Summary:
Holden Caulfield writes his story from the last Christmas, he refuses to talk about his parents and childhood. His brother D.B is the only one family member he talks in this chapter. D.B used to be a writer when he was home, the best book he wrote called"The Secret Goldfish", it's the story about the kid doesn't let anyone else see his goldfish because he'd bought it for his own money. Now, Holden's brother, D.B is out in Hollywood and gets a lot of dough.
Then the narrator starts to tell the story of his school, Pencey Prep, from the day he left Pencey. The school is very famous in Agerstown, Pennsylvania, their ads in thousands of magazines. The Perp always says they have been molding boys into wonderful but Holden think it's not true, he never know anybody there that was splendid. Holden's career at Pencey has been ended and the school kicked him out since he failed the 4 of 5 subjects, only the English he passed. The other reason is he don't want to or refuse to apply himself.
The day that the Pencey Prep has the annual football game against with the Saxon Hall, Holden stands up on the Thomsen Hill overlooking the football game but he's not interested in it. The reason is he went to the NewYork with the fencing team in order to meet with McBurnery School. However, the meeting was failed. Holden is a manager of the fencing team and he left all the equipment on the subways, so the whole team had to go back to school early. The other reason is Holden want to say "goodbye" to old Spencer.
On the top of the hill, Holden feels so cold because some "crooks" stolen his camel's hair coat and he says the more expensive school is, the more crooks it has. Right now he just wanna leave the school. Then he recalls in October he played football with his friends but the teacher told them to go back to the building.
At the end of chapter 1, Holden remembers to say goodbye to his history teacher, Mr.Spencer. He sprints to Spencer's house, due to Holden is a heavy smoker, he has to deem at the main gate. Then he rang the doorbell, Mrs.Pencer open the door and greets Holden friendly. Finally, Holden goes in the house to see his history teacher.
Relate:
Same points between Holden and I are we both changed 3-4 schools when we were the teenager and we both have a brother. The differences between us are I never failed any subject in the school; I have a very happiness childhood but Holden maybe not; my parents love to tell their story to people and love make new friends but Holden's parents maybe not; Holden is a heavy smoker, I never smoked and I won't in the future.
Reflect:
Holden Caulfield is the narrator of this book, from the beginning of the fiction, he refuses to tell the childhood that means he maybe has a terrible childhood. He also says "all that David Caulfield kind of crap", this sentence also give us the hints of some bad things happened in Holden's life. In chapter 1, Holden uses the very normal tone to describe he is kicked out from the school, he gives us a hint like he does not care and interested in school's life. Through Holden says the ads of the school is very different to the reality of the school, we can know Holden hates phonies.In the end of chapter 1, Halden sprints to the Mr.Spencer's house, which means he wants to solve something in his way. This action shows us Holden is an "ideal man" ，the the only problem is he can't express it on the right thing and at the right time.
The heavy smoker like Holden Caulfield.
Interesting questions and prediction:
1. What does Holden's family look like?
Prediction: Rich but not very and the relationship between families maybe not good.
2.If Holden's said was right and true, why the Pencey Prep School is still famous in Pennsylvania?
Prediction: Holden's view maybe is right but not 100 percent right, because his view is not the objective view. The other reason is the ads have extreme efficiency.
Extra question:
Question: Write a paragraph analyzing Holden's character based on the first chapter.
Answer: Through what Holden's said we can see obviously he is not an optimist, he refuses to tell his childhood and his parents; he also satirized the football game, he said someone would suicide if old Pencey did not win. These two things hint us he lived in his own world which is depressed and boredom. Holden said he's on his way to say good-bye to old Spencer and whatever its a sad good-bye or bad good-bye, he never pointed the positive words like "well" or "good", that means he still feels sad with leaving school. Holden uses a different tone and view to describe his story, that shows us he is a very emotional person.
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