With reference to pages 218-223, analyses Clinger’s use of language and structure, exploring Holder’s contradictory Views. Slinger uses language and structure to give he reader an insight of Holder’s views of the world, which tend to be both positive and negative. The genre of the novel is Bloodcurdling, 1 which involves several situations that shape the character; and so in this novel, we read his attempts to finding his identity as he goes from his adolescent years to being an adult. However, he does not change a lot throughout the novel, so this is contradictory. Contradiction’ 2 is he term used when two principles are inconsistent or are clashing. At the beginning Of the extract, Holder calls the two boys in the retirees_jam “hot shots. “3 This is because he sees them as ‘phones for truanting school and then lying about there being “no school today. “4 He also then goes on to call one of the boys a “little bastard. “5 This reinforces his negative views of others. However, Holder was never a ‘perfect’ student either, yet does not mention his own misdoings with shame.
Also, he could feel like an older brother to them as he says the boy was “… Practically holding onto my sleeve. “6 This rottenly gesture could have reminded him of the way he and Allele used to be. This opposes his initial view of the boys, which shows he is unTABLE to stick to one thought. There are several other instances in the novel where Holder contradicts himself, for example, his attitude towards isolation. Further on in the extract, Holder ends up being alone in a tomb; he claims that he “sort of liked it in a way. 7 This is stated concisely showing that he knows what he wants, however, yet again, towards the end of the extract, Holder contradicts himself as he shows that he would not want to be completely isolated and goes not mind being visited by his parents as he says “I’d let them visit, as long as they’re not phones. “8 He implies that everyone else is ‘phone but his parents. This shows how contradictory his thoughts are as he initially says that he wants to be alone and away from everyone, however, he then indicates that he wants to be accompanied by his family.
Holder does not show much appreciation for much, yet he describes the museum as “nice and peaceful” 10, even though he usually feels as if he does not fit anywhere, which could be why he has changed several schools and is paving his current one – Pence, this is because he finds it hard to adapt to change. It could also be argued that events conspire against Holder throughout the novel. Yet again, Holder then claims that he “can’t seem to find a place that nice and peaceful because there isn’t any. “1 1 This shows that he is unTABLE to stick to one thought and is unsure Of what he truly wants and needs.
However, Slinger destroys the peace with the “buck you”12 graffiti on the museum wall, which Holder does not appreciate as it disrupts his peaceful thoughts, or perhaps it could be because he finds it immoral as hillier can see the writing and their minds need to be protected from what he feels is an evil and corrupt world ? which is a disruption of peace. It could also be that he feels it’s a loss of innocence for the children that see the writing. The writing also irritates him as he sees himself as ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, which is supposed to preserve the innocence of the young.
However, Holder uses vocabulary such as “continuation”1 3, “bastard”14, and “goddamn”15, which contrasts against this idea of him being the preserver of the children as this introduces them to the real world of crudity and vile language. Yet he says that protecting children would make him truly happy. Slinger uses repetition to show Holder’s contradictory thoughts. He tends to repeat himself when giving an opinion such as “he was a nervous guy mean he was a nervous guy. “1 6 This implies that he wants to; in a sense reassure himself of his own opinion.
It makes him seem as though he himself is nervous as he repeats himself. Another example of this is when he claims, “l sort of miss them. I mean I sort of miss them. ” 1 7 This again shows that he tries to reassure himself of his own judgment, thus showing his self- contradiction and uncertainty of his own views. By reassuring himself he knows he is contradicting himself and contradicting the idea of Holder is confident as throughout the novel, Holder portrays himself as confident person who recognizes his desires and has a clear idea of what he wants and needs.
In addition, Holder shows an incompletion of his sentences, which could be an incompletion of his thoughts as he is unsure if it is his own viewpoint. At the end of a vast amount of sentences he states, “If you want to know the truth” 18 and “… And all. “1 9 This use of language causes the reader to not believe his opinion as being the truth as it s incomplete and replaces the acts with “and all. ” 20 Also, he feels the need to clarify that it is the truth’; this can be seen as more Of a way of him reassuring himself that it is the truth.
It could also be that his perspective is altered by the trauma he endured. The effect of this language is that it makes the readers question if anything he says is true, as he appears to have unsettled and uncertain thoughts. The character of Holder is shown to be complex. Slinger contradicts his every thought and view, which could be seen as his younger self opposing his adult self, and the difference between the two ideologies/morals.
With the inner being of the novel being Bloodcurdling, it is expected that the character soon find their identity/inner peace, yet Holder experiences several disruptions, which prevent him from doing so. He battles his self against growing up, yet does not want to remain child ? like.
