Thursday, September 12, 2019

What are some quotes on lack of motivation in the novel Catcher in the Rye?

"Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules."
"Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it."
Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot shots are, then it's a game, all right—I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game."

This quote shows that Holden has lost his motivation because he feels that the odds in the "game" of life are stacked against him so much that there is no game at all. Essentially, he views life as a losing game to forfeit.

"And yet I still act sometimes like I was only twelve. Everybody says that, especially my father. It's partly true, too, but it isn't all true. People always think something's all true. I don't give a damn, except that I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes I act a lot older than I am—I really do—but people never notice it. People never notice anything."

Holden's repetition of "people always" and similar phrases shows his lack of motivation. He seems to have given up on the idea that people can be dynamic and changing beings. This can be related directly to how he seems to have no idea if he is capable of change. His mindset is that "people never notice anything," which highlights a feeling of apathy and pessimism. He is not motivated to see the possibility of change in human nature.

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