Holden, Ancient Egyptians and the Catcher and the Rye

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 forever unmoving and have lasted for thousands of years. Holden gravitates towards this because he himself has a fear of growing up. One example of this is when Holden goes into Mr. Spencer’s house and becomes turned off by the scents and sights of age such as Vick’s nose drops and Mr. Spencer’s old bumpy chest. Holden has fantasized about being a catcher in the rye, because he believes that he wants to save children from falling off the cliff, symbolizing children becoming adults and losing their innocence. In a way, Holden can be acting as a “catcher in the rye” for the ancient Egyptians, protecting their memory and “innocence” in his head while he tells the kids about the mummies. A mummy once mummified can never lose its “innocence”, it stays forever stuck in its ways. The mummy also is unable to make any childish or phony actions that Holden despises so much.

 

 

Comments

  1. MitchellApril 1, 2021 at 11:44 AM

    You make a good point: Holden's "essay" is admittedly "crap," but it is revealing that the main thing he focuses on is the Egyptian method for preserving mummies, which does track with his general obsessions about time and transience. It also anticipates the later scene, where he's in the Museum of Natural History waiting for Phoebe and he goes to the mummy section with the two kids cutting school. The museum represents this idea of "freezing time" for Holden, and the ancient Egyptians are Exhibit A.

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