Throughout the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield sees change closing in on every corner. John F. Kennedy once stated, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” As Holden is growing up, he constantly changes schools, changes his lifestyle, and changes his outlook on life. But he doesn’t like change. It is true, change can be a difficult aspect to adapt to; however, as Mr. Kennedy stated, life will definitely pass you by if you are constantly thinking about the past and nothing ever changes. Life is about rolling with the punches. If you look into the future, you can plan those changes and they won’t sneak up on you like a ghost in a haunted house. The
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There is always something new in society. Popular culture always keeps us guessing on what music is going to be popular, what tv show everybody watches, what clothing is fashionable, and what language we use. Of course, what is cool today may not be cool in a month, 2 months, or a year. Society is always adapting to what people believe to be “cool” and “in fashion”. Throughout the short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger, the character Seymour struggles to fit back into society and change his lifestyle to acculturate to others around him after he returns from the war. After Seymour goes to war, he is changed and comes back a different man. Salinger portrays the bananafish as a symbol of going to war and changing and never coming out the same. Salinger states, “‘Well, they swim into a hole where there's a lot of bananas. They're very ordinary-looking fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs. Why, I've known some bananafish to swim into a banana hole and eat as many as seventy-eight bananas.’ He edged the float and its passenger a foot closer to the horizon. ‘Naturally, after that they're so fat they can't get out of the hole again. Can't fit through the door.’” This is similar to Seymour’s experience when he goes to war, he is killing innocent people and shooting them, but nobody can recover from that traumatic experience. He went all the way into the hole, like the bananafish, but got “too fat” and couldn’t escape the war. This suggests that it is important to consider the struggle of change because once people go into war, they never come back the same. War is a life altering experience and if you don’t understand that you will not come back the same, you will have a difficult time fitting back into society. This difference among your peers could cause bad things to happen to you and you could
There is always something new in society. Popular culture always keeps us guessing on what music is going to be popular, what tv show everybody watches, what clothing is fashionable, and what language we use. Of course, what is cool today may not be cool in a month, 2 months, or a year. Society is always adapting to what people believe to be “cool” and “in fashion”. Throughout the short story, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger, the character Seymour struggles to fit back into society and change his lifestyle to acculturate to others around him after he returns from the war. After Seymour goes to war, he is changed and comes back a different man. Salinger portrays the bananafish as a symbol of going to war and changing and never coming out the same. Salinger states, “‘Well, they swim into a hole where there's a lot of bananas. They're very ordinary-looking fish when they swim in. But once they get in, they behave like pigs. Why, I've known some bananafish to swim into a banana hole and eat as many as seventy-eight bananas.’ He edged the float and its passenger a foot closer to the horizon. ‘Naturally, after that they're so fat they can't get out of the hole again. Can't fit through the door.’” This is similar to Seymour’s experience when he goes to war, he is killing innocent people and shooting them, but nobody can recover from that traumatic experience. He went all the way into the hole, like the bananafish, but got “too fat” and couldn’t escape the war. This suggests that it is important to consider the struggle of change because once people go into war, they never come back the same. War is a life altering experience and if you don’t understand that you will not come back the same, you will have a difficult time fitting back into society. This difference among your peers could cause bad things to happen to you and you could