Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Yesterday by The Beatles


The song "Yesterday" by the Beatles expresses the emotions Holden feels for Jane though its main idea of longing for the past. In A Catcher in the Rye, Holden remembers the relationship he had with Jane and how it was simple rather than serious or sexual. Holden says, "You never even worried with Jane... All you knew was, you were happy"(79). Similarly, the lyrics of the song say, "Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play." Now Holden struggles to enjoy relationships with girls, he hates their company and only thinks of their appearance. He misses the past when love was not complicated with sex or appearance; it was only about being happy. The thought of Jane dating someone else drives him crazy, and "[he doesn't] even like to talk about it"(80). When Holden first hears of Stradlater being with Jane, he soon after runs away from school alone. This is mirrored in the song with the next line, "now I need a place to hide away." After realizing the happy times he had with Jane are forever in the past, Holden becomes very depressed and wants to hide from the world. By hiding from the idea of Stradlater with Jane, he hopes to hold on to his memory of "yesterday." The song "Yesterday" reflects Holden's strong longing for the past when Jane and him were together.

The song would be placed on page 79 and 80 when Holden is remembering the relationship he had with Jane. Their relationship was simple and enjoyable, and now Holden wishes he had that back. Instead now Stradlater is dating Jane and he is alone. He hates how things have changed and wants to hide from the world. The song expresses a desire for the past when things were innocent as in "Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play," and the need to hide from the present as in "Now I need a place to hide away."
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2 comments:

  1. HeruMarch 24, 2010 at 8:26 PM

    I agree that this song fits very well with Holden's emotions. I think that in addition to just Holden longing for the past when he was with Jane (although the song mostly seems to be about love) that the lines
    "Suddenly
    I'm not half the man I used to be
    There's a shadow hanging over me
    Oh, yesterday
    Came suddenly"
    Show how Holden has sort of lost hope near the end of the book and all of his found memories hit him all at once causing him to somewhat break down. "oh, yesterday came suddenly"

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  2. RickyMarch 24, 2010 at 11:40 PM

    Firstly, I'd like to note the interesting coincidence about this song and the novel. It is about Paul McCartney's girlfriend at the time, whose name is Jane Asher.

    It makes sense that the song could represent Holden Caulfield’s love for innocence, such as that of Jane Gallagher. However, it could also represent Allie, the chaste “nice kid” (38) and brother that Holden adored but lost. Allie’s death is the end of Holden’s youth and innocence, causing his world to crumble. Similarly, the song, describes this sense of loss and the impact such a loss would have on somebody like Holden’s life.
    “Yesterday,
    All my troubles seemed so far away,
    Now it looks as though they're here to stay,”
    As a result of Holden’s suffering, he longs for and “[believes] in yesterday.”

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