Catcher Connections
There are many connections to be made between Just Before the War with the Eskimos and Catcher in the Rye. You can make connections between how Eric and Franklin have similar characteristics to Holden. When Ginnie and Franklin are in Selena’s house having a conversation, Ginnie asks, “'Well aren’t you supposed to stop smoking? I mean aren’t you supposed to not smoke and all?'" in which Franklin replies, “'Aah, they tellya a lotta stuff.' Ginnie briefly held her fire. Very briefly. 'What are you doing in Ohio?' She asked. 'Me working in a g****m airplane factory,' he replied," (Salinger 48). The similarities between Holden and Franklin are very obvious. The way Franklin speaks and the poor choice of vocabulary that he uses is almost an exact replica of Holden’s speech. Not only does he speak like Holden, but he also acts like Holden does by smoking.
Eric is a totally different character than Franklin, but he can also be related to Holden. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden tends to say that he is not going to talk about something, but ends up talking about it anyway. We see this occur in Just Before the War with the Eskimos when Eric is talking to Ginnie and says, “'Oh… It’s too long a story. I never bore people I haven’t known for at least a thousand years,'” (Salinger 51). Later in the page, Eric ends up telling the story anyway, contradicting himself.
Not only can Franklin be compared to Holden, but he can also be compared to Ackley. Ackley is very unhygienic, he is not very good looking and his manners are very poor. In multiple occasions we see that Franklin has these characteristics when he is having the conversation with Ginnie. When Ginnie first sees Franklin, Salinger writes, "He was the funniest looking boy, or man... she had ever seen. His hair was bed-di-shevelled. He had a couple of days' growth of sparse, blond beard. And he looked - well, goofy," (Salinger 43). His unhygienic side shows when he reveals a big cut on his finger, and the only thing he does to clean it is wrap it in toilet paper, instead of trying to clean it properly. We see his horrible manners when he calls Ginnie’s sister a “snob,” and practically makes Ginnie eat a sandwich that she did not want to eat.
Ginnie and Phoebe can also be compared. They both ask a lot of questions and are quick to figure things out, but the biggest similarity that I could make between the two is they both save items for the future. In Catcher in the Rye, Phoebe saves the broken record pieces that were given to her by Holden. At the end of the story, Ginny keeps half of the sandwich that Franklin gave to her.
Eric is a totally different character than Franklin, but he can also be related to Holden. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden tends to say that he is not going to talk about something, but ends up talking about it anyway. We see this occur in Just Before the War with the Eskimos when Eric is talking to Ginnie and says, “'Oh… It’s too long a story. I never bore people I haven’t known for at least a thousand years,'” (Salinger 51). Later in the page, Eric ends up telling the story anyway, contradicting himself.
Not only can Franklin be compared to Holden, but he can also be compared to Ackley. Ackley is very unhygienic, he is not very good looking and his manners are very poor. In multiple occasions we see that Franklin has these characteristics when he is having the conversation with Ginnie. When Ginnie first sees Franklin, Salinger writes, "He was the funniest looking boy, or man... she had ever seen. His hair was bed-di-shevelled. He had a couple of days' growth of sparse, blond beard. And he looked - well, goofy," (Salinger 43). His unhygienic side shows when he reveals a big cut on his finger, and the only thing he does to clean it is wrap it in toilet paper, instead of trying to clean it properly. We see his horrible manners when he calls Ginnie’s sister a “snob,” and practically makes Ginnie eat a sandwich that she did not want to eat.
Ginnie and Phoebe can also be compared. They both ask a lot of questions and are quick to figure things out, but the biggest similarity that I could make between the two is they both save items for the future. In Catcher in the Rye, Phoebe saves the broken record pieces that were given to her by Holden. At the end of the story, Ginny keeps half of the sandwich that Franklin gave to her.