Similarities Between Holden Caulfield And Catcher In The Rye

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Holden and Huck Two of a Kind? The longest and hardest journey of your life is that of growing up. During this process one must discover themselves, confront things they would rather avoid, and learn how to be true to thy own self. Holden Caulfield is depicted as a rebellious adolescent that has no real grasp on growing up in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Holden tries to find his place in the world through different rebellious acts. When creating Holden, J. D. Salinger created the most generationally relatable character in literary history by writing about a young boy that feels alienated just like almost every young boy or girl feels at some point in their journey to adulthood. Mark Twain also created a similar character in …show more content…
Judging other people while in public and eventually refers to everyone as phony is one of Holden’s main characteristics. Due to Holden’s lack of maturity he does this which makes everyone uncomfortable and leads to the fact that no one wants to help him during a crises. Adults usually take care of and protect their children from the harshness of the world. This happens until the parents (or those acting in place of) can see that the child has developed a sense of right and wrong. The parents usually let children have responsibilities slowly until they can see that the child can handle the task or problem at hand. When children grow older and must face adulthood on their own, they will understand the anxiety and fear that majority of young adults face. Throughout the novel, Holden is struggling with this same anxiety and fear that is brought on by the stress of trying make his own way in the world. It is harder for him to be successful in life since he is not fully developed as a person and does not have any interest in growing up. (Wolff) With fear and anxiety, Holden does not allow the demands in life to take him over. He fight back bravely not allowing himself to be completely taken over with depression. A good example of this is when he goes to his sister, Phoebe, for advice. This act symbolizes that he wants to do better himself in life and will not give up. It is Phoebe, who tells Holden …show more content…
This is a great example of individualism. Individualism is also shows up when he leaves society and goes into nature. At that point he must decide for himself what is right and what is wrong. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck helps a runaway slave, Jim, escape to freedom. Huck knew the consequences of helping Jim, but it did not stop him from rebelling against society’s views on slavery. Huck’s rebellion showed that individuals need to stop caring about society’s views of their words and actions. Society belief that it would be wrong for a white person to help a runaway slave is not the belief that Huck shares. Huck believes that it would be wrong for him to turn Jim into the authorities. Huck is rebelling against society views on slavery. Huck is standing up for what he believes in by doing whatever it takes to help his friend. In beginning of the novel, Jim and Huck took an adventure together to get away from society, towards the end of the novel, they became more personal by depending on each other’s friendship. This symbolizes that Huck changed from being a wild, rebellious boy without a cause, to a youthful individual with a sense of right and wrong. Huckleberry Finn is a great example of youthful individualism. Some people say age, but age has nothing to do with being youthful. To be youthful is to have a person’s own opinions
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