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Little Shirley Beans

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The Narrative in this paragraph (Holden Caulfield) is trying to get a record called “Little Shirley Beans” for his younger sister Phoebe. The record is written by a colored girl, named Estelle Fletcher, who sings Dixieland. Holden admires the fact that Estelle Fletcher is colored and that if a white girl was to sing it, she would make it sound cute and mushy. That is why Holden is giving it to Phoebe as a gift. The record “Little Shirley Beans” is important to the narrator because it is Holden’s existence of innocence. In the passage from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the narrator is walking through the park and listening to a family after church and to also prove his innocence to the world when he buys Phoebe a record …show more content…

He thinks it will knock old Phoebe out because she is the type of person that enjoys funny music and also appreciates good music like Holden. Holden came into New York after several years and felt depressed because he had just been kicked out of Pencey Prep School. Holden had found out about the record at Pencey Prep. He met someone who lived on the next floor who had the record. As soon as he heard it he knew old Phoebe would love it. He thought it was one of the best records he had ever heard and believed no else in the world could sing it as well as Estelle. This record symbolizes Holden’s belief of innocence. He loves the facts that it is sung buy a colored girl and she doesn’t sing it with a cute girly voice. Holden believes the voice is not a phony, he thinks phonies are a representation of …show more content…

He had to find a record store in New York. So that Sunday he walked toward Broadway hoping to find the record. “they charged me…[him] five bucks for it” (116). Holden didn’t care, because he comes from a wealthy family that gives him a lot of spending money. But for Holden it wasn’t about the money, he wanted to buy the record because he knew Phoebe would love it and it would numb the pain of having to tell his parents that he got kicked out of Pencey. After he bought the record all of the sudden he felt very happy. He felt happy because he wanted to show his innocence to

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