The Catcher in the Rye

I managed to read this book in less than 24 hours. There were breaks but they mostly consisted of sleeping and eating. What a capturing novel. A summary of the plot is that this boy named Holden Caulfield (strange name) keeps getting kicked out of prestigious boys academies due to lack of motivation to strive for academic excellence. He, similar to a few friends I have met along the way, realize their disinterest in the topics that school makes us learn about and sees no reason to pursue them.
Holden's interests are: criticizing the other boys he lives with and analyzing people connected to him such as professors, girls (one in particular), and his little sister Pheobe.
After reading about perfectionism, I would diagnose Holden as being a perfectionist who is both inwardly and outwardly focused. First, I see him as being outwardly focused because he is constantly evaluating those around him and does not think that they ever meet his standards. He is never satisfied when he succeeds at something because he does not understand his motivations. He also thinks that everyone is judging him. People who are inwardly focused think of themselves as"fundamentally flawed and in danger of being discovered." These people find social situations very threatening and stressful because they think that their peers expect perfection of them and feel that they always fail in these situations. Holden's many comments about believing that his peers, professors, ex-girlfriends' parents, and his own parents, reveal that he sees them as expecting perfection.
Holden may also be bi-polar as a characteristic trait of this disability is the urge to call people at very random times such as very late in the night. Holden actually does this to a girl that he knows through a friend. She is displeased.
Pheobe is a staple person to Holden. He enjoys her company in an almost creepy way. She loves him back as she tries to get him to take her with him when Holden plots to escape from the wrath of his parents finding out about his most recent expulsion. Holden does not plan very wisely and is constantly making quick decisions without thinking twice. Although I do that, I also think twice about most actions which prevents many downfalls. Since Holden does not think twice, his actions are irresponsible and the reader is left feeling lost right along side with him. The lack of direction in Holden's life seems to be the main reason that he has so many mental issues. Or is it the other way around??
Although Holden's character could have many possible mental disabilities, it is easy to relate to his character. Everyone seems to have certain traits that are similar to Holden and reading about him taking these traits to the extreme is soothing. It makes our mental health seem not so bad.

Plato-The Republic

I have not completed this book yet but it has stirred such a great deal of thought that I need to write about it now and then again later to get most of it out. It is interesting that Plato says he is not knowledgeable but questions others as if he knows the exact direction their conversation will go. It is almost as if he manipulates conversation into producing outcomes that he deems favorable to make himself appear more powerful. Is this egocentric? I say it is. Thus, he is not just, as a just man does not try to excell past his peers but only past people of a different group. Can any group increase their knowledge unless one has motivation to work above the rest though?!! It is possible that Plato is trying to have justice morally by having "discussions" with philosophers and seeing them as having "input." But do these count as discussions if he is frustrating the opposition to the point that they do not care enough about a topic to answer anything other than yes, no, maybe?? On paper, yes, but not in the eyes of onlookers.
All in all, it is interesting that much of what is discussed in this book has actually happened in the future to it. Such as the fact that each movie is based on the same theme of music because less change means more productive outcome (more emotional effect, especially when a song is repeated). Also, music that is punk is shunned and this is, in my new opinion, because it looks at the world in a negative light (as in people are bad and you should not trust them because they will take advantage of you)and occasionally suggests taking advantage of food, alcohol and sex. Plato believes that food, alcohol, and sex should be taken in but with using the mind to weigh the outcomes carefully first. Two people who are truly in love should refrain from sex as it is explosive, such as a large amount of laughter, which is also tied to violence. The inability to control the body is shunned to the max, which makes sense even today. I do not agree with getting rid of the strong positive emotions, but can understand that what comes up must come down and these are correlated to strong negative emotions. These negative emotions could result in violence in a person and would make their peers lose trust in them. Plato also suggests that persons trained athletically only are more proned to lose control in terms of hostility. Therefore balance between academia and athleticism are required to maintain control over the body and mind. A leader who is balanced will head the educational sector of a state well.
This is embarrassing but I do not quite understand why Plato was so worried that people would follow their instincts without using their brain. In a world like this people would not be as productive because they could not trust eachother, tying into a world of justice and preparation for war. This was not discussed but the stopping of irrational sex could be to protect children and promote a safe and sound upbringing of children.
The idea that a group of people must work together with a positive thought process stems from the idea of preparing for war. In a country of justice, more people working towards a goal is needed because each individual can not accomplish war individually. In order to do this, each individual must focus on one task only, this task is what they were meant to do as they are the strongest at it out of anyone. It is their purpose and there is no point to living if a person is unable to do their purpose. This is suggested as the reason why people who are ill and go to the doctor do not always recieve treatment if it interferes with their ability to do their job or purpose. Instead, the doctor would tell the patient to take this quick fix pill and continue on with daily living. If a patient is made to have bed rest, what is the point of their existance if they can not take pride in doing what they are the best at. Only patients with a higher level of functioning, ones that have made good decisions and have kept themselves healthy, are thought to recieve full treament. This reminded me of our topic in PEDS 334 (Body Composition, Nutrition and Physical Activity) about how obese patients come last in terms of when they are treated by doctors or worked on for surgury because these people have put themselves in their poor health conditions by not using their brain and making poor decisions.
Another point in the book is the manipulation of education and media to promote ideologies. Children are told certain stories to give them morals and make norms in their head. These norms obviously should not include being beaten by a father or killing your mother and therefore stories in which these things happen are omitted from the educational system. Different views of the world are shunned such as death as the end. God is supposed to do no harm but if he does, it is for the better good of the individual. Thus, death was for the better good of the individual. Plato suggested banning all types of literature and aesthetics that promote death as bad.
Plato also accepted the fact that people will steal or act with injustice when given the chance to without being caught. Therefore the state needs a system in which to punish people who act unaccording to his beliefs. That is where I left off in the book, the running of a state.