From what I have read so far in The Catcher in the Rye, I have already begun to notice strong similarities between the personality of the narrator and the personalities of my friends and myself. Of course, Holden's ideas are a little more eccentric than mine or my friends', but the same basic properties of teenage-boyism are as lifelike in Holden as in anyone I know. His jealousy over Stradlater's night with Jane, for instance, erupted into the kind of mock-fight that my friends and I have gotten into many times, over many different things. Somehow, Mr. Salinger captured perfectly the thoughts of a teenage boy in writing... or perhaps it just seems that way to me because I can relate to it so well.

This style, according to what we have learned about first-person-narratives, is very popular. Writers often strive to create extremely realistic narrators so that the reader can get very much in touch with the emotions and scenarios presented within the story. A particularly powerful moment, in my mind, was while Holden was 'shooting the bull' with Mrs. Morrow (Ernest's mom). At this point in the story, whether or not the author meant for it, I got a strong sense that Holden was starting to feel guilty for leaving Pencey. As he makes up stories about Ernest's plights at Pencey, it seemed to me that Holden must have been recalling in his head the people he knew, the events he remembered and the mistakes he made at Pencey. Later in the book, he thinks to himself about how guilty he felt for getting the boot. He even brought up a hint of worry about how his mother would take the news of his failure - and gave the reader some doubts about whether or not she would take it as 'well'; as the previous times. I wonder' could this be foreshadowing of his mother having a bad reaction to his failure?

Another point I often thought about while reading was Holden's apparent love for Jane. He may not realize it at this point in the book, but he feels much stronger about Jane than he lets on through his narration. Many of Holden's actions are classic signs of teenage confusion in relationships. The first instance of his feelings for her was when he went quickly from curiosity about Stradlater's date to a jealous rage. Such a quick transition must mean that there were feelings for Jane that he did not know he had... until he let them take over and make him jealous. After he goes to New York, Holden brings up several times the idea of calling her, and consistently makes an excuse for the idea. This is something that any teenager can relate to - wanting to call someone, but stalling out of nervousness. Only once did he actually do it, but her mother answered, so rather than asking for her, he hung up. Another hint at his hidden love for Jane is his propensity to bring back memories shared with Jane, such as the time he showed her Allie's baseball glove - something he had not shown to anyone else.

It seems that there is still a lot left to learn about Holden, including what will happen with him and Jane, but everything will certainly fall into place as the story continues.