The Catcher in The Rye

The author Thomas Pynchon once said, “If they can get you to ask the wrong questions, then they don’t have to worry about the answers.”  This quote can be interpreted in many different ways.  However the clearest meaning of the quote is that people are lazy and always want the easy way out and that they don’t want to think about a question that is difficult so they try to change it to something they already know.  This quote also connects with many books.  It connects to the characters in The Catcher in the Rye.  This quote also connects with the discussions held between Ishmael and his student.  Lastly, it connects to some of the characters in the book Rocket Boys.

The quote by Thomas Pynchon connects to the characters in The Catcher in the Rye.  One example of a character trying to take the easy way out was when Stradlater was talking with Holden.  He told Holden, “Do that composition for me.” (Salinger 34).  Stradlater wanted to go out with a girl that night and he didn’t have time to do his composition so he improvised, having Holden do it.  Stradlater’s quote connects with Pynchon’s quote because it shows a person being lazy and trying to weasel out of doing work.  The next example was when Holden was talking to Sally.  He was having a lot of trouble.  He told Sally, “We could live somewhere with a brook and all and later on we could get married or something.” (132).  This was Holden’s great plan of escaping his troubles.  It connects with Pynchon’s quote because Holden can’t solve a problem so he takes the easy way out.  He already had thought about his plan so he figured he would change his problem to something he already knew.  Both of these quotes from The Catcher in the Rye serve as connecting points to Pynchon’s quote.

The quote Thomas Pynchon said connects with the discussions between Ishmael and his student.  An example of this is when Ishmael says, “You’re looking at your own culture’s creation myth.”  The student replies, “We have no creation myth.” (Quinn 46)  This quote shows that the student is dodging Ishmael’s question.  The student doesn’t want to have to exert any energy learning what his creation story is so he just gives the easiest answer, thus connecting it to Thomas Pynchon’s quote.  Another example is when Ishmael asks his student a question and the student says, “I’m afraid I have no idea.”  The gorilla responds, “Look, I can’t forbid you to say, ‘I have no idea,’ but I do insist that you spend a few seconds thinking before you say it.” (170).  What each of the characters say in this quote falls directly in line with the quote by Thomas Pynchon.  The student is being lazy by not trying using his brain and thinking about the answer to the question.  Also the gorilla is telling him what he should be doing which hopefully will help him to use his brain more often.  The book Ishmael definitely makes a strong connection with Thomas Pynchon’s quote.

The quote by Thomas Pynchon connects to some of the characters in the book Rocket Boys.  An example of a connection was when Homer and Quentin were having an argument.  Quentin said, “And when this rocket blows up and you don’t have a clue what caused it?”  Homer replied, “The men down at Cape Canaveral say they learn more from a failure than a success.” (Hickam 269).  Homer diverts from Quentin’s question by telling him something that he knew he could defend.  This is exactly what Thomas Pynchon’s quote is about.  Homer didn’t know how to answer the question and he didn’t want to think about the answer so instead he said something that he was comfortable with.  This next example is a bit of dialogue between Homer and his teacher.  Homer wanted to quit building rockets and he teacher was talking to him about it.  The teacher said, “What’s this I hear about you not working on your rockets anymore?”  Homer answers, “That’s right.”  The teacher asked, “Why?”  Homer replied, “Why not?  Who cares?” (296).  In this dialogue Homer demonstrates Pynchon’s quote by not giving his teacher’s question one second of thought and taking the easy way out of his situation.  Clearly Homer doesn’t know how to answer her question and is angry that she is talking to him which drives him to give the answer he gave.  Homer is an excellent example of Thomas Pynchon’s quote.

Thomas Pynchon said, “If they can get you to ask the wrong questions, then they don’t have to worry about the answers.”  This quote has many different meanings.  The best meaning is that people can be lazy and like to find easy ways out of situations and also, that when people don’t want to think about difficult questions they try to change it to a question that they know the answer to.  This quote connects to a number of different books.  It connects to characters in the book The Catcher in the Rye.  It also connects with the discussions held between Ishmael and his student.  Finally, the quote connects to Homer in the book Rocket Boys.