The Best Thing...

Years ago, in ancient Greece, there was a philosopher by the name of Heraclitus. One of his greatest (or rather most well known) statements was "you can never step in the same river twice", meaning to say that change is permanent, unavoidable, and always happening. Despite this fact, we all tend to have different interpretations on change. For some, we accept it with open arms, others we fight it strongly, only to lose the battle in the end. That's the issue with fighting change, more often than not, you're fighting a losing battle. However, it never seems to stop us from trying does it? We're all guilty of trying to act younger than we are at times, we take pictures of everything we do to hold on to certain moments in time forever, and we tend to get uncomfortable or upset when something breaks the cycles or habits we're used to. Ever get upset when the internet takes more than 5 seconds to do something? Its because we expect it to be faster, but something is different from the way things normally are, and we get upset about it. :-)

For example, in Chapter 16 Holden says...

"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south...Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you" (Salinger 121)

What is it that Holden enjoys about the museum? Does he seem to be more excited about the fact that he's different? Or more that everything is the same? How do you think Holden would react if every time he returned to the museum it was new exhibits? Would he feel the same way or be upset? 

If we infer that this is true, that maybe change is what makes Holden upset. What does this tell us about maybe how Holden perceives the world around him? For example, what connection might there be between "change" and how Holden hates "phonies"? 

For Homework: Commentators do the following :What is a place you feel never changes even though you do? What do you like this about that particular location? Be sure to explain your answer. (5 Sentences Minimum)