Chapter 5

Holden obviously is still dealing with a lot of grief over his brother's death. It's especially hard because it sounds like Allie died very suddenly and it was at a very young age, and Holden was very young as well when it happened. I think that the essay that he wrote was a part of his working through Allie's death in his mind. It seems like Holden still has a lot of pent-up feelings about Allie (which is very understandable) and the fact that he had brought Allie's mitt with him so long after Allie's death is evidence of that.

"Old Allie's baseball mitt. I happened to have it with me, in my suitcase..."

To me Holden is a lot more likable when he is talking about someone that he loves. He is fairly one-dimensional when he is just teasing people and lying, but when he slows down and starts talking about memories of his family or of Jane, I really feel like we are seeing the real Holden. He seems more comfortable when he is taking about the few people he cares about rather than talking to people who are just acquaintances. I enjoy his writing a lot more when it is about his loved ones because you can tell that he cares and it that shows in his writing; the words seem to come easier to him and he goes for long stretches without starting new paragraphs. He seems to be thinking less and it feels much less forced.