supermonkeyball

  After Esther becomes sick with food poisoning, throws up and pukes her brains out, and wakes up from forced sleep, Doreen offers Esther some broth to help her feel better. Esther is surprised because Esther sees Doreen as the troublemaker, smoker, lawbreaker girl and not the type to care for people. Esther claims after she drinks/ate the broth she feels purged and pure and ready for a new life. I find it ironic that the broth that was given to her that made her feel pure and rejuvenated was received as a gift from a girl who breaks rules and partakes in illicit activities. Esther has also felt that she wanted to be more like Doreen and partake in these illicit activities and break the rules as well. It is interesting because if you use the broth as a metaphor for sexuality. Esther feels that by doing something like Doreen and having sex with Dr. Irwin, she will feel a sort of awakening. Doreen is giving her the broth can be seen as Doreen giving her a part of herself, making Es...

As Mr. Spencer is talking to Holden about his grades and his flunking, He brings up the essay Holden wrote about the Ancient Egyptians. While the two of them know the essay is bad, (Holden even includes a note saying he’ll understand if he fails) Mr. Spencer is trying to use this as humiliation into making Holden want to exert himself in the future. Holden naturally feels embarrassed, he does not enjoy listening to the unsatisfactory work that he knew he put out. It’s interesting that Mr. Spencer says Holden did not absorb anything that he taught throughout the course of his class, but in the Museum of Art Holden teaches two young boys about the mummies in the Ancient Egyptian exhibit, clearly showing he knows at least a little about the course.  One reason Holden could be fascinated by the Ancient Egyptian empire is that the empire has an effect of being stuck in time. The mummies wrapped in cloths and minerals have an effect of never aging. The Pyramids, the sphinx, remain foreve...