Catcher In The Rye Adolescence

Two post World War II American novels shed light on the struggles of fitting in and growing up as an adolescent. Holden is a teenage boy, who continually flunks out of school, and struggles with the loss of his brother. Esther is a successful young woman, who is taking a very promising path to a bright future. While Esther seems a success, both she and Holden experience traumatic events throughout their youth. Adolescence is both positive and negative experiences in life. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar highlight how one event can lead to downhill cascade.
Death, at any place or time, is a very traumatic experience for people of all ages. At a young age however, it can have drastic, life long effects …show more content…
This is alienation. Holden shows that he cannot interact with other people or fit in through a multitude of occasions. Holden narrates, “Anyway, it was the Saturday of the football game. […] I remember around three o'clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill. […] You could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place. […] You could hear them all yelling” (Salinger 5). He is alone observing the game while the entire school watches. Literally everyone but him is watching the game. Holden considers himself above society and above others so he skips activities such as this. He alienates himself, even though he craves to be social. Esther on the other hand, has what could be considered normal social interactions. She feels isolated from society in the sense that it expects her to be someone she is not. Esther is a smart girl who can do almost anything, but when asked what she wants to do with her future, she says, “"I don't really know," I heard myself say. I felt a deep shock hearing myself say that, because the minute I said it, I knew it was true.” (Plath 36) Esther knows she wants to do something, but doesn't know what. She feels like society wants her to either choose a profession, or settle down as a wife. She doesn't want to be confined to either category, she would rather do everything; …show more content…
It conquers the ability to feel emotion, good or bad. It doesn't merely control the mind, it affects the physical body as well. It shrouds life with a black cloak over everything. Without help it's impossible to shrug off. Depression is all inclusive, no one person is immune, regardless of age, race, or social status. Ester for example, has it all. She is a successful young woman and had amazing high school and college marks. She received a scholarship for a prestigious school and was also selected to be part of a writing program under a successful writer. Esther is blind to her success by her few failures. A supposed failure Esther can’t move past is her career. She says, “I felt like a racehorse in a world without racetracks or a champion college footballer suddenly confronted by Wall Street and a business suit, his days of glory shrunk to a little gold cup on his mantel with a date engraved on it like a date on a tombstone” (Plath 77). Society forced Esther to think that everything she is, and everything she is going to be is useless. Without a strong supporting figure in her family, Esther let herself slip away. She didn't have anyone else to help her through her struggles. Without a father figure Esther was unable to find a sense of purpose or belonging. Holden on the other hand, would appear to be the perfect subject for depression. What would cause that to seem so? Think on it. Holden says,