Isra Syed
Barnes
English 3
24 August 2012
Timed Write
A member of the Nuevos Amigos organization solely relies on the student to respect themselves and others, to accept the diversity and views among others, and to optimistic about your new responsibility. In the book The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield can be viewed as someone who lacks the potential to be a member due to the fact that he doesn’t possess any of the true characteristics of a Nuevos Amigos participant. Holden should not be affiliated with the Nuevos Amigos group because of the absence of his acceptance towards others, his immature attitude. Yet he can be described as someone able to participate in the Nuevos Amigos program because of his care and consideration for children.
Holden can not be able to participate in such a group as Nuevos Amigos because he sees everyone with flaws and he fails to accept their differences, which is an essential part of being a Nuevos Amigos. When Robert Ackley, the boy that roomed next to Holden appeared in front of his sight, he described him saying, “…he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy,” (Salinger 26). Although in the end of the book he seems to admit that he actually missed this “nasty guy”, Holden is seen as someone who doesn’t care about the character of someone within; instead he judges them as what they look like. Describing Ackley’s physical appearance also shows how Holden somewhat views himself as better in appearance and attitude, which is actually the total opposite. Accepting and appreciating people’s differences would be hard for Holden to do in since he never seems to look deeper into a person and understand their true personality. And because Holden lacks this trait, it would be impossible for him to join into the Nuevos Amigos group because he would have to encounter many kids that would be of all different types of personalities and viewpoints.
As well as being able to approve diversity among people’s personalities, being able to teach students about how to act and have a positive outlook on life can be difficult if you are a person who is always immature and insolent in behavior. Holden possesses this quality which can have a negative impact in the lives of arising high school students. When Holden arrived back at his hotel, he agreed to have a prostitute come up to his room. He apparently figured that “if she was a prostitute and all, I could get in some practice on her, in case I ever get married or anything,” (121). This quote directly displays Holden’s immature behavior and decisions that he makes. Being a Nuevos Amigos also advocates the importance of being responsible and being able to be a role model to younger kids. Holden obviously proves that he cannot be a true role model seeing that he asked for a prostitute to come to his room. In addition, Holden also shows how he is not a liable candidate to take part in the program when he got into a fight with Stradlater. Even though Holden knew that calling Stradlater a “moron” really irritated him and he disliked being called that, Holden pursued this reckless behavior and repeatedly called him a moron. “He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron,” (57).He represents a bad example to follow and knowing that children associated and enrolled in this program look forward to high school, they should not be given the example of such an irresponsible person. In a way, he promotes violence and sets a bad example to the children.
Overlooking Holden’s bad examples, he could be recommended for Nuevos Amigos merely because he, in his own way, protects children from losing their innocence. In high school this is a key concern with kids because they can easily lose their vulnerability in their years at high school. For example, when Holden is asked by his littler sister Phoebe what he liked, he explained his desire to be the catcher in the rye. “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff -…,” (224). He expresses that even though he is immature and shares different views on people, he still has this element of protecting these children and having the longing to be able to save them if harm comes their way. Also, when he is visiting the school, he saw something that “drove [him] crazy. “Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I though Phoebe and all the other kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant,… and how they’d all think about it and maybe worry about it for a couple of days,” (260). Even though Holden utilizes vulgar in almost every one of his sentences, he understands that these kids are too young to be able to be exposed to horrible things like this. That is why he then “rubbed it out anyway, finally,” (261). In this way, Holden could be seen as someone that could be considered to be a part of the Nuevos Amigos program, and might be successful at it too.
Therefore, a boy who himself has been expelled from high school can not really give good output on what it is like and what to expect. Holden’s negative views on the teachers and students really pushed him farther and farther from the desire to attain a good education. That is why he should not be a part of Nuevos Amigos because of his not being able to accept differences, his immature behavior and decisions, yet his soft side towards children should not be overlooked as well.
Holden can not be able to participate in such a group as Nuevos Amigos because he sees everyone with flaws and he fails to accept their differences, which is an essential part of being a Nuevos Amigos. When Robert Ackley, the boy that roomed next to Holden appeared in front of his sight, he described him saying, “…he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin, like most guys, but all over his whole face. And not only that, he had a terrible personality. He was also sort of a nasty guy,” (Salinger 26). Although in the end of the book he seems to admit that he actually missed this “nasty guy”, Holden is seen as someone who doesn’t care about the character of someone within; instead he judges them as what they look like. Describing Ackley’s physical appearance also shows how Holden somewhat views himself as better in appearance and attitude, which is actually the total opposite. Accepting and appreciating people’s differences would be hard for Holden to do in since he never seems to look deeper into a person and understand their true personality. And because Holden lacks this trait, it would be impossible for him to join into the Nuevos Amigos group because he would have to encounter many kids that would be of all different types of personalities and viewpoints.
As well as being able to approve diversity among people’s personalities, being able to teach students about how to act and have a positive outlook on life can be difficult if you are a person who is always immature and insolent in behavior. Holden possesses this quality which can have a negative impact in the lives of arising high school students. When Holden arrived back at his hotel, he agreed to have a prostitute come up to his room. He apparently figured that “if she was a prostitute and all, I could get in some practice on her, in case I ever get married or anything,” (121). This quote directly displays Holden’s immature behavior and decisions that he makes. Being a Nuevos Amigos also advocates the importance of being responsible and being able to be a role model to younger kids. Holden obviously proves that he cannot be a true role model seeing that he asked for a prostitute to come to his room. In addition, Holden also shows how he is not a liable candidate to take part in the program when he got into a fight with Stradlater. Even though Holden knew that calling Stradlater a “moron” really irritated him and he disliked being called that, Holden pursued this reckless behavior and repeatedly called him a moron. “He hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them a moron,” (57).He represents a bad example to follow and knowing that children associated and enrolled in this program look forward to high school, they should not be given the example of such an irresponsible person. In a way, he promotes violence and sets a bad example to the children.
Overlooking Holden’s bad examples, he could be recommended for Nuevos Amigos merely because he, in his own way, protects children from losing their innocence. In high school this is a key concern with kids because they can easily lose their vulnerability in their years at high school. For example, when Holden is asked by his littler sister Phoebe what he liked, he explained his desire to be the catcher in the rye. “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around- nobody big, I mean- except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff -…,” (224). He expresses that even though he is immature and shares different views on people, he still has this element of protecting these children and having the longing to be able to save them if harm comes their way. Also, when he is visiting the school, he saw something that “drove [him] crazy. “Somebody’d written “Fuck you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I though Phoebe and all the other kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant,… and how they’d all think about it and maybe worry about it for a couple of days,” (260). Even though Holden utilizes vulgar in almost every one of his sentences, he understands that these kids are too young to be able to be exposed to horrible things like this. That is why he then “rubbed it out anyway, finally,” (261). In this way, Holden could be seen as someone that could be considered to be a part of the Nuevos Amigos program, and might be successful at it too.
Therefore, a boy who himself has been expelled from high school can not really give good output on what it is like and what to expect. Holden’s negative views on the teachers and students really pushed him farther and farther from the desire to attain a good education. That is why he should not be a part of Nuevos Amigos because of his not being able to accept differences, his immature behavior and decisions, yet his soft side towards children should not be overlooked as well.
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