"Daughters"
I would put the song daughters by John Mayer in place of the poem lines of, "If a body catch a body coming through the rye."(115) That would be where I'd place it because both the song and the poem messages are the same, or at least their meanings to Holden. Their meanings lead Holden to figuring out that his place in the world is to protect people, women and children.
The song Daughters by John Mayer illustrates why Holden is protective over the women in his life. The lyrics represent a father figure's protection over his daughter and how much it matters, or what the effect of his love will do to her. The lyrics talk about why and what the fathers are protceting their daughters from, "Since the day she saw him walking away, Now I'm left, Cleaning up the mess he made". Daughters get their hearts broken and the fathers are "left cleaning up the mess he made". Holden wants to be the one to clean up the mess, and more then that Holden wants to prevent the mess from being made. Any broken heart is a heart that could have been prevented from breaking. Not only does Holden want to prevent hearts from being broken, but he wants to protect people in general, " I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it...and how they'd all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple days."(201) The concpet of having kids worry is overwhelming. Holden's place in the world is that of being the father who protects his daughter.
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I completely agree with Shelley in this song representing Holden's motivations and feelings about protecting the women in and relating to his life. This song shows the influential role men end up having in the life of daughters and women's lives, and how they can, as Shelley said, clean up the mess made by others or better yet prevent anything from hurting those they care about. In this situation especially Holden's feelings for Phoebe are mirrored because he views himself as her own personal protector, keeping her innocence from being ruined by rubbing the words of the school wall as well as trying not to expose her to the things going wrong in his life. Another dimension of Phoebe's and Holden's relationship this song covers is in the lines "I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world". This line shows the significance of Phoebe in Holden's life, and how she helps ground him and keep him from completely losing it when he is alone in New York. While I completely agree with Shelley, that is just another way this song relates even more to Holden's life.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Shelley in that, Holden wants to protect Phoebe and people in general from being harmed or hurt in their lives. “ Boys will be strong, And boys soldier on” (Daughters – John Mayer) The song illustrates that litter sisters, daughters, or wives are more pron to hurting or breaking than men or boys. Holden feels like he needs to protect Phoebe and shield her from the outside world, just like a father would do to his daughter. For Holden, the aspect of protection of a ‘daughter’ comes very natural to him, such as when he saw those swear words at school, he threatened to kill whoever wrote those words. This shows that Holden wants to play the father role by shielding and protecting Phoebe.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Shelley and Helena that this song accurately represents Holdens protectiveness over women, and also his willingness to preserve their innocence and that of others around him. By him wanting to be a Catcher in the Rye, he reveals how deeply he feels about protecting and preserving innocence. Not only do we see this throughout the lyrics in the song, but also the title "Daughters". Seeing as ones daughter is someone you want to protect and take care of. Another point in Holden and Phoebes relationship that this song touches on, is the contrast between their ages and personas. Holden is forevermore still a child, while Phoebe is growing up, maturing. And even through her change in age and maturity from that is changing, it catches Holden at some confusion. “But she's just like a maze where all of the walls are continually changed and I've done all I can to stand on her steps with my heart in my hands”. Holden not only wants to protect Phoebe from the harsh world, and preserve her innocence, but he also looks up to her mature and responsible ways. This is how she is similar to a “maze”, and “continually changed”. In the end, all Holden can do is go home with Phoebe, where he truly belongs, with his heart in his hands.
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