Outside Reading #6

Stories can help us to dwell in place and appreciate your home. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden feels at peace when he visits his home. After he gets home, he enters D.B.'s room, "I went around the room, very quiet and all, looking at stuff for a while. I felt swell, for a change. I didn't even feel like I was getting pneumonia or anything any more. I just felt good, for a change" (159). The sense of relief that overcomes Holden shows evidence of the healing powers of one's home. This feeling is similar to those felt in familiar places. When Holden visits the Museum of Natural History, an important part of his childhood, he goes over to look at the mummies. He says, "I was the only one left in the tomb then. I sort of liked it, in a way. It was so nice and peaceful" (204). Holden is overcome with peace when he revisits a core part of his childhood because he is so familiar with it. The Catcher in the Rye teaches us of the importance of familiar places.