Midway through J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, notices a child walking along the streets of New York City. Even though Holden is in a bad way — he's flunked out of school; he feels isolated from nearly everyone he knows — the child lifts his spirits. "He was making out like he was walking a very straight line, the way kids do, and the whole time he kept singing and humming. I got up closer so I could hear what he was singing. He ...
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