1. What does it say? (paraphrase and describe the context)
2. What does it mean? (analyze and explain)
3. Why does it matter? (explain the significance to the rest of the book)
The whole thing was sort of funny, in a way, if you thought about it, and all of a sudden I did something I shouldn't have. I laughed. And I have one of these very loud, stupid laughs. I mean if I ever sat behind myself in a movie or something, I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up. It made old Sally madder than ever.
1. This quote is from Holden on page 134 when he just gets done making Sally cry about herself and then tells her he can take her home if she wants. Sally gets even more upset because she doesn't want to see Holden ever again and she says "I can go home by myself, thank you. If you think I'd let you take me home, you're mad." Holden and Sally had been arguing quite a bit up until this point and things just went off the deep end after Holden called her "a pain in the ass."
2. Holden thought it was very funny that Sally didn't want him to take her home and that she was so mad so he began to laugh hysterically. He even knew he shouldn't have because it wasn't an appropriate time to laugh and it upset Sally even more. Holden doesn't have great people skills and this is just another example of a time where he shows this. He thinks that what Sally said is funny, so he laughs, but it just wasn't appropriate to laugh during that time. Especially when Sally was already crying.
3. Holden is always dealing with feelings of loneliness and isolation, mainly because of his poor social skills. During this little sequence of events, Holden again shows that he just doesn't deal with people well and it leads to more isolation and separation from others. Holden knew he shouldn't have laughed at Sally's comment and even says it in the quote above, but he does it anyways. He always is doing things he knows he shouldn't, whether it's laughing at Sally, or parts in other chapters like buying a few minutes with a prostitute. Holden never seems to be able to make up his mind, and often times he just goes out of control and says or does things he knows he shouldn't be doing. He appears to have little self-control and is almost hypocritical at some points. Holden always points out everything that others do wrong when he himself makes poor decisions several times throughout the chapters I have read so far. In this quote he even says that if he were someone else listening to him laugh he would have told himself to shut up. In these chapters Holden really appears to be getting worse up in his head and this quote is just another example of the strange behavior and poor decisions that Holden is making.
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