The Catcher in the Rye Group

Question:

soccer21
soccer21

What does Holden mean when he says "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."?

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Posted by soccer21 on Thursday October 16, 2008 at 3:51 PM and tagged with holden, the catcher in the rye.

Answers:

  1. fedteach
    fedteach Teacher
    Middle School

    You start missing everybody because you are so busy trying to tell your own story you don't listen to others and their stories.

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    Posted by fedteach on Thursday October 16, 2008 at 5:47 PM

  2. pmiranda2857
    pmiranda2857 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    When Holden makes this statement, he means that once you get close to someone and depend on them for emotional support and you have a real connection, you can really miss that person, because they can leave you. People leave, they die, they are unreliable.

    Holden technically has lost both his brothers. Allie, his younger brother died, and D.B. has left and gone to California. He feels very distant from D.B., because he thinks he is a sell-out, writing movie scripts instead of serious books. Two people Holden really needs in his life are gone.

    Jane Gallagher, the girl that Holden really cares about, she seems far away to him. He misses her too, even though all he has to do is call her. He can't or he won't, and because of this inability to get close to someone, other than his sister, he suffers from isolation.

    He fears sharing his feelings with anyone; he has developed a protection strategy, don't get close to anyone and you are safe. He is seriously misguided in this belief, and because of it, he has an emotional breakdown.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/catcher

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    Posted by pmiranda2857 on Friday October 17, 2008 at 1:59 PM