conuly

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at one point Holden sleeps over at a former teacher's house and wakes up to find that teacher patting his head, which prompts Holden to leave.

And I guess we can interpret that scene and the teacher's motive in a lot of ways, but I gotta say, I never expected one of those ways to be "Well, it's obviously innocuous, and the fact that Holden interpreted it as a sexual advance proves he's lying about the 20 times he claims he's been the victim of sexual assault already".

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

lilysea

at one point Holden sleeps over at a former teacher's house and wakes up to find that teacher patting his head, which prompts Holden to leave.

And I guess we can interpret that scene and the teacher's motive in a lot of ways, but I gotta say, I never expected one of those ways to be "Well, it's obviously innocuous, and the fact that Holden interpreted it as a sexual advance proves he's lying about the 20 times he claims he's been the victim of sexual assault already".

My interpretation would be either

a) the teacher is patting his head as an inappropriate pass; OR

b) the teacher means it in an innocent/appropriate way, like an appropriate parent/appropriate older brother, but because of Holden's genuine/legitimate past traumatic experiences, he jumps to the wrong conclusion

From:

conuly

Yeah, your interpretations are probably the most commonly-held ones among people who have a shred of empathy.

From:

gwydion

People don't read it like that? O.o

From:

conuly

I'm pretty sure most people do, in fact, read it like that!

From:

sovay

And I guess we can interpret that scene and the teacher's motive in a lot of ways, but I gotta say, I never expected one of those ways to be "Well, it's obviously innocuous, and the fact that Holden interpreted it as a sexual advance proves he's lying about the 20 times he claims he's been the victim of sexual assault already".

I guess it points to a book's enduring value if it can still host bad takes three-quarters of a century after the fact . . .

From:

conuly

I guess so!

From:

larryhammer

I sometimes imagine that Owls In Towels is actually a collection of Towels Holding Owls.

From:

conuly

They're the best at making burritos.

From:

sabotabby

I did not think it was innocuous when I read it (several times) as a kid. Even if it was, it's a weird thing to do.

From:

conuly

I can definitely see that in some contexts this might be an innocent gesture of affection. I also can see why Holden freaked the hell out.

Frankly, the teacher is already on shaky ground by having a student or former student stay the night. You might have a good reason, but if so you gotta keep your actions absolutely above reproach once you've made that call!

From:

sixbeforelunch

It's been a very long time since I read that book, but I remember finding that scene so uncomfortable. I did not think Holden was overreacting by deciding to leave.

From:

gwydion

Same. Creepy AF.

From:

sixbeforelunch

conuly so sorry for spamming your comments section. When I went to post this comment I kept getting an error and finally gave up. I had no idea it had posted four times until I saw the above reply.