The Post War's Affect On The Teenage Mind

I think that I have some sort of mental block with the phrase "classic novels". Reading deeper is something I cannot do with books labeled "classic". I have always had this weird trouble with classic books. Like in the fourth grade, when I picked up The Hobbit. It was slow at first and I thought, 'it must get better, it must! Its a classic after all.' I ended up reading it, just to say I read it. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it but it was hard for me to enjoy it. But reading The Catcher In The Rye is nothing like that at all. I wasn't slaving away, forcing myself to read a dusty, boring old book. I found The Catcher In The Rye (by J.D.Salinger) to be like a movie in my hands and on paper. The setting, year 1945 in New York, is like a crisp black and white movie where everyone said words like "grand" and "swell". But the story is being narrated by a teenage boy, who's mind wanders and rants. Soon, I came to realize that Holden Caulfield is a social outcast(who is looked up to by some very famous serial killers... but that's another blog post).

"Everybody was on their way to the movies-The Paramount or The Astor or The Strand or The Capitol or one of those crazy places. Everybody was all dressed up, because it was Sunday, and that makes it worse. But the worst part was that you could tell that they all wanted to go to the movies. I couldn't stand looking at them."



That is a snippet (pg.150) of one of Holden's thoughts. This quote describes his world. He sees a world of religious, media-obsessed uniform families. He is so impacted by his surroundings. America at this time was just finishing with the war, and the general public was afraid of change. So there and then the American dream became unofficially defined as a white picket fence family. Typically a family of four; a housewife/mother figure, a successful working father, a daughter and a son. This family probably owns a house (with a white picket fence) and goes to church on Sunday. It seems that living in this world has affected his thinking patterns. I wondered would Holden be such an outcast if he lived in a less formatted world?

Holden often refers to "everybody", which makes me think that he feels like the media is forcing him to act and think a certain way. So he acts against it. There is a defined line between Holden and the world around him. And in his mind, you are either a part of "everybody" or you are Holden.

I think that no one is what they seem and everybody thinks differently then expected. And everyone changes depending on who is with you at a specific moment in time. So he probably would be slightly different if he lived in this less formatted world. He would probably be less alone. But no matter what, I think that Holden is destined to be an outcast.

Growing up is all about having your emotions distraught. It is about the uncertainty of finding yourself. And Holden finds himself not being what is expected of him, and has a hard time living up to expectations. He feels alone, which is a common feeling during the coming of age period of life. Holden is such a real person, and I totally love him.

My personal female icons

As you all know I recently cut my hair very short. Devon asked what inspired me to do such a thing, and I thought it would be a great topic for a blog post. My main reason for cutting my hair off, was in search of adventure. I am reading Paper Towns by John Green. It has to be the most life changing/view changing book I have read so far this year. It is an adventure/mystery story about the most wonderful, adventurous girl named Margo. She has become my favorite female icon because of her great adventurous side. She inspired me to be as adventurous as possible and to create a top five countdown kind of thing of female icons that I look up to.

Isabelle's Top Five Female Icons Countdown!
5)Coco Chanel-Because she stood up for girls when all we had to wear was poof dresses and corsets. She's brave.
4)Myrna Loy-Because she was always graceful and all for equal human rights. She's perfect.
3)Becky from the 1993 movie Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?-Because she was my adventuring queen and she's so accepting and real. She is effortless.
2)The girl in the song 'Dreaming of Another World' by Mystery Jet's-Because this girl seems to be a rule follower... then she is told to 'scrape the sky, and do something that would make her mother cry' She's adventurous. lyrics here
1)Margo Roth Spiegelman-Because she's human.

So to sum up my feelings about really awesome girls that I aspire to be like, read the book Paper Towns by John Green. Through all my adventure-longing encounters in books, music and popular culture, I realize what makes a great person is summed up in a quote from Paper Towns:
"And all at once I knew how Margo Roth Spiegelman felt when she wasn't being Margo Roth Spiegelman: she felt empty.She felt the unscalable wall surrounding her. I thought of her asleep on the carpet with only that jagged sliver of sky above her. Maybe Margo felt comfortable there because Margo the person lived like that all the time: in an abandoned room with blocked-out windows, the only light pouring in through holes in the roof. Yes. The fundamental mistake I had always made--and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make--was this:Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl."
--John Green(Paper Towns)
(She has to be real.)

To sum up my feelings about this new adventure seeking part of me, listen to the Mystery Jets, because they will tell you life without adventure is kind of boring.
"They don't teach these things at school
They just lay down the rules which are there for you to break"
--Mystery Jets(Flakes)
(Links to the songs: Flakes
Dreaming of Another World)

Okay so i
need
need
need
need your feedback!
please comment with the following things:
1.top 5 countdown with your female icons(if your a guy, you can do male icon if you want)
2.what inspires you to do what you do/be who you are/believe what you do?

thanks