Dear AP students:
This is the final blog posting I will be making.
There is at least one more perspective from which
we will analyze novels--the one I want to address today is the class or Marxist
perspective (after Karl Marx--the father of Communism).
This perspective focuses on the economic elements
of the story and stresses those elements that show the differences in economic
classes of the characters, and any examples of worker exploitation.
What's interesting about Holden Caulfield is that he is a
rich preppy--he belongs to the upper class. He lives in a nice area of
Manhattan. he has parents and grandparents who provide him with money. He
travels through Manhattan possessing money as a warrior on a quest would
possess weapons. Yet, he questions the value of money. He seems to especially
call people who are rich "phonies". His brother must make money as a
screenwriter, yet he is a "phony". His father has enough money
to invest in failed Broadway plays--and I think Holden relishes the fact that
his investments fail. He mocks the idea of having money early in the book
when he sells his 90 dollar typewriter for 20 dollars.
Yet, unlike many people who scorn having money, he
doesn't seem to hold the lower class in any respectful embrace. He gets in a
fight with the elevator operator and the prostitute, and he makes fun of the
musicians and the working girls from Seattle. I guess he sort of respects the
nuns who are in the busines of collecting donations. But I don't think he comes
across as a hero of the downtrodden. He's no Robin Hood or do-gooder social
activist, right? I don't think he identifies with the lower
classes. He doesn't seek to change the system, he just makes fun of
it. Maybe that's what makes him a believable character--a truly mixed up
teen who doesn't pretend to have any answers.
What are we to think of this class/Marxist perspective regarding Holden
Caulfield? Can you come up with some scenes from the novel that might
highlight this perspective? Or using this perspective to analyze the
novel, do you spot some actions of Holden that you didn't necessarily notice
before?