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/lit/ - Literature

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6909145 No.6909145 [Reply] [Original]

Is the Kid meant to be the reader? When Holden says that he alone held clemency for the heathen, was it meant to reference us as the observer? I only ask because the kid's opinion and participation aren't alluded to enough to make this distinction, is it? At what point can the kid's actions be seen in this way?

Does Judge Holden kill us as the observer?

>> No.6909148
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6909148

>>6909145
Yes, The Kid is the reader. This is the dominant interpretation. The Judge is meant to play the role of a Greek tutor to the Kid, and either kills the kid, fucks him at the end or is defeated by him. Probably fucks him, tbh.

>> No.6909204

>>6909145
Thanks for the spoiler faggot

>> No.6909255

>>6909204
why would you open the thread then, asshat?

>> No.6909683

>>6909148
>fucks him in the end
Not sure if I should take this seriously.

Obviously Judge Holden is some sick pedophile/murderer, but why do we assume this is what happens to the man (kid)?

I assumed the action was more figurative, with Holden's evil being all-consuming.

>> No.6909703

>>6909145
>Holden says that he alone held clemency for the heathen

It could be that the kid told the Indians to attack the ferry.

>> No.6909708

>>6909703
Interesting. What makes you think that?

>> No.6909722

>>6909145
More so a human template than the reader..

>> No.6910961

>>6909722
Why? I guess that could make sense, but his role seems much vaguer than even a blank slate.

Also, what's with the kid in his lonely wanderings?

>> No.6911162
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6911162

>>6909683
See "Greek Tutor" for explanation of why buggery is suggested at the outhouse scene. Holden is making his case to The Kid and the reader throughout the novel. Letting the tutor fuck you is the ultimate act of submission to his teachings and authority (as the avatar of violence, Holden does indeed have authority). The real question is not whether The Kid/Reader gets fucked, but whether or not it was consensual.

In my reading, I saw the fucking at the end as consensual for the reader, as I had been seduced well enough by Holden by the end of the novel, but a violent rape for The Kid. Thus, if one sees things Holden's way, the novel ends with the reader's fate separating neatly from that of The Kid. It's the best ending of any novel, in my opinion.

It's a novel. Events can be both literal and figurative.