“Sure,” I said right away.
I was only too glad to get up and do something. I took her dress over to the closet and hung
it up for her. It was funny. It made me feel sort of sad when I hung it
up. I thought of her going in a store
and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and
all. The salesman probably just thought
she was a regular girl when she bought it.
It made me feel sad as hell—I don’t know why exactly (125).
Discuss the significance of Sunny’s green dress. Are we to believe that Holden doesn’t “know
why” he feels so sad? How can you account for his sadness?
The color green symbolizes life, nature, innocence and fertility, green is a restful color and is an allegory for self-respect and well-being. By specifically connecting this color to a prostitute’s dress is ironic, it shows Holden’s perception on life and how Holden’s innocence blinds him from the realistic world. Holden hasn’t lost his virginity yet showing that he hasn’t crossed the path to adulthood and thereby indicating that he is green. Holden doesn’t want to have sex with Sunny due to the fact that he is in complete denial of who Sunny really is, due to her dress. This also connects to Jane, as Holden idealizes Jane as the younger and “green” Jane rather than the sexually active Jane who is currently dating Stradlater. This implies that everyone around Holden has already crossed the line between childhood and adulthood meanwhile; Holden is scared of changing and moving on to adulthood and thereby chooses to isolate himself from society, and taking false identities to give people the perception that he has longed reached adulthood.
ReplyDeleteThe sadness Holden feels as he hangs up her dress is known to Holden, but he chooses to lie to the reader yet again. His sadness is caused by the innocence that she may have in everyday life, and while buying this dress, but under her innocent cover, she has a dark profession. Her life, while seeming so innocent and normal, is not dissimilar to the dark undertones of american literature. Holden's sadness is caused by him thinking about the people around her walking on a thin layer of ice over the acidic life she lives when the lights go out in the city. Holden feels this sadness because she lives somewhat of a sad and dark life at night, but during the day he could pass by her and think nothing of it. On a side note, the color green often represents a lack of experience, which she obviously does not have, just adding to holder's sadness.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why Holden feels sad and depressed is because of combination of his mixed up feeling about Sunny and himself. He confessed "If you want to know the truth, I'm a virgin. I really am"(92). I feel like somehow he is afraid of losing his innocence (virginity). He always makes excuses when opportunities come down to him. However, I also feel like he is willing to have a sex. He just gets nervous about it. Also he sees Sunny, and he can tell she is about same age as him. It makes him sad, because they are living totally different life. Holden is kicked out from his school, and staying in a hotel alone. Sunny comes from Hollywood, and working as prostitute in NYC. They are both lonely, but nobody cares about them in New York City, because people have too many things to care about just like the salesman in a store where she bought her dress. Nobody can tell what kind of life you have been through from your appearance. Sunny's green dress just shows these backgrounds about Sunny, and since Holden is good observer, he just gets a sense of it. That is why he just feels depressed, but he doesn't exactly know what they are.
ReplyDeleteHolden is lying to him self again. He knows exactly why he is sad. His situation is much like the girl's situation. As he states in the passage, "The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it. It made me feel sad as hell." He is not sad for the girl but sad for himself. He seems like a normal student but has problems of his own that others don't know about. He was expelled from his school, the girls in the hotel don't give a damn about what he talks about, the club was depressing, and now he is in his room lying next to a prostitute. These chain of events made Holden depressed. However, Holden doesn't know what exactly tipped him off, but does know what he got himself into. He doesn't know the situation the girl is in, much like no body else knows the situation he is in. When the girl asks him to hang up her green dress because its brand new and she didn't want it to get wrinkled, Holden felt more sad. He related the green dress to himself. Much like the green dress, he is bright, young, and full of energy. However, he screwed himself up and jumped into a hole that he can't get out from. Now, he is just like the wrinkled old dress, confused about what to do. However, he chooses to accept the fact that he screwed up and decide to remain depressed and go wherever life takes him. He never admits his troubles to the reader, but knows deep down what his problem is. Whether he will stand up and face his challenges or not is just a matter of time.
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ReplyDeleteHolden does have interest in sex, and it is very possible he felt pressured and nervous when Sunny was right in his face, but he feels sadness. He feels bad for her, and thinks to himself how she could possibly do this every night. The green dress Sunny wears could be any green dress, but makes Holden think whoever sold it to her didn’t think twice about it. Seeing the dress on Sunny, makes reality hit him that she has no choice what to do. The color green represents life, balance, and self respect. Holden wants her to be innocent by telling her the dress is wrinkled and she should hang it in the closet, but she knows this is her “every night” ordeal and needs to get the job done. She was not good at making conversation either, but probably was told to not have a personal connection with people, because she sees so many people. Her name is ironic as well. A person named “Sunny” would be expected to be very cheery, naive, and bubbly. Holden finds her depressing, and does not want to take this opportunity because he is almost scared by her fakeness. The make and the drive to keep pushing him is an eye opener for Holden. He feels too much pressure and put on the spot. Keep in mind that he is only 16. We can believe and take account for Holden’s sadness because the image of the green dress keeps spinning through his head. Deep down I believe that Holden is scared to have sex with any girl, whether it be a prostitute or a friend. This occurrence is a good time for him to say he wasn’t feeling comfortable with it and took the right approach in my mind.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot believe Holden that he does not know what Sunny ad her green dress represent and contrast in his life. The truth is he feel said for how corrupted Sunny is. Although she has the same age like Holden's, she does not have common language with him. She is a child who has lost her innocence in the world of lust. Holden wants to experience actual love and sex but he does not want to use her as a tool. This is what makes Holden feel sad and depressed. However, he sees the color green on her newly picked dress, which symbolizes the sign of nature and purity. This is heavily contrasted with Sunny's character, which is filled with filthy and mature thinking. That is possibly one of the reasons Sunny does not want to get it dirty also. The dress represents that Holden refuses to see the truth of he dealing with a real prostitute. He wants the world of innocence existing in his mind.
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