If Holden actually has been come on to more than once, and maybe even molested all those prep schools … , we can understand why he always sees sex as degrading.
But if Holden just thinks that normal behavior is "perverty," the problem is with him, not his environment or circumstance.
Even if Mr. This just might be the real deal. And interestingly, Holden doesn't make sarcastic comments in response. He's tired, and he doesn't exactly applaud the speech, but he doesn't berate it as being phony either.
What does it mean, then, if the one person besides Phoebe who offers Holden real emotional help ends up trying to take advantage of him sexually? Or, what does it mean for Holden to imagine that this one person is trying to molest him?
Either way, it look pretty grim for our boy. Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. Study Guide. Previous Next. Antolini Click the character infographic to download. Antolini Mr. Schmidt Ernest Morrow Mrs. Morrow Rudolf Schmidt Mrs. Is Antolini a good teacher or a creep? Holden came to him seeking support late at night.
Antolini give him shelter and advice, great advice, as a friend of the family not as a teacher. Still, the stroking of his hair made Holden uncomfortable. He was no longer the little kid Antolini had taught and known. Holdens discomfort signifies his maturation, his coming of age. I didn't take it as a come-on but Holden did, and he acted accordingly. If Antolini had invited him over, that would be different, but Holden came to him in a time of need, and Antolini took him in.
Caressing his head was an act of compassion that sprang from knowing him as a young boy. But Holden had changed. His rejection of the gesture signifies his transition into manhood. Apr 24, AM. Monty J wrote: "as a teacher, Antimony stepped over the line, but he was also a friend of the family. Antolini give him shelter and advice, great advice, as a frie Perhaps it's no stretch to imagine that Antolini, with innocuous intentions, behaved as if Holden was still the kid he'd known. Yet his mistake or one of them was forgetting that he was now dealing with a young man, which made the issue more complex.
Of course it was a bit different in the fifties. In the 21st century, it's a dodgy move even if the student was still a kid. Nov 26, PM. Having read the the relevant pages carefully many times and discussed it with my own students, I believe either interpretation is plausible.
If that is true, it makes the passage all the more effective, because Holden isn't sure and the reader isn't sure, so it brings the reader closer to Holden by sharing his perspective of just not knowing. Paula wrote: "Monty J wrote: "as a teacher, Antimony stepped over the line, but he was also a friend of the family. Antolini give him shelter and advice, great a Nov 28, AM. Bill wrote: "Having read the the relevant pages carefully many times and discussed it with my own students, I believe either interpretation is plausible.
If that is true, it makes the passage all the more effec I tend to think that he meant no harm, yet the fact that he waited until Holden was asleep proves that he himself knew it wasn't a great move to make. Nov 30, PM. Paula wrote: " It was he who compassionately covered then picked up James Castle's body after he committed suicide at Elkton Hills. Later, he took in Holden when he called late at night, distraught and ill, then he gave Holden terrific advice about getting a good education and prepared a bed for him on his couch.
Remember, he was not just a teacher but a friend of the family. Antolini is established on the first page of Chapter 23 as a courageously compassionate individual in the gentle manner in which he protects Holden and his dorm-mates from trauma by shielding the young students from viewing such a ghastly sight.
He then further elevates himself by tendrely lifting the boy's mangled frame and carrying it away. Old Mr. Antolini felt his pulse and all, and then he took off his coat and put it over James Castle and carried him all the way over to the infirmary.
He didn't even give a damn if his coat got all bloody. After such a dramatic display of compassion, Antolini's tenderness toward Holden is completely in character. Instead of offering complete sympathy, Mr. Antolini gently challenges Holden, pointing out that digressions are often distracting, and that sometimes it is more interesting and appropriate to stick to the topic.
Holden begins to see the weakness of his argument and becomes uncomfortable. But Mrs. Antolini cuts the tension, bringing coffee for Holden and Mr. Antolini before going to bed. After this respite, Mr.
Antolini resumes the discussion on a much more serious note. He tells Holden that he is worried about him because he seems primed for a major fall, a fall that will leave him frustrated and embittered against the rest of the world, particularly against the sort of boys he hated at school.
At this suggestion, Holden becomes defensive and argues that he actually, after a while, grows to semi-like guys like Ackley and Stradlater. After an awkward silence, Mr. But he tells Holden that if he applies himself in school, he will learn that many men and women have been similarly disturbed and troubled by the human condition, and he will also learn a great deal about his own mind.
Holden seems interested in what Mr. Antolini has to say, but he is exhausted. Finally, he is unable to suppress a yawn. Antolini chuckles, makes up the couch, and, after some small talk about girls, lets Holden go to sleep. Suddenly, Holden wakes up; he feels Mr. Antolini claims it was nothing, but Holden believes Mr. Antolini is making a homosexual advance and hurries out of the apartment. At first, Mr. Antolini seems to offer Holden his only chance of making a sympathetic connection with an adult.
When Holden wakes to find Mr. Antolini stroking his head, he snaps. The pressure of his surging sexual feelings, combined with the nervous homophobia he exhibited around Carl Luce , make Mr.
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