Ted Talk Analysis
Reasoning behind Holden's behaviors |
Catcher in the Rye
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In this Ted Talk, the speaker, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, a cognitive neuroscientist, explains why typical teenage behavior is exhibited. She says adolescents are much more impulsive, insecure, and less self aware because of their growing and developing brain during this time in their lives. Sarah explains that with the help of newly formed technologies such as the MRI and fMRI, we now know that during the adolescence years, activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain decreases because they use a different mental approach and strategy to make social decisions (which are often impulsive or “dumb”). In comparison to Catcher in the Rye, the main character, seventeen year old Holden Caufield, clearly demonstrates behavior that is expected of those in his age group. Throughout the book, we see Holden making impulsive decisions, such as leaving Pency Prep to go to New York instead of home to tell his parents that he got expelled. Holden is also very insecure and this is shown when he puts on his hunting hat with the flaps- to cover his gray hairs that make him uncomfortable. He also doesn’t seem to fit in with those in his own age group socially, so he attempts to make himself seem more mature by appealing to and often flirting inappropriately with older women. For example, he offers a fellow student’s mother cigarettes and alcoholic drinks on the train, which makes her uncomfortable. Maybe, after all, this can (mostly) be seen as normal teenage behavior left to blame for his developing and changing brain.