another one of the skiing gang. He was the shortest of the three. His round wire rim glasses and waxed moustache set him apart from the others. “Sorry, Brent, I was lost in my thoughts,” Rob said, turning his head to the window and no longer paying attention to the others. The rest of the ride to the Basin was just one bump and turn after an other past sights he had seen a thousand times. Ron wanted to get away from his family, his friends, his house and the very car he was riding in. He wanted to be alone, to escape from the crowds and the confusion, and he knew the perfect place - ‘““The Needles”, an untouched bow of powder, with scores of emerald pine trees. like it might be a busy day. | The dismal light from the sky reflected off the snow covered slopes and made them long stretches of bright white ermine. Rob swung his feet out the door, and began tightening his inner boot. The laces dug cruely into his cold bare hands. He quickly buckled the outside of his boots, shoved his gloves on and stood up. They all grabbed their equipment and walked through the maze of cars to the ticket office. The ticket line was short, and they were all soon on their way over to the lift. Sliding into the aisle, they were scooped up by a tow chait,-and the mile and a half Wildcat run spread before them. q Rob looked up the long bowed hill. Scores of small brightly clothed skiers dotted the slope. “I’ve got to get away from all these robots. I’ve got to get to the Needles!” At the terminal, Rob pushed himself off the chair and balancing himself on his poles, waited for the others. “T think Pll take a run by myself,’ Rob hollered, as his friends got off the lift. He pushed himself off, down the hill. bombed down the crowded trail, heading for the untouched By Russel Carruth dotted The soggy parking lot was half filled when they arrived, and it looked Rob The Bad Guy With The White Hat pow- der of “The Needles.” Edges slashing, cold wind whistling past his ears, flaking snow in his nostrils, he was soon upon the untouched ridge staring down into the deep infiniteness of the powder .. . alone. The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger, the author, tells the story of a young allows Holden Caulfield to man tell Spin THOUGHTS thoughts Sparrow— in her head. dirt brown wings flap on ice capped snow. The bird struggles. MA chioed teaghes Gash In her Others steadily. own seem Dies. Feathers rest on ice, and a‘warm pool of blood surrounds a broken claw word dead. Sandy 14 story. to act as Salinger dictates. After Salinger reforms Holden, he ends the book. SPARROW ae,apestry reforms. own Holden acts like a puppet that Salinger uses falsely to write his book. Salinger never pins a real personality on Holden. He doesn’t introduce him, tell the reader his age or give him a reason for existing. Salinger simply paints Holden black with sin and leaves it at that. Holden uses a limited language. He rarely completes a sentence without swearing. Salinger allows Holden to swear to label him as a tough guy. Holden, however, never lasts more than one punch in a fight. Holden also acts crudely. The following lines taken from the book illustrate his crude actions. “C’mon, let’s get outa here,” I said. “You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth.” Holden actually told his date she gave him a royal pain in the ass. At this point Salinger finishes painting Holden black. | Salinger, however, doesn’t leave Holden here. He has Holden take his little sister to the zoo the next day. After Holden’s sister briefly kisses him, she runs to ride the merry-go-round. Holden then simply reforms. The reformation takes less than ten minutes. He now has decided to study hard and apply himself. According to Salinger the person who smokes, drinks, swears, and hires prostitutes does it only because he has not taken his little sister to the zoo. Obviously Salinger handles Holden too much. He allows Holden only Holden leaves the reader wearing a brand new white hat. TAPESTRY who his Austin Kris Peters 15