This song by Green Day, while it can unfortunately fit Holden in many places, fits Holden best on page 153: "I was crying and all...I walked over to Madison Avenue...I started walking over to the park...I didn't have anyplace else special to go- I didn't even know where I was going... I just felt blue as hell" (Salinger 153-154). This quote matches almost perfectly to the opening lines of Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams: "I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don't know where it goes, but it's only me, I walk alone." Holden wanders from place to place, with nowhere to go and nowhere to stay. He leads a lonely life, because no one, to him, suits what he needs, or they don't want him. He constantly ignored people who reach out to him, solely because he can't accept any companion. His only one, Allie, is dead. Even so, Holden still talks to Allie. Holden has no companion that he can be with, because he always disappoints himself or others, and just doesn't want to set them up for disappointment. Holden seems to be destined to "walk the lonely road" for the rest of his life, because he never fits into a place and then wants to stay.
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Like in the song Boulevard of Broken dreams, Holden "walks a lonely road," because he cannot accept the reality of his adolescent responsibilities. Just like he runs away from Pency, he always runs in the opposite direction of any uncomfortable place. This is because he does not want to remind himself that he no longer is a child. The part that I enjoyed the most of your post, Ryan, is the reference to Allie, as he presents the main source of depression and loneliness in Holden's life.
ReplyDeleteI've played this song in a Green Day medley on a clarinet, and even in the half page that was printed of it, I have felt the frustration conveyed through this song. As Jake commented, Holden is similarly frustrated with his inability to deal with his "broken dream" of perpetual childhood. The incompatibility of reality and Holden's wishes pushes him far out of normal human mindset and so he "walks alone" on this attitude. This song works fantastically well in showing Holden's mood at that time.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with all of the comments before me regarding the song and its placement. This song brings about ideas of loneliness and depression. Whenever he sees others, he seems a part of himself but also realizes that he is "broken" as in "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." Also, he keeps moving and does not stay around others long which makes him "keep walking." This song and its tone fits perfectly with the Holden that the reader is shown.
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