Category: Catcher in the Rye

In some literary works, unseen characters influence and move the narrative forward despite otherwise not serving as main characters. These characters might have been in the protagonist’s life before the book began, or they may have barely been mentioned, but they still have a profound impact on the story. For example, in The Catcher in the Rye, Allie was the brother of the main character, Holden Caulfield. Allie dies before the book begins, and the audience never meets the character. Even though Allie does not physically appear in the book, this does not mean that his impact is not profound. Allie represents Holden’s desire to preserve innocence, an idealization which limits Holden’s maturity.

Holden idealizes his brother Allie. He views him in the best possible light and remembers him with no flaws. When Holden is reflecting upon his brother in a memory, he says, “He was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allie in their class. And they weren’t just shooting the crap. They really meant it. But it wasn’t just that he was the most intelligent member in the family” (21). This example of Holden idealizing his brother is particularly forceful. He sees him as a great student and intelligent, an area in which Holden struggles. Holden has dropped out of school multiple times, so the fact that Allie was so good at school could only exaggerate the effect of Allie’s flawlessness. A few sentences later, Holden explains, “He never got mad at anybody. People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie never did, and he had very red hair” (21). This is another way the reader can imagine Holden seeing the best in his brother. He sees him as special because he likes Holden and is not mean to him and never gets mad at him. Other children in Holden’s life are mean to him, like Stradlater, but Allie never was. Holden sees his brother as extraordinary in both intelligence and temperament.

Holden’s idealization of Allie has negative consequences for Holden’s maturity. Holden goes to the history museum that he went to as a child, and it represents his effort to preserve the past. While Holden is there he sees, “‘Fuck you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy”(108). He then proceeds to try and clean it but fails. He also imagines an adult sneaking in to write it. This suggests that Holden is somewhat immature because he overreacts when he sees the “fuck you” on the wall. His impulse to fix the situation seems unusual for a museum visitor. A normal reaction would be to ignore it. However, Holden becomes infuriated and angry. He tries to rub it off but that does not work. He imagines that a creepy person or an adult would come in to write the sign, yet it is more likely that a kid rather than an adult wrote the graffiti. His thinking is simplistic because he thinks of adults as vulgar as opposed to his perfect brother Allie who never grew up. He is so infuriated when the museum, which represents his innocent childhood, is damaged. Holden’s emotional overreaction in this case stems from his memory of his brother. Another example of Allie keeping Holden’s emotional focus in the past occurs when Holden wears Allie’s hat. When Holden is leaving his old school, Pencey, Holden remarks:

I was sort of crying. I don’t know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’ I’ll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor (29).

He puts on the hat which represents Allie’s hair color. He gets comfort or “warmth” literally from the hat and figuratively from the hat representing Allie. This allows him to then be immature and yell at people at the school, calling them morons. The hat may provide him comfort, but it does not provide him with a real emotional bond with another person. It only deepens his emotional bond with his dead brother. This confirms he has to grow up more so he can move on from Allie. The people around him also confirm his immaturity. When he is talking to his friend “old Luce,” Luce states, ‘Same old Caulfield. When are you going to grow up?”(77). Everyone is constantly asking when Holden will grow up because he acts immaturely throughout the book. Further in the conversation, Holden continues to annoy Old Luce by asking him questions about his sex life. Luce does not want to continue and replies, “Your mind is immature” (79). Holden not only reveals his immaturity through his actions but his friend recognizes it as well.

Holden’s idealization of immaturity also leads him to hold unrealistic expectations for adulthood. When asked to think about the future, a time when he should theoretically be more mature, Holden responds:

Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around–nobody big, I mean–except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff–I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. (93)

The cliff represents adulthood and the kids falling off are falling into adulthood. Holden, who has not matured himself, wants to save children from going to adulthood and maturing. This is in part because Holden idealizes the past. Allie never fell off the cliff because he died so young, and he did not have the opportunity. So it is as if Allie was somehow saved, and Holden wants to save other children from growing up. This illustrates that he has not grown up and he cannot even envision a realistic adulthood. Holden’s desire to save others and preserve some sense of innocence results in him resisting adulthood and trying to delay his own development.

Allie, who never actually appears in the book, The Catcher in the Rye, has a disproportionate influence on the protagonist, his brother, Holden Caulfield, keeping him emotionally stunted. Holden idealizes his brother, and this fixation affects his development. He is often described as immature by other characters and wants to remain within the comforting memory of his brother. Holden not only does not want to grow up, he ideally would protect other people from maturing as well. His idealization of his brother Allie, who died too young, before he could mature, influences Holden throughout the book. This unseen character keeps Holden from growing up and reaching maturity.

Many teenagers in high school go through a lot of very difficult times trying to figure out who they are and how to have a good life. Some of these young people find a good path, while others struggle much longer to do well. In his classic novel The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger demonstrates how main character Holden Caulfield suffers through many challenges in trying to do well in his life, but seems to avoid confronting problems more than solving them. The author communicates his message by depicting how Holden’s desire to be the catcher in the rye symbolizes his character flaw in how he wants to hold on to his troubled past rather than face taking steps to improve his future.

Holden has many fears about his life, and does not know how to deal with the conflicts and changes that take place in the real world, avoiding facing these problems. For example, Holden likes to visit the Natural History museum because, no matter what else has changed in his life, this institution always stays the same, a place he looks to for stability. Salinger writes, “The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deer would still be drinking out of that water hole… Nobody’d be different. ……I can’t explain what I mean. And even if I could, I’m not sure I’d feel like it.” (121) Holden loves the museum because nothing ever changes there. He prefers to spend time in a place where he doesn’t have to deal with the new developments in his life, as everything in the museum always remains the same, even the Eskimo, birds and deer never moving from their positions. Another example of how Holden avoids facing the fears and difficulties in his life is shown when his brother Allie dies and Holden continues to talking with him as if he hadn’t passed away. Holden describes, “Every time I’d get to the end of a block I’d make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I’d say to him, ‘Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Allie, don’t let me disappear. Please, Allie.’ And then when I’d reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I’d thank him.” (198) This fantasy shows how Holden denies reality and is unable to deal with challenges, speaking to his dead brother as if he were alive begging him to not let Holden also die, possibly by being hit by a car when crossing the street. Holden’s inability to face life’s adversities, depicted in his love of the never-changing museum and conversations with his deceased brother, indicates that he feels separated from reality and prefers to live in the past or even create his own, more comfortable world.

Holden wanting to be the catcher in the rye reflects how he wants to help his younger sister Phoebe and also protect other children, although he does not seem able to help himself. When Holden visits Phoebe’s school, he notices a swear word written on a wall which made him want to defend the children from seeing this very bad graffiti. Holden says, “But while I was sitting down, I saw something that drove me crazy. Somebody’d written ‘Fuck you’ on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy. I thought how Phoebe and all the other little kids would see it, and how they’d wonder what the hell it meant, and then finally some dirty kid would tell them – all cockeyed, naturally – what it meant, and how they’d all think about it and maybe even worry about it for a couple of days. I kept wanting to kill whoever’s written it.” (201) Holden’s great anger tells the reader how strongly he cares about protecting his younger sister and other children from the negative aspects of life. In another incident, Holden tries to help children in a playground who are having trouble balancing on a seesaw. Holden explains, “I passed a playground and stopped and watched a couple of very tiny kids on the seesaw. One of them was sort of fat, and I put my hands on the skinny kid’s end, to sort of even the weight, but you can tell they don’t want me around, so I let them alone.” (122) Although the children did not want Holden’s help, his attempt to even out the weight shows that he cares about making their playtime happier. These two examples of how Holden watches over his younger sister and other children indicate how important it is to him to help make their lives better, even though he can’t do better in his own life.

Holden is in denial about his own troubled situation, and is too depressed to confront his bad choices or to find ways to improve his life. Frustrated by unsuccessful relationships with women, Holden hires a prostitute to get some experience. He says, “I was supposed to feel pretty sexy when someone gets up and pulls their dress over their head, but I didn’t. Sexy was the last thing I was feeling. I felt much more depressed than sexy.” (95) Even though he did pay for a woman to give him a fantasy he thought he wanted, Holden was too emotionally upset to even have this limited experience. He is also incapable of following some good advice about life he receives from a respected former teacher at a time when he needed help. The teacher tells Holden, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” (188) This guidance tells Holden that he should be more mature in his decisions and actions, and try to have a simple life. However, Holden is too emotionally unstable to accept advice about how to improve his life, leading him to try to live in his difficult past.

Salinger portrays Holden’s confused, troubled feelings in showing his character weakness in the inability to improve his life but that he would rather hang on to his difficult past. His love of the unchanging museum and conversations with his deceased brother reflects Holden’s need to live in the past. He is too depressed to be involved in experiences and can’t follow good advice. But he is very passionate about protecting his younger sister Phoebe and other children from the dangers of life. His desire to be the catcher in the rye, the story’s central symbol, exemplifies his dream to help people younger and more vulnerable than he is. Holden wants to save these children, but does not have the same feelings about saving himself. The readers of this book who can understand the pain that Holden feels about himself and his desire to help younger people might learn that helping others is very important but that we also must be able to help ourselves .

Teenagers deal with lots of emotional issues. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and in Rebel Without a Cause by Nicholas Ray, both main characters Jim Stark and Holden Caulfield deal with so many emotional issues. Both characters deal with emotional issues as teenagers; Holden distances himself from his relationships while Jim tries to build relationships.

Jim would do anything to have a group of friends. In the beginning of the film it shows Jim is found intoxicated. His whole family shows up at the police station and begin to defend and rationalize Jim’s actions. However, this leads Jim to have a lack of guidance or good principle from his family. Jim is constantly looking for structure, in this he seeks structures from a bad group of friends. Through looking for validation, this leads Jims to make bad decisions. Jim is a new kid at Dawson High and doesn’t have any friends. The school went on a class field trip and Jim followed. Jim made noises making everyone think he’s the cool kid. He’s just trying to fit in and make new friends. Everyone looked and one of the popular kids thought he was pretty funny and wanted to attack Jim. But Buzz however, wanted to know what this kid was about so he and Jim fought with knives and got Jim a couple of times. Through his lack of guidance, Jim will do anything to feel like he belongs. He wants to belong because he doesn’t get support at home or structure. In the end, Jim’s lack of guidance, leads him to make bad choices.

Holden isolates himself from society. Throughout the book, he isolates himself from adults and friends by identifying them as phony. When explaining to Mr. Spencer why he left one of the schools he said, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills because I was surrounded by phonies” (Salinger 19). He doesn’t want to connect with his fellow classmates because they experienced what Allie couldn’t. He thinks kids are pure because Allie’s death let him never experienced anything from the adult world. He isolates himself to try to preserve his innocence and like kids. Other times he isolated people from his life when he is trying to call someone. At Penn Station, he says, “I went to the phone booth… but as soon as I was inside I couldn’t think of anyone to call up” (Salinger 66). Holden craves social interactions, but through his brother’s death he isolates himself. His isolation from the world doesn’t make him happy.

So when he doesn’t call someone like Sally, he chooses to preserve the valuable innocent memories he had with her. From the trauma, Holden creates walls to preserve his innocence or change to avoid pain, rejection, or any strong negative feelings.

Someone once said, “Lonely is not being alone, it’s the feeling that no one cares.” This quote is very true because people in lie usually feel lonely due to the fact of not having someone to talk makes a huge difference in people lives. In the book “Catcher in the Rye” written by JD. Salinger, is about this 16 year old boy Holden, leaving Pencey Prep to have a change in scenery. He is failing all his classes, he doesn’t have any friends or family with him and he feels very lonely. He takes a train to New York City to stay at a crapy hotel for a while. He comes across very unique situations with a pimp and a prostitute then a conversation with two nuns about “Romeo and Juliet.” In chapter 16 Holden is rehashing memories of his childhood with his sister. In the book, “Catcher in the Rye,” written by JD. Salinger, the main character Holden is portrayed as a lonely and confused teenager longing to connect with other, his thoughts on a little boy and his changing emotions.

In the beginning of the chapter, Holden is portrayed as lonely teenager wanting to connect with others thought his perspective of this little boy. One Sunday, there was a family walking together in the city. They were possibly coming home from church. They seemed very unwealthy, and there was this little boy and “…his parents paid no attention to him, and he kept on walking next to the curb and singing ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye.’ It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed any more” (115) In this chapter, Salinger portrays the main character Holden as a confused and lonely teenager by giving the readers a look into Holden’s head and his perspective of the family. Holden is feeling very lonely in the city by himself when he comes across this family. Holden’s thoughts about Phoebe and the joy he feels in response to the young boy’s song both indicate his idealization of purity and childhood. Holden can tell that the boy in front of the church comes from a poor family, but this doesn’t stop the young child from singing in a sweet, carefree way. Through all the chaos of New York he hears this little boy sing and it makes Holden smile. To Holden, this is very touching and significant, since he wishes he himself could embody such unbridled happiness despite the various hardships that have occurred to him throughout life. Therefore that is how Holden is portrayed as a confused teenager.

Lastly, in chapter 16 Holden feels confused and lonely because of his mixed emotions. In the middle of the chapter. One Sunday, there was a family walking together in the city. They were possibly coming home from church. They seemed very unwealthy, and there was this little boy and “…his parents paid no attention to him, and he kept on walking next to the curb and singing ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye.’ It made me feel better. It made me feel not so depressed any more” (115) In this chapter, Salinger portrays the main character Holden as a confused and lonely teenager by giving the readers a look into Holden’s head and his perspective of the family. Holden is feeling very lonely in the city by himself when he comes across this family. Holden’s thoughts about Phoebe and the joy he feels in response to the young boy’s song both indicate his idealization of purity and childhood. Holden can tell that the boy in front of the church comes from a poor family, but this doesn’t stop the young child from singing in a sweet, carefree way. Through all the chaos of New York he hears this little boy sing and it makes Holden smile. To Holden, this is very touching and significant, since he wishes he himself could embody such unbridled happiness despite the various hardships that have occurred to him throughout life. On that same day, Holden goes to park and he sees this little girl. They start talking and quicedently, the little girl knows Holdenlittle sister Phoebe. When Holden was finished talking about Phoebe,”… I asked her if she’d care to have hot chocolate or something with me, but she said no, thank you.” (119) In chapter 16, Salinger presents Holden as a confused and lonely young boy longing for someone to be in his presence. In this quote Holden is longing to interact with someone even if it is a little girl. I think we can come to the conclusion of moving to New York City wasn’t the greatest idea for Holden because he is confused and has no path or plan for himself. He also didn’t realize that he wasn’t lonely at Pencey even though he didn’t have any close friends he still had people his age to talk too or be around and that is comforting whether he knows it or not.

In conclusion, in chapter 16, the main character, Holden is portrayed as a lonely and confused teenager longing to connect with others, his perspective on a little boy and his changing emotions. Just like real teenagers in the 21st century today!

One of the most common unrealized mental illnesses teenagers struggle with today is depression. The state of depression has meaningful effects on a person’s thoughts, behavior, and feelings. In The Catcher in the Rye the author J.D Salinger highlights the negative impacts of depression the protagonist, Holden had gone through. Holden has gone through the emotional pain of his younger brother Allie’s death which led him to be depressed throughout his life. One of Holden’s teachers, Mr. Antolini tries to set him up to understand his bad habits as he points out the habits that led him to depression. He tries explaining to Holden that he must ignore the negative and bad people in society to fully experience the value and meaningful relationships in life. When Mr.Antolini attempts to prevent Holden’s “bad habits” of depression, Holden understands his unrealistic approach to life but becomes more depressed during the process of Mr.Antolini’s explanation. Because of this, he comes across significant falls in his depression as he detaches from society, abuses substances and doesn’t ask for anyone’s help.

In The Catcher in the Rye Salinger wants the reader to see that the most important cause of Holden’s depression was his detachment from society. He indicates how holden detaches himself from the people around him as he doesn’t want to develop any social bonds. Salinger indicates this when Holden never meets Jane, his crush. He had an opportunity while she waited for Stradlater, his roommate, but didn’t even though he wanted to talk to her. He tells us this when he says “I oughta go down and say hello to her…but I’m not in the mood right now”(Salinger 32-33) which tells us he was avoiding approaching her because he was scared to meet her and talk to her. Holden’s fear of being accepted by everyone is one of his main reasons for not developings bonds with people like jane which is bad with his depression. With this, it also lowers his confidence in himself and creates more depression. Another way Salinger indicates Holden’s independence is how he wants to live in the past. He indicates Holden not communicating with his society as he wishes to live alongside his brother Allie who past away. He wishes he lived alongside Allie in their childhood because he misses the original bond they had together. Because of this, Holden is not accepting his society’s way of life and can’t accept adulthood and his brother’s death. Holden pointed this out when he said “I like Allie… just because some is dead, you don’t just stop liking them, for God’s sakes- especially if they are about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that’s alive”(Salinger 171) telling us he thinks you shouldn’t stop liking someone who past and that Allie was way nicer to him so that’s why he created a better bond with him. Which is also the reason he doesn’t try to bond with his society. When Holden does realize he can’t live in his childhood forever, he was forced to see he also can’t live with the same value in the society that Allie had. When Holden figures that out, he finds himself in a very tough situation with his life which created sadness and depression.

Salinger then wanted the reader to see how abusing substances is unhealthy and lead Holden to do bad habits creating worse depression for him. The reason for this is because every time Holden had to deal with problems, he drank instead of Dealing with them. This negatively affected him throughout his life. Instead of getting help with his emotions, he would try to drink and hope he feels better again. Drinking occurred frequently with Holden because he had a bad drinking problem. He also smoked too. With abusing these substances, Holden created bad behavior within himself as he lost interest in school and the people at his school. Holden tells this to Phoebe when he says “it was one of the worst schools I ever went to. It was full of phonies. And mean guys…I just didn’t like anything that was happening at Pencey”(Salinger 167-168) which indicates because they were mean to him he didn’t bond with anyone at school making him hate pencey. The other way Holden created bad habits was his drinking problem, he drank a lot when he was sad which reveals his depression. Holden indicates this when he had an argument with sally, he doesn’t solve his problem with her and instead, he decides to drink. That Is revealed by Holden when he said “she kept telling me to go away and leave her alone, so finally I did… and left without her.” (later that day)“I shouldn’t… I was too drunk to give a damn”(Salinger 130 and 152) indicating that holden has bad depression that is leading him to have a bad drinking problem so he drank too much and got mad at Sally so he left without her.

Holden’s depression eventually was evident through his detachment from his society and abusing substances that led to his bad habits and behaviors. Mr.Antolini provided help for Holden’s potential downfall as he indicates that Holden’s negative approach to life is wrong. Him being stubborn on his thoughts will keep getting him worse in life. As he still stayed stubborn, he did get worse with his detachment from society and abusing substances which caused worse depression. He also didn’t adapt to his society’s lifestyles and avoided adulthood making a big downfall in his depression. When he finally changes, he was forced to question his mindset and approach towards life. This probably had him flashback to when him and Mr.Antolini talked about his mindset before he changed and how he wished he would’ve listened to him. Because all he needed was a better mindset towards life.

Never affirm. Always Allude. Allusions are made to test the spirit and probe the heart” (Umberto Eco). Allusions are necessary because it allows for authors to include a deeper meaning to their message indirectly, allowing the reader to interpret the message for themselves. Allusions are used on the assumption that the reader and author have shared knowledge about a certain subject such as one’s culture, literature, or history. In the books of Men In The Sun by Ghassan Kanafani, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and The Catcher In The Rye by J.D Salinger the authors incorporate Allusions to allow the reader to understand why certain things are the way and expand on the author’s message making them beneficial to a story.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey goes through the lives of the patients of a psychiatric hospital in Oregon. The author uses situations in the story to allude to the New Testament of the Bible. For instance, “Now he’s nailed against the wall in the same condition they lifted him off the table for the last time, in the same shape, arms out, palms cupped, with the same horror on his face.” (Kesey 12) This quote depicts that the author is alluding to the Christian figure of Jesus christ by describing Ellis as “nailed against the wall”. According to the New Testament of the Bible Jesus Christ came to Earth to die on a cross with nails in his hands for everyone’s sins. Although, while everyone may not know the story of Jesus Christ specifically Kesey alludes to Jesus Christ to give a better understanding to people who may know the Bible or have generally heard about the story of Jesus Christ. This allusion gives something for people to understand what the story is about in another way indirectly without the author explaining it.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger follows the life of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist who is very rebellious and deals with the issues of growing up and loss of innocence. The author uses these issues to allude to a poem that allows the reader to understand what is in Holden’s mind. For example, “And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff–I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them” (Salinger 93). The author is alluding to the poem ‘Comin’ Thro the Rye,’ by Robert Burns. Comin Thro The Rye is a poem about a man meeting a woman in a field of rye. In the text, Holden is talking to Phoebe about his interpretation of the poem but he gets the lyrics wrong. Holden thinks that the lyric is “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye” (Salinger 93) and Pheobe corrects Holden and says that it is “If a body meet a body coming through the rye!’ (Salinger 93). He interprets that the poem is about innocence and childhood. The kids falling off of the cliff represents the transition from childhood to adulthood and Holden is there to protect the children from losing their innocence and becoming adults. The message the author is trying to convey is that Holden is having difficulty with becoming an adult. When Salinger alludes to “Comin thro the rye” he is depicting why Holden holds on to his childlike ways. Holden sees that there is a lot of responsibility and loss of innocence with becoming an adult and he dislikes the idea of growing up. Also, he believes that it is his job to protect all the children from growing up. This gives a deeper understanding of the author’s message.

Allusions allow the reader to have a better understanding of the author’s message in the story. While everyone may not understand allusions, it is beneficial to a reader in understanding one’s culture, literature, or history In Kesey’s book, allusions benefit the reader because it provides a correlation and allows the reader to see the story differently from what the reader just read. This is also displayed through Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, where the author’s allusions benefit the reader in understanding why Holden does not like the idea of growing up, therefore giving a deeper understanding of the story. Overall, Allusions are a useful way for authors to uniquely provide a deeper meaning creating connections with the audience reading the story.

Works cited

1. Salinger, J.D. “The Catcher in the Rye.” The Catcher in the Rye PDF, www.uzickagimnazija.edu.rs/files/Catcher%20in%20the%20Rye.pdf.
2. Kesey, Ken. “One Flew over the Cukoo’s Nest.” One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest PDF, www.somersetacademy.com/ourpages/auto/2015/9/29/56608819/cuckoos%20nest.pdf.

In the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime and the catcher in the rye many underlying themes greatly contribute to the story. However, the theme that stuck out the most to me was lying and deceit. Lying and deceit are two very controversial traits that can thoroughly mess with people and relationships. A small college study out of the University of Massachusetts showed that “60 percent of people lied at least once during a 10-minute conversation and told an average of two to three lies.” In The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime this trait of lying was never used by our main character Christopher, However lying was used by the people around us. Christopher was a young boy with a complex mind and had a strange way of emotions. A leading example of this was stated, “I did it for your good Christopher. Honestly, I never meant to lie.” (Haddon.114). This was after Christopher had read letters from his mom proving she’s not dead that his dad had hidden from him all these years. This quote proved how upset Christopher was after this confrontation and how it affected his and the dad’s relationship. Christopher was just unable to lie simply because he thought it was morally wrong leading him to just not do it. On the other hand in the book Catcher in the Rye Holden was the main character living his day to day life by lies and deceitful comments towards others to receive a certain outcome. However, the outcome he wants never comes are simply because everyone believes his lies and he proceeds to be exceedingly angry about that. (find the quote at the beginning of the book at the dance floor with the three ladies and how he lied and use that in this essay.) Both Characters seem to react to lying similarly even if they aren’t the ones lying. They both seem to have mental breakdowns and react quite poorly to the situation when to most it would be not a big deal. Overall lying and deceit have seriously impacted each one of these characters day to day circumstances causing brand new conflicts to both novels.

In The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime this trait of lying was never used by our main character Christopher, However lying was used by the people around him. Lying was used towards Christopher by many people around him. His dad lied about his mother is dead, and many others around Christopher lied which was detrimental to him due to the lack of processing skills. Later into the book lying was shown after a big argument between Christopher and his Father. “Yes,” because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth.” Christopher believes if you love someone you should never lie otherwise what is the point of their presence if they are just a burden to him. Christopher only believes this because he is completely against lying, it doesn’t matter the extremity of the situation, it is wrong. This affected Christopher and his father’s relationship after this dispute, and it’s where it went downhill.

In The Catcher in the Rye lying and deceit became manifested early on in the book employed by the main character Holden Caulfield. Holden seems to lie to present himself as someone different than others. This potentially isolates himself from people because he doesn’t allow himself to be who he is, or get close to people. Holden admits to lying frequently, saying, ‘I’m the most terrific liar you ever saw in your life.’ (Sallinger.16) Holden confesses that he lies a lot and he describes it as “terrible”, but he can’t help himself when he comes into situations where he can get away with lying.This potentially isolates himself from people because he doesn’t allow himself to be who he is, or get close to people. When people try to make personal connections or ask more personal questions, Holden lies to avoid such things. He ends up doing this because he does not want to feel the same pain he felt after his brother died. Holden also seems to lie to direct attention away from him and avoid possible questioning and confrontation.

In both novels, Holden and Christopher have a few things in common and that’s the way they react to when they don’t get the outcome they wanted. They both isolate themselves from people because they don’t allow themselves to be who they are and know that growth is inevitable, and you can’t just stay the same forever. Christopher is stuck in his head when Holden is as well. They both seem to over-analyze and have an unorthodox way of perceiving people’s responses and actions, as well as gullibility. These instances come up constantly making things difficult for them to handle daily interactions without being awkward.

Overall lying and deceit have seriously impacted every one of these characters day to day circumstances causing brand new conflicts to both novels. Salinger and Hadden have taught us many points about the differences between these two characters and how Christopher doesn’t accept relationships nor lies, and Holden is usually the polar opposite. At the end of reading these two novels, I held onto the quirkiness and coming of age. Along with how unexplainably difficult across the board. But if there is one thing I learned from these two novels personalities are unlikely dispersed to different individuals, making teenhood sometimes is that every one is distinctively unique and despite flaws no one is perfect.

With many teens in this decade most of them have issues with their family for example their parents being split up, The Catcher in the Rye and the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime both deal with different forms of family relationships. The Catcher in the Rye is a story told by the perspective of Holden Caulfield, it is a story from 4 days in the life of Holden after he has been expelled from his prep school, Holden always lies to find the phonies and is searching for the truth. the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime is a story told by Christopher Boone trying to solve the murder mystery of a dead dog but happens to find some shocking news instead. The similarities between Christopher and Holden are family relationships, they both don’t have good relationships with their parents, lack of relationships causes Holden to be independent and Christopher to be more dependent.

Relationships with family play a big role in a teens life, were in the two books the Catcher in the Rye and the curious incident of the dog in the nightime both lack family relationships. Christopher and his father are not the closest, but Christopher’s mother is “dead” which means Chrsitopher needs his father but his father isn’t fully there. “ I decided that I would wait until father was out of the house. I would go into the cupboard in his bedroom and look at the other letters and see who they were from and what they said.”(99 Haddon). This quote shows that Holden is afraid to confront his dad about the letters this connects to them not being close because if they were close he would be able to ask about what the letters were. Holden doesn’t live with his parents so being close with them is kinda hard when not being able to see them everyday. An example from Catcher in the Rye that shows this is “My fathers wealthy though I don’t know how much he makes- he’s never discussed that stuff with me.”(119 Salinger) This quote shows that Holden is less clear about how he feels about his father and that they aren’t that close because he doesn’t even know that much about him. The main characters in these books both do not have good relationships with their parents, especially with their fathers.

Being dependent and independent with parents is very different with both of these books.

Christopher is very dependent on his father because he didn’t have his mom there anymore is father did everything and Christopher is now just used to it. An example of a quote that shows this is “Christopher do you understand that I love you?” and I said “yes,” because loving someone is helping them when they get into trouble, and looking after them, and telling them the truth, and father looks after me when I get in trouble, like coming to the police station, and he looks after me by me by cooking me meals for me.” This quote is showing that Christopher is dependent on his father because Christopher is talking about everything his father. Holden does not live with his parents, he goes to school on his own and does mostly everything on his own which makes Holdem very dependent without needing his parents for help. A quote that shows this is “My parents would have two hemoragges apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quite touchy about anything like that especially father.”(1 Salinger) This quote is showing that holden is dependent because Holden is talking somewhat badly about them which means that he doesn’t care for them that much in his life. Both Christoher and Holden have very different relationships with their parents one being closer than the other.

Not having a good family relationships can cause an impact on the physical and emotional health of the two main characters in the books. Christopher is a very logical thinker he does very well in school he is very polite and never lies this is because of the way his parents have raised him and what his childhood was like. A quote that shows this is ‘Then he held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. But I screamed and pushed him backward so that he fell off the bed onto the floor(122 Haddon) This quote is saying that Christopher cant even have a physical relationship with his family because he isn’t even able to touch them.

Holden isn’t that mature and doesn’t try in school and always lies to people Holden is obsessed with his childhood he is afraid of growing up. An example of a quote that shows this “You can’t make her do something if she doesn’t want to. All she kept saying was ‘Daddy’s gonna kill you’.”(183 Salinger). This quote means that Holden is too afraid to tell his parents why he is home so instead of being truthful he is going behind his parents back. In both of these stories familiar relationships have had affects emotionally and physically on Holden and Christopher.

The similarities between Christopher and Holden are family relationships, they both don’t have good relationships with their parents, lack of relationships causes Holden to be independent and Christopher to be more dependent. Familia relationships had a huge impact on both of these characters not just affecting them emotionally but also physically. After reading both of these stories I have learned that having good relationships with you family is important, if you don’t have a good relationship with your family, it will affect your way of growing. Familia relationships was seen in both of these books but had very different effectivity on both Holden and Christopher.

While published more than half a century apart and set in locations thousands of kilometers away, the novels Our Animal Hearts by Dania Tomlinson and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger both tackle the stories of the unpleasant and difficult coming of age of a conflicted youth. Our Animal Hearts is the story of Iris Sparks, who suffers the difficulties of having to care for her cold and unloving mother, Llewelyna. Llewelyna supplies Iris’ imagination with a collection of dark and gruesome fairy tales about monstrous creatures that consequently begin to take shape in Iris’ daily life. Throughout the novel, Iris attempts to navigate and understand her world of family, friends, lovers and spiritual beings, despite her compass of morality and truth seldom pointing her in the right direction. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, relates the days leading up to his mental deterioration and ultimate downfall. Holden takes the reader on a journey, beginning with his dismissal from prep school and the subsequent depression-filled days he spends in New York, meeting people and seeking happiness, truth, and meaning to life. Through the analysis of Iris’ and Holden’s characterization, it is possible to detect recurring patterns. These patterns are called archetypes, and are found all throughout literature. According to the editors of LiteraryDevices.net, “In literature, [a character] archetype is a typical character […] that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature” (LiteraryDevices Editors). Therefore, this archetype can be understood as a mold or a category that a character is best represented by. Both Our Animal Hearts and The Catcher in the Rye utilize the character archetypes of the unbalanced hero and of the storyteller. The unbalanced hero is usually the protagonist, who has “mental or emotional deficiencies” (Notes on Archetypes). Examples of these deficiencies are depression or the misunderstanding of society. On the other hand, the storyteller, as described by Ken Miyamoto of the Screencraft blog, is “A character that is noted for his or her ability to tell tales […]” (Miyamoto); it is a character that is found narrating stories throughout the novel. In both Our Animal Hearts and The Catcher in the Rye, the archetypes of the unbalanced hero and the storyteller portray the characters’ mental instability which causes them to interpret their lives through a tainted lens and attempt to defeat their respective monsters through or in spite of storytelling.

In Our Animal Hearts, the archetype of the unbalanced hero is presented through the protagonist, Iris Sparks, whose mental imbalances lead her to suffer from deceitful and unsettling visions that play a leading role in the unreliable interpretation of her life. To start, the cause of Iris’ inner conflict takes root in her childhood, which is unquestionably a traumatic one; her dysfunctional, uncaring mother regularly tells Iris and her brother harrowing stories. Reflecting on the tales, Iris recalls that “Llewelyna’s stories often turned dark [and] they not only fed our imaginations and filled our nightmares, but the creatures in her stories emerged into our day-to-day world” (Tomlinson 22). Thence, it is apparent that these stories are the origin of Iris’ subsequent hallucinations, which deeply affect her by clouding her ability to distinguish between reality and imagination. Furthermore, Iris’ intense and disturbing visions can be manifestations of her mental instability. In fact, Iris not only experiences visual hallucinations, but also gustatory ones—like when she unexpectedly tastes lemon—which are both symptoms that are linked to a psychotic disorder (Teeple et al.). This explains her difficulty in interpreting her life correctly because Iris experiences hallucinations containing all of the following: “vivid scenes with family members, religious figures, and animals,” which are symptoms of schizophrenia (Teeple et al.). For example, one day during mass, Iris observes the statue of Jesus pinned to the cross and notices “a bead of blood [collect] on the tip of his big toe [and drip] off and [stain] the white mantel below” (Tomlinson 136). This passage leads the reader to doubt the legitimacy of Iris’ narration. As a result, the archetype of the unbalanced hero is very effectively conveyed through Iris. This is because, through Iris’ increasingly unreliable narration, the reader understands that she sees the world through the tainted lens of her imagination and haunting visions, which are cultivated by her mother’s stories. In the end, Iris comes to realize and acknowledge the possibility of having envisioned fictitious events and beings. In the second-last chapter, she remarks, “And if these creatures are not kami or ghosts, perhaps they are manifestations of my own mind. What if I have created these animals somehow?” (Tomlinson 335). Though Iris never truly finds out if her visions are real, they certainly are contributive to the faulty interpretation of her life. Ultimately, Iris is the quintessential example of the unbalanced hero archetype as her mental instability causes her to lose touch with truth and with reality.

Just as in Our Animal Hearts, the archetype of the unbalanced hero is conveyed through Iris, whose visions immerse her in a disconcerting world she is incessantly troubled by, in The Catcher in the Rye, this archetype becomes apparent when Holden’s mental troubles lead him to construct a false view of the world around him and interpret his life through this depression-tainted lens. Unlike Iris, who never explicitly talks about her mental state, throughout the novel, Holden regularly acknowledges his depression. He often talks about his inner conflict, saying phrases like, “It makes me so depressed I go crazy” (Salinger 14) and “I was too depressed to care whether I had a good view or not” (Salinger 61). In fact, Holden uses the words “depressed” or “depressing” almost fifty times in the novel (Shmoop Editorial Team), usually referring to himself or to his situation. On the other hand, similarly to Iris, Holden’s depression leads him to experience untrue events. For instance, during a specific state of depression, he gets drunk and pretends that he has been shot by a bullet in the stomach. Holden says, “I was the only guy at the bar with a bullet in their guts. I kept putting my hand under my jacket, on my stomach and all, to keep the blood from dripping all over the place” (Salinger 150). Here, the reader understands that Holden is imagining something that is not true. Perhaps Holden uses this form of dissociation as a coping mechanism for his depression. In addition, while Tomlinson employs the archetype of the unbalanced hero to deliver an unreliable narration of the plot, Salinger goes one step further and uses it to cloud Holden’s views on society. Through the shattered lens of his depression, Holden makes generic and negative associations about society and calls the adults he sees around him “phonies” (Salinger 13). For example, during the intermission of a show, he comments on the audience members that surround him: “You never saw so many phonies in all your life […]” (Salinger 126). This goes to show that Holden’s interpretation of society is directly related to his depression. In conclusion, in The Catcher in the Rye, the archetypal unbalanced hero is conveyed through Holden, who’s depression casts a dark shadow on the world around him; thus, his interpretation of his life and of society is a distorted and bleak one.

While the archetype of the unbalanced hero is used in The Catcher in the Rye to tell the story of how Holden’s depression impacts his life, in Our Animal Hearts, the archetype of the storyteller is prominently portrayed through Llewelyna, whose macabre stories play a lead part in the creation and manifestation of Iris’ personal monsters. Llewelyna’s role as the storyteller becomes apparent through her obsession with telling stories, especially with telling them right. For instance, she becomes engrossed in the Mabinogion, a book of Welsh fairy tales that have been incorrectly translated to English. As Llewelyna becomes increasingly ill, she spends all of her time and energy rewriting the book. Iris notes, “Llewelyna had bent over this book for years, scribbling furiously” and “[…] she was attempting to rewrite the stories, revise and fix them […]” (Tomlinson 270). This proves Llewelyna’s character is driven by the need to tell stories and to relate them with accuracy. Additionally, Llewelyna’s predominant purpose in the novel is to expose Iris to a frightening world of myth and tales through her storytelling. She is the one who sows the seeds of shadow into Iris’ fertile imagination, which grow into veils of confusion, hindering Iris’ ability to tell fact from fiction. For example, the first story Llewelyna tells Iris is about a woman who cheats on her husband with a water spirit of the lake and becomes pregnant with his baby. The girl is ashamed and prays to get rid of her unborn child. Finally, the queen nymph answers her wishes and the girl gives birth to an underdeveloped baby in the lake, leaving it to die (Tomlinson 19-21). The baby ends up turning into a creature with “the head of a horse and the body of a snake” and “deformed by jealousy and betrayal” (Tomlinson 21) that haunts the lake. Following this gory and frightening story, Iris’ reality is forever changed when she starts seeing the monster appear in the lake near her village. Iris says that “with Llewelyna’s words, the lake monster was born” (Tomlinson 23). Thenceforth in the novel, Iris is constantly haunted by this lake monster, claims to see it, and consequently develops a phobia of swimming in the lake. Therefore, this, and Llewelyna’s other stories are the source of Iris’ personal monsters, which, despite not being visible to all, become very substantial to Iris. The author’s use of the storyteller archetype is powerful because Llewelyna’s stories constitute the underlying fabric of the novel, are a source of conflict for the protagonist and create a context through which the plot develops. To conclude, Llewelyna, the archetypal storyteller’s tales are an integral part of the development of Iris’ personal monsters throughout the novel.

If in Our Animal Hearts, the storyteller archetype is used to negatively impact the protagonist, in The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist is the storyteller; Holden employs the medium of narration in an attempt to obtain healing and defeat his personal monster, depression. In fact, through the first and last chapters of the novel, it is inferred that Holden writes his story from a mental institution (Where is Holden Caulfield?). Perhaps he is doing so because he has been advised by a psychoanalyst who thinks, as a form of journaling, it could help Holden cope with his depression. An article from the Health Encyclopedia of the University of Rochester Medical Center explains the motive of this suggestion. It states that journaling can help one cope with depression because “writing down [one’s] thoughts and feelings [can help one] understand them more clearly” (Journaling for Mental Health). Therefore, it is possible that through the retelling of the days before he “got pretty run-down” (depressed) and “had to come out [to the institution] and take it easy” (Salinger 1), Holden seeks to better understand his feelings of inner conflict and to gain healing. Since the story does not continue after Holden finishes his relating, it is unknown if the act of writing it helps Holden with his mental instability. However, the author demonstrates the potential of this method when, throughout the story, he shows Holden reflect on and highlight moments during which he experiences happiness. For instance, Holden buys a record for his sister and reveals his excitement about giving it to her: “Boy, it made me so happy all of a sudden. I could hardly wait to get to the park to see if old Phoebe was around so that I could give it to her” (Salinger 116). This proves that by retelling his story, Holden begins to grasp and appreciate the small moments and situations that bring him happiness. Each of these moments, consisting of a child or of childhood memories, serves as a lens through which the reader can see Holden’s deep desire to preserve the innocence of childhood. In the end, during one particular moment of happiness when Holden watches his sister on a merry-go-round, Holden does come to terms with one of his mental struggles. As Gretchen Mussey of eNotes puts it, just as he recognizes that he cannot prevent the kids on the merry-go-round from grabbing for the gold ring, Holden also “accepts the fact that he cannot prevent any child from becoming an adult” (Mussey). Therefore, through his storytelling, Holden ultimately does find peace regarding one of his inner troubles. All in all, though it is not evident if Holden ends up mending his mental wounds through the medium of storytelling, it is safe to say that telling his story is a tool toward defeating his depression.

In summary, Dania Tomlinson and J. D. Salinger both employ the archetypes of the unbalanced hero and the storyteller with a high degree of effectiveness in their respective novels. In Our Animal Hearts, the protagonist Iris Sparks represents the archetype of the unbalanced hero as she suffers from misleading visions caused by her mental instability and narrates them in an unreliable way. Similarly, The Catcher in the Rye uses Holden to convey this archetype; he experiences delusions in consequence of his depression and also proceeds to externalize his flawed interpretation by applying it to the way he perceives society. Furthermore, in Our Animal Hearts, Tomlinson conveys the archetype of the storyteller through Llewelyna, whose obsession with telling dark stories leads her to cloud her daughter’s perception of reality, bringing to life the monsters from these stories. On the other hand, Salinger uses the archetype of the storyteller in his novel to reveal Holden’s search for healing and his conquering of depression, both of which he attempts to achieve through the account of his story. In conclusion, the archetypes of the unbalanced hero and the storyteller in both Our Animal Hearts and The Catcher in the Rye display the twisted effects that mental instability can have when it comes to interpreting one’s life and the numerous ways in which storytelling can create or help defeat personal monsters. In these two novels, and throughout literature, archetypes are critical because they allow the reader to better understand the characters’ conflicts and to be able to relate to them. As Kimaya Dixit and Eliana Reyes of Hattaway Communications put it, “they recur in stories because people recognize something that speaks to them about their own lives” (Dixit and Reyes). It is safe to say that Dania Tomlinson and J. D. Salinger exploit the literary device of the archetype very adequately in their respective novels Our Animal Hearts and The Catcher in the Rye, which is proven by their high praise and popularity.

In J.D. Salinger Catcher In The Rye, A young man, Holden Caulfield, is faced with many challenges of society. This book was set in the 1940’s and society has changed in many ways from then to now. Society has changed in various ways from the mid 20th century to the early 21st century because, women have become less objectified, the popular clothes have been altered, and people partake in different activities.

This book was still set in a time where women were not treated equally to men. Although women had many rights, it was inevitable to stop the objectification of them. They could be objectified in many ways such as sexual and physical roles. In the current time period more men are doing the roles of what women used to solely do. The time this book was set in was when women would cook for the family every night and every teacher at a school would be a female. Most men grew up not thinking anything was wrong because they were treated much better than women. An example of objectification is when Monsieur Blanchard said, “a woman’s body is like a violin and all, and that it takes a terrific musician to play it right (Salinger 57)”. This is just one example of how they could be objectified. With this quote we can see that women were sexually objectified. He is making a comparison of a woman’s body to an object. In the modern world, this talk is not liked by many and has stopped by many after everyone has realized the consequences.

During the time period of this book, it was a popular thing to wear formal apparel. Most schools and other establishments would require the people attending to wear nicer clothes. Now, only private schools and nicer establishments require this clothing. An example of this popularity is when Holden says, “they wear those suits with very big shoulders and corny black-and-white shoes (Salinger 9)”. From this quote we can inference that there were many of these types of people at Holden’s school and in the world. Nicer clothes were more pleasing to the eye and very ubiquitous in Holden’s time. The world has become much more casual. Comfortable clothes are slowly becoming a popular sight to see in the modern world.

When this book took place, many kids would partake in different activities than we would right now. In society, it was really popular to do stuff at that time, just like it is now. There are many things now that are not deemed safe, but people did years ago. For instance when Holden says, “ I’m quite a heavy smoker (Salinger 4)”. From this quote, we can learn that Holden is a heavy smoker. We can infer that smoking must have been a popular thing to do just like how the vaping epidemic is going around teenagers. Many activities have changed because of concerns for health and many other reasons.

In these situations and others like them, society has changed a lot. Society has changed in various ways from the mid 20th century to the early 21st century because, the treatment of women has become much more balanced, the popular clothes have been altered, and people partake in different activities. This is relevant because each year new norms and popular ideas are brought into society. They will always change for the rest of the earth’s lifespan. There will be new items and activities tomorrow that are more popular than items and activities of today’s age.