Allie's Life and Death

"Catching on to Catcher in the Rye"

lessons on The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Lesson 2: Allie's Life and Death

Developed by Sandy Scragg
www.sandyscragg.com
Murry Bergtraum High School
New York City, 2002

Even as we read the first few chapters, we can see that Holden is having difficulty dealing with the recent death of his younger brother, Allie. When Holden's roommate asks him to write a composition for his English class, Holden chooses to write a personal story of his brother's baseball mitt and we learn the story of Allie and how Holden feels about his passing.

Instructional Objectives: 1) Learning about the full impact of this life-altering incident on the main character, Holden, 2) Reading through medical documents and relating that information to the novel and the characters. 3) Discovering how adolescents generally handle traumatic events such as losing a sibling.

Time Required: one 40-minute class period

Materials/resources needed: web sites as listed in under "procedures" below, Chapter 5 of The Catcher in the Rye

Vocabulary/concepts: medical terms found on web sites listed below (lymphoma, acute, chemotherapy, vulnerability, depression, trauma)

Focus questions/key points: Holden briefly tells us about the events of his brother's death, but it is apparent that it is deeply troubling him. What short-term results did Allie's death have on Holden? What long-term effects do you think his death is having?

Procedures:

1) After reading Chapter 5, discuss the impact of Allie's death on Holden. Ask the students what Holden tells us about the facts surrounding Allie's death. (Responses may include: Holden remembers the exact date, Holden feels guilt about not letting Allie play with his friends, Holden broke all the windows in the garage when Allie died causing a permanent injury to his hand.)

2) What do we know about Allie? How is he similar/different to Holden? Why did Holden love him so much? (Responses may include: Allie was very nice, extremely smart, kind and loving, he had very red hair, he laughed a lot, and was very close to Holden.)

3) On the board or a large piece of paper, have students make a list of "immediate impact" and "long-term impact" effects that Allie's death has had or could have on Holden.

4) How is Allie's death influencing Holden? Read a psychologist's report which discusses how the death of a sibling can affect an adolescent. (death of a sibling) [note: You may want to determine whether or not your students have dealt with this issue before proceeding.]

5) Many students may also be curious about leukemia. Look at this web site which lists some basic facts about leukemia. What kind of death was this? Why would dying from leukemia be especially tragic?

Homework: Write the composition that Holden wrote for Stradlater about Allie's baseball mitt (see a student sample of this assignment).