What do you think the following quote means?
"I told him he thought he could give the time to anybody he felt like. I told him he didn't care if a girl kept all her kings in the back row" (Salinger 44)
Holden is telling Salinger that he thinks he[Salinger] can get any girl to have sex with him on a whim without even getting to know her, and without even caring about her or her compulsive habits, for example, Jane's leaving all her king's lined up in the back row in checkers.
Tj d you are very right. another important thing to take away with the whole "kings in the back row"is her outlook on life. She feels that if she doesn't take a chance and put her kings into play, then she can't lose. Almost as if you say "I can't lose if I never try." He wants her outlook on life to be the same so he is able to talk to the same innocent girl.
Note that this type of attitude is what his english professor tells him. "Fail before even start". That's what Holden does with all his adult skills: he's avoiding them.. yet acting out a ..phony adult persona.
You must login to post to this topic.
