Synthesis Page
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The character Ward Stradlater is the archetype of the shapeshifter because he changes his personality a lot.
Example #1
Quote:
- “He’s very generous in some things. He really is. . . . Suppose, for instance, Stradlater was wearing a tie or something that you liked. . . . You know what he’d do? He’d probably take it off and give it to you. He really would.” (page 32-33, said by Holden)
Elaboration:
Holden is explaining in this quote how nice of a guy Stradlater is. Based on what he says, Stradlater sounds like a very kind and generous person.
Example #2
Quotes:
- “He always walked around in his bare torso because he thought he had a damn good build.” (page 34, said by Holden)
- “He thought he was the handsomest guy in the western Hemisphere.” (page 36, said by Holden)
Elaboration:
In these quotes, Stradlater appears to be very self-confident to a point where he’s narcissistic. This doesn’t seem like the kind of thing the generous person described in the first example would do, showing off and thinking he’s the best.
Example #3
Quotes:
- “You always do everything backwards [Holden]. No wonder you’re flunking the hell out of here, you don’t do one damn thing the way you’re supposed to. I mean it. Not one damn thing.” (page 53, said by Stradlater)
- “God, how I hated him.” (page 55, said by Holden)
- “[Stradlater] hated it when you called him a moron. All morons hate it when you call them morons.” (page 57, said by Holden)
Elaboration:
These quotes show that Stradlater is a really mean person, unlike the first two examples, especially the first one. In the first example, Holden is saying how much a nice and generous person Stradlater is, and now he’s saying he hates him and how much of a moron he thinks he is.
