who was like
family to him.

Gilbert came from England to help the Golema Mnidi villagers in agriculture. He finds it hard to
understand them and to adapt in their ways but Dinorego was there to guide him through. Dinorego
supported him and treated him like his own son.

‘Just as I take you as my son so do I take Gilbert as my own son, which surprises me since he is a white
man.’

Gilbert’s dreams of farming cooperatives would not have prospered if it were not for Dinorego’s
friendships and advices. Chief Matenge did not want Gilbert or any of his services to the village but
Dinorego made it possible. This is confirmed by, ‘Yet without the friendship of Dinorego he might not
have survived the frustrations of 3 years and the continual enmity of Chief Mtenge’. (p37)

Mma Milliped, avictim of tribalism in the north faced a lot of challenges and struggles. Despite of all that
she went through she moved on and started her life again in Golema Midi. She found a friendship and
support in Dinorego who stood by her side comforting and strengthening her . he helped her face life in
a positive way.

Dinorego has always been tgher for the villagersato encourage, support and motivate them. When they
had lost hope in their cattle dying, Dinorego gave them hope by giving them a motivational speech. He
then suggested to them to go and seek advice from Gilbert.. he also offered moral support . his mere
presence as a father figure comforted them and gave them a piece of mind.