An Analytical Biography of The Catcher in the Rye Essay Example for Free

An Analytical Biography of The Catcher in the Rye Essay Critic Jonathan Baumbach explores the significance of innocence in J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. He claims that the novel is not only about innocence, but actively for innocence-as if retaining one’s childness were an existing possibility. Not only that, but he states that Holden wishes to be a saint: the protector and savior of innocence by preventing them from falling into the cruel adult world of corruption and fickleness. Although he also wants someone to prevent his own fall since he is in fact still a child himself. Baumbach states that this is Holden’s paradox, saying that he must shed his own innocence to protect innocence. These statements are what send Holden off into the three day soul-searching quest that dooms Holden to sinking into insanity in our novel. The critic opens with a rather descriptive insight about how others view and critique Salinger’s first and only novel, as well as pointing some of the flaws that Catcher has: â€Å"The novel is sentimental; it loads the deck for Holden and against the adult world, the small but corrupt group that Holden encounters is not representative enough to permit Salinger his inclusive judgments about the species.† Baumbach claims that Holden does not have enough information to comment on the phoniness of humanity as a whole based on his observations of only a select few. As the critic investigates further, he makes a few interesting points. Some of which regard Mr. Antolini: Holden’s former English teacher. Baumbach claims that Antolini’s kindness to Holden is triggered by a homosexual interest that he has in the protagonist. Pointing  out the flaws in his teachers marriage, as well as ambiguous actions that he had done while with Caulfield. Based on Baumbach’s misguided interpretation the reader could be lead to think that of Mr. Antolini’s gesture as one of a perverted old man rather than as one of concerned mentor. Additionally, the critic moves on to discuss Holden’s concern of where the ducks go during the winter. He claims that what Holden really wants to know is whether there is a benevolent authority that takes care of the ducks; for if there is one for the ducks, there is must be one for people as well. Next, Baumbach switches focus to Holden’s prayer to Allie, which takes place before he goes to visit his family’s apartment. The critic postulates that Holden’s prayer to Allie is not so much an act of anguish as an act of love. However, if one closely examines the scene in the novel, the reader will realize that Holden’s prayer is actually the act of one wallowing in self-pity, of one that has truly hit rock bottom. After examining Jonathan Baumbach’s critique I can gather that he is a wonderful writer, he uses a colorful vocabulary and his sentences are perfectly structured. Although a line should be drawn when using more complex vocabulary; for while reading the critique the reader will likely find themselves having to look up several words to understand the points the critic is trying get across. Not only that, but the critic makes several assumptions based on very little information or goes out on a limb to make a point. Moreover, Baumbach’s points regarding Mr. Antolini’s homosexual nature, the significance of the Central Park ducks, as well as Holden’s prayer to Allie are not entirely concrete, and leave themselves open for dispute. When a reader goes through a book more than once, they find things they never caught while reading it through the first time. One would realize that Holden views Mr. Antolini as a father figure and a role model and comes to him looking for all the answers to the questions no one has figured out yet. For example, during the story when Holden arrives at Mr. Antolini’s apartment, He knows that Holden is spiraling downward and is basically aiming to fall into that insanity he has been drifting towards throughout  the novel, he warns him of this and eventually the two head to sleep. Now the controversial action that causes some of the audience to believe that Mr. Antolini is sexually interested in Caulfied, is that he awoke to find him stroking his hair. Holden misunderstood and made such a rash decision to put everyone into that Phony corrupt persona that he believes humanity is composed of, and storms off out of his home. If Holden was thinking more clearly he would’ve probably been able to handle the situation more responsibly, realizing that Antolini was only stroking his hair in more of a concerned fatherly way. The reader can tell by the way Holden refers to Mr. Antolini they have a strong relationship and he views him as a surrogate father, and not some perverted old man that Baumbach has painted him out to be. Additionally, As far as the Central Park ducks are concerned†¦Holden’s obsessive curiosity about what happens to the ducks during the winter shows the more child-like side to his character. Although Baumbach believes that Holden is searching for a higher power, instead helps him relate to that child innocence he is so fond of. It gives him the hope that change isn’t always permanent. It also helps the reader compare Holden’s perfect world in which time stands still (Like in the Museum of Natural History), to the real world which is constantly changing. Proving that he isn’t searching for some sort of â€Å"higher power† in the ducks, but it was a way to keep in touch with his innocence of his childhood. Lastly, when Holden hits rock bottom in the novel he says a prayer to Allie, in which Baumbach claims that it is an act of love and anguish. Although, this isn’t entirely true. Holden is actually wallowing in his own self-pity, how could he pray to Allie for help when while Allie was alive he wouldn’t even allow him to go on his bike with him and a friend? Sure, he feels regret for it now that he is dead and no longer with him, but it happened yet again when Phoebe wanted to run away with him and Caulfied turned her down the same as he had done with Allie. Proving that after hitting rock bottom Holden is desperate enough to pray although he doesn’t actually believe in God, but is hoping that there is one to not only save him but the soul of his deceased brother as well. In conclusion, Baumbach as a critic did write a well-written review of J.D Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye although it was a bit difficult to understand at times, he made a clear point and backed up his point with facts from the novel. He had colorful vocabulary and his critique flowed well together. Although the critique was a bit on the longer side I did enjoy reading it. The Catcher in the Rye which is believed to be J.D Salinger’s most famous work, had been an everlasting favorite of teens and tweens of the literary scene. This novel known for its stylized prose and focus on themes of angst, alienation, and rebellion has received wide acclaim for its extraordinary sense of originality. This novel will endure as a lifetime favorite of adolescence everywhere because it has life and is probably the most original piece of its time.

The Cycle of Selfhood in Sillitoe Essay -- Literary Analysis

The Cycle of Selfhood in Sillitoe Preface After Alan Sillitoe’s death in 2008, journalist and author Catherine Mayer wrote Sillitoe’s obituary for Time magazine. She begins it with her own assessment of Sillitoe’s work. Mayer asserts that Sillitoe â€Å"possessed a rare ability to identify the lovable qualities in characters his readers might shun in real life† (Mayer). It is true; he did. That ability can, of course, be attributed to talent, hard work and strong writer’s intuition, but it can also be said that perhaps it was easy for Sillitoe to identify those qualities in those characters, because he identified with those characters. One critic goes so far as to say that Sillitoe is â€Å"too close to them for his own good, he abdicates to an outpouring autobiographical compulsion† (Roskies 172). The critic tempers that remark in the next sentence saying that, â€Å"Its virtue†¦is its splendid recreation of hand-to-mouth subsistence living in Nottingham†¦the industrial North as a whole† (Roskies 172) Sillitoe grew up in the same kind of environment as his characters do. Born in 1928 and raised in Radford, a working class suburb in western Nottingham (Daniels and Rycroft 461), Sillitoe was son to Christopher Sillitoe, a tannery laborer—illiterate, frequently out of work and sometimes abusive—and Sylvia Burton Sillitoe, a lace factory worker (Aspden). At 14, Alan Sillitoe left school to work a string of factory jobs, one as a lathe operator at a bicycle factory (Daniels and Rycroft 464), just like Arthur Seaton, the protagonist of Sillitoe’s, â€Å"Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.† Introduction Contemporary working class fiction from the British Isles is fraught with class struggle and it’s a topic that drove much of the work of the Angry ... ...Lessons of the long-distance runner.† The New Criterion (2008): 23-28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Daniels, Stephen, and Simon Rycroft. â€Å"Mapping the Modern City: Alan Sillitoe’s Nottingham Novels.† Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 18.4 (1993): 460-480. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Mayer, Catherine. â€Å"Alan Sillitoe.† Time 10 May 2010: 35. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Penner, Allen R. â€Å"Human Dignity and Social Anarchy: Sillitoe’s ‘The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner.’† Contemporary Literature 10.2 (1969): 253-265. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Roskies, D. M. â€Å"Alan Sillitoe’s Anti-Pastoral.† The Journal of Narrative Technique 10.3 (1980): 170-185. Print. Sillitoe, Alan. The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. New and Collected Stories. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003. 1-35. Print.

Effective Approaches to Leadership Essay

There is talk that the nursing shortage is over, but the facts show that there is a substantial nursing shortage which is projected to intensify over the next several years. This fact alone will increase the demand on the remaining nurses leading to nurse burn out and increased turnover rates. Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals in America, but the majority of the nurses are close to retirement age (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010). This paper will address the issue of nursing shortage, nurse turnover and how nurse leaders and managers are approaching these issues, along with the personal and professional philosophy of nursing of the author of this paper. There are many reasons why a nursing shortage exists, and why it is only going to get worse over the next several years. The median age of the nursing workforce is 46 years of age and almost 50 percent of all nurses are close to retirement, which will substantially impact the nursing shortage (American Nurses Association, 2013). The Affordable Care Act of 2010 ensures that every American have access to affordable health care (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2013). This places an additional demand for nurses, and further increases the shortage. The results of the advances in medicine has increased the average life span, increasing the number of people living with chronic illness, and also increasing patient acuity levels which in turn increases the demand for advanced educated practioners. Nursing colleges and universities across the county are struggling to expand their enrollment levels in order to meet the rising demand for nursing care (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012). Reductions in nursing budgets together with the growing nursing shortage has resulted in nurses working more, taking care of sicker patients and at risk for making mistakes. This further complicates the nursing shortage as this type of environment only drives the current nursing force away from the bedside. The current Registered Nurse turnover rate is 14% (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012). One incentive that management and leadership nurses should be aspiring to is Magnet Status. The American Nurses Association in 1990 developed the Magnet status in an effort to reward hospitals that attract and retain nurses who demonstrate excellence in nursing practice (American Nurses Credentialing Center, 2013).

Corrupting the American Dream in The Great Gatsby” by F....

In the novel, â€Å"The Great Gatsby† by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author establishes materialism and wealth as a corruption to the American dream. The American dream embodies the idea of self-sufficient, honest and intelligent individual with a happy successful life. It is also the idea of the pursuit of happiness but Daisy Buchanan a wealthy aristocrat goes after the empty pursuit of pleasure, portraying her character as a disillusionment of the American dream and how much it lost its good values. The wealthy are blinded by all their money, such as the Buchanan’s who forget the real idea of the American dream leading them to having no morals or values. The money gives them the ability to walk all over others, careless of whom they hurt and†¦show more content†¦(145) Through this passage the author implies that Daisy is completely careless of what had occurred, establishing Daisy as a shallow and self-centered individual with no empathy for others. Also later towards the end of the novel, before Gatsby dies he finally sees Daisy for who she really is, He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is. (161) On the surface, Daisy maintained this illusion of innocence and honesty, however her behavior is corrupt and selfish. Her wealth gave her ability to walk all over others; she used others like objects until she no longer needed them. After Gatsby’s death she hadn’t even â€Å"sent a message or a flower† (174) she didn’t even pay her respects and immediately retreated back in her money and life with Tom. She did not value Gatsby, In Nick’s eyes she smashed up other peoples lives and left the destruction behind for someone else to fix completely careless of the consequences. The shallow people living in the East Egg such as Daisy represent corruption of American dream through materialism and wealth power. Through Daisy’s wealth she had corrupted not only Gatsby but also Nick, she was trapped in the illusion of her wealth and nothing else mattered but herself therefore she destroyedShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby is No Love Story Essay1354 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Gatsby is No Love Story      Ã‚  Ã‚   Many argue that F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby is an example of the great American love story, but it is not. The Great Gatsby is not a tale about perfect love; it is a tale of love and lust corrupting individuals in their lives, and of an American dream that is never fulfilled. Throughout the story, we follow multiple relationships, but focus is on the single relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. This relationship, however, fails toRead MoreThe American Dream Through The Eyes Of F. Scott Fitzgerald1690 Words   |  7 PagesThe American Dream Through the Eyes of F. Scott Fitzgerald F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby has been criticized, cited, and known as one of the greatest works of American Literature. With numerous themes and focuses, one of the most valuable is represented in the American Dream and how F. Scott Fitzgerald analyzes his idea of this concept. The American Dream is a concept centering on successes in many terms, such as wealth and social standing. These successes are achieved through hardRead MoreGatsby’s Corrupted Dream in F. Scott Fitgeralds The Great Gatsby705 Words   |  3 PagesJay Gatsby, taken in by a bittersweet fruit, drags himself through filth. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby becomes wealthy to achieve his American Dream, but he fails to achieve it because of the corruption and disillusioning effects of materialistic society. Gatsby’s dream is corrupted by the opulence surrounding him; therefore, he fallaciously assumes that material wealth is synonymous to happiness and wealth. In response to Gatsby’s demand Nick Carraway states the modestyRead MoreGreat Gatsby and the Influence of Money and Greed on Characters1777 Words   |  8 PagesMoney and corruption in F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby During the time in our countrys history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, peoples focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successful a person really was and now became what many peopleRead MoreThe Representation Of The American Dream Essay1535 Words   |  7 PagesRepresentation of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby The American Dream is the dream of achieving success and opportunity, but The Great Gatsby defines the American Dream as unachievable. The characters in the novel are portrayed as the cause of corruption, materialism, and immorality within society. The novel takes place during the 1920’s, an era of prosperity. After World War One, many believed one can achieve the American Dream through any social class. In the novel, the dream is portrayed as anRead MoreMoney and Corruption in F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby1761 Words   |  8 PagesMoney and Corruption in F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby During the time in our countrys history called the roaring twenties, society had a new obsession, money. Just shortly after the great depression, peoples focus now fell on wealth and success in the economic realm. Many Americans would stop at nothing to become rich and money was the new factor in separation of classes within society. Wealth was a direct reflection of how successfulRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1499 Words   |  6 Pagesand the appearing infeasibility of achieving the American Dream, and the corruption behind it. When Gatsby is first seen in the novel, Fitzgerald describes him: â€Å"— he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him I could’ve sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock† (Fitzgerald 20-21). Gatsby’s ultimate unhappiness is explo redRead MoreThe Death Of The American Dream1977 Words   |  8 PagesMichael Talanker Ms. Casperson AP English III 28 January 2015 The Death of the American Dream in the 1920s and the Narrative of The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald named the boisterous era known as the Roaring Twenties the â€Å"Jazz Age,† a name fitting for the cultural upheaval that occurred during the decade. The 1920s were referred to as so because of the dramatic change that took place in the United States during the decade, so dramatic that it was internationally recognized as a turbulent periodRead MoreThe American Dream Is Sublime Motivation1426 Words   |  6 Pagesanything to live the American Dream .People will journey far and wide, traverse the entire continent, suffer all manner of pain and suffering, if they believe that, in the end, they will be rewarded, and there is nothing quite like survival to motivate people. The ancient tale of â€Å"The American Dream† has been pursued by many, but only few make it all the way. The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the two poems, â€Å"Dream Deferred†, by Langston Hughes, and â€Å"American Dream of Reality†, byRead MoreSo phia Diep . Mrs. Ploeger . English 3, P. 6. 8 March 2017.1197 Words   |  5 PagesP. 6 8 March 2017 The Great Gatsby Character Analysis Essay Outline Thesis: In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the corruption of material wealth through the empty life of Daisy Buchanan. I. F. Scott Fitzgerald weaves white and yellow to present a contrast between Daisy s purity and her actual corruption by materialism. A. Daisy is associates with the color of white, from her young age to now, she dressed in white, and had a little white roadster (Fitzgerald 40). 1. Daisy s car was