Holden And The Ducks

Holden and the Ducks

"If you don't mind me asking, during the winter where do the ducks go?" This is a question that is always on Holden's mind and he is constantly asking strangers about it. Whenever he daydreams and drifts off his mind always leads him back to the ducks and he finds himself thinking about them. In three instances to three different people he either thinks about or asks about his Central Park Lagoon ducks. First is when he is saying goodbye to his teacher, next he shortly brings it up to a cab driver, and lastly he asks another cab driver and gets a different answer than he was looking for. Holden's life is similar to the ducks because their homes are freezing over, they are both in need of some help with their journeys, and they are both in constant migration.
Holden is about to get kicked out of Pencey Prep for failing too many classes and his life is slowly freezing over but first he wants to visit, and say goodbye to his favorite teacher, Mr. Spencer. While he is "shooting the bull" he starts to think about back home in New York. He, "Is wondering if the lagoon in Central Park will be frozen over when he returns home and then where all the ducks will go." (13) In this situation his life is like the lake and he is like a duck living in it. He is getting kicked out of his safe, secure home Pencey Prep, just as the ducks are getting kicked out of their pond. The winter conditions are making the pond freeze over the same way Holden's entire life is freezing over now that he is getting kicked out and has no place to go. By getting kicked out, the school is closing their doors on Holden. A similar thing is happening to the pond because winter has frozen the pond over and closed the doors so the ducks can no longer enter.
Later, he is in a taxicab driving to his hotel in New York and decides to ask the cab driver about the ducks. It is very peculiar the way he just asks random people about the ducks out of the blue and most of the time it catches them off guard and they get hostile. In this case the driver turns around and says, "What're ya tryna do, bud? Kid me?" (60) He says it very defensively so Holden decides to drop the subject and he thinks about it himself. Earlier he thinks about if the ducks fly away or if, "Some guy came in a truck and took them away to a zoo or something." (13) This relates to him because after his lake freezes over he doesn't know if he should take matters into his own hands and fly away or wait for someone to help him. Flying away for him would be for once taking his own responsibility and finding a new place to go. Waiting for the zookeeper to take him away to safety is like getting his parents or siblings to come and shelter him under their wings once again. He desires to be caught and put into safety because he doesn't know how to live on his own and he wants to be part of a flock again. This is ironic to Holden's nature, however because a safe place for him is Pencey Prep. He has some roots there but he absolutely hates it until he is sent out to fly away on his own.
The last time he talks to a stranger about ducks is when he meets another cab driver named Horwitz and talks about migration. When he asks Horwitz, he gets very impatient and says, "How the hell should I know a stupid thing like that?" (82) so Holden ends the conversation but Horwitz starts it back up again and explains how the fish have to stay in the lake. I think that the driver is comparing himself to the fishes and Holden to the ducks because the ducks at least have the opportunity to get out of the water and explore new places unlike the fish. Since Horwitz is a cab driver, he probably thinks that he will go no farther in life and will be stuck in the ice just like the fish for the rest of his life. However, Holden still has the opportunity to change because he has his youth but Horwitz gets so "touchy" because he is wasting it by drinking and getting in trouble. Holden is given all these chances from his parents to grow but the conditions never suit him so he is constantly migrating from school to school.
Every time Holden asks his question it is either in his head or to a complete stranger. He probably doesn't want other people to know about his difficulties with his world freezing in around him so he seeks anonymous help the same way he makes up identities. Holden also never really got an answer to his question about where the ducks go but hopefully he learned some things about progressing in life and moving on to become something greater. Relating to our on lives, in not too long we will be seniors and our age will force us out of Punahou like the ice freezing over. We will have to separate and migrate to different places but our sense of direction will lead us to great things, we will have a flock flying with us by our sides and we will always have a home to fly back to.
Reflection:
I chose the topic of ducks because it was barely brought up and seemed insignificant but it was still noticeable enough to spark the thought of possible connections. Some strengths of my paper are that it makes good references with the book using good quotes and it connects well to Catcher in the Rye. Some weaknesses are that it is wishy-washy in the beginning and my thesis could be developed better.
The feedback I got on Google Docs greatly helped me revise and restructure my paper. The feedback helped me make my paper less choppy and hopefully made it flow better. It also helped me make my thesis stand out more and be more direct. Probably what helped me the most is what Mrs. Cowell suggested, "Avoid structuring your paper according to the three different duck citations." This helped me focus more on Holden's values and less on the three instances of him asking people.
In my first draft I would've given myself a bad to average grade because it didn't have a very developed thesis, the three body paragraphs were wrong and it didn't build up to the conclusion well. However, after my revisions I corrected most of those mistakes and now I would give myself a B+/A-.

Citation:
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Canada: Little, Brown and Company, 1991.

The Morning Starter Blues

Every morning I have to wake early
To get to school on time
Seven thirty on the dime
If I'm late it is a crime

Every morning I have to wake up early
To walk to school down my hill
Even if I'm feeling ill
Parents say, "You know the drill"

Every morning I have to wake up early
To be on time for Spanish class
If I sleep late I'll never pass
By three thirty I'm outta gas

Every morning I have to wake up early
To have another day of work
Every Monday I go berserk
Whoever made my schedule is a jerk