#laurietxt

i wish more people read rage and wild geese as a pair instead of just wild geese. it makes wild geese just hit that much harder with the context

it drives me up the wall that for the last 75 years since catcher came out people have just argued about whether or not what antolini did was actually inappropriate. because yes! every second of that interaction was not only inappropriate, but laced with malice from the get go and very intentional. he never even talks to holden like he respects him or thinks hes very smart, holden is the one who likes antolini and thus reads care into his words. and i hate the argument that people make saying holden is the one overreacting to having his hair touched. this is the version of the story he told DB, which he mentions in the first chapter. DB is not only friendly with antolini, the whole caulfield family is. would holden tell the full extent of what happened to him knowing that he not only admires DB, but admired antolini and that they are friends or at least friendly? even holden struggles with the fact that antolini would even do something like that in the following chapter. he spends a good page and a half trying to excuse and create a reason for that behavior. he emphasises over and over in the text that antolini is a "stand up guy" even before we get to chapter 24 because the story is told in retrospect. he's course correcting as he goes, trying to soften the blow of whats about to come. but even the story about him putting his jacket over jame's castle's dead body that holden uses to do this reads so much worse for antolini knowing the behavior hes about to exhibit towards holden later on.

i love that holden positions himself as super jaded and untrusting but he continues to love people he shouldnt just because he cant help himself. he has so much love to give :(