Life, Death, and Everything in Between
The 1950’s were a time for teens to be rebels. This era of unruly behavior led to teens getting into even more trouble than before which forced them to learn how to deal with difficult issues at a young age. Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and the film Rebel Without a Cause take on themes and issues that are still prevalent in today’s society. Jim and Holden both have to confront death, hypocrites, their parents, and decisions on what to do next in life, but, throughout this journey, Jim is more open about his feelings and tries to surround himself with others while Holden is very rash and isolates himself all the people around him.
In both the movie and the book, …show more content…
Jim constantly talks about how even though his parents always want to move away, he rather stay and deal with the problems in his life. When Jim reaches a breaking point with his parents, he says, “Every time you can't face yourself you want to move and you say it's because of me or the neighborhood or some other phony excuse. Now I want to do one thing right and I'm not letting you run away,”(Rebel Without a Cause). Jim is against running away from his issues because he wants to try to make things right even if doing so ruins his life. He understands that running away will not solve anything and is realistic in knowing that if he does not fix the problems he is facing, nothing will ever change. Holden, the less sensible character decides to leave all of his problems behind him and tries to move on. While trying to figure out what was next for him, Holden informs the reader of his decision by stating, “Finally, what I decided I'd do, I decided I'd go away. I decided I'd never go home again and I'd never go away to another school again”(Catcher in the Rye, 198). Holden does not want to fix the problems he is dealing with and instead he decides to abandon them. He makes a very rash decision that will isolate him from everyone he knows and the people who care about him in a moment of
The 1950’s were a time for teens to be rebels. This era of unruly behavior led to teens getting into even more trouble than before which forced them to learn how to deal with difficult issues at a young age. Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and the film Rebel Without a Cause take on themes and issues that are still prevalent in today’s society. Jim and Holden both have to confront death, hypocrites, their parents, and decisions on what to do next in life, but, throughout this journey, Jim is more open about his feelings and tries to surround himself with others while Holden is very rash and isolates himself all the people around him.
In both the movie and the book, …show more content…
Jim constantly talks about how even though his parents always want to move away, he rather stay and deal with the problems in his life. When Jim reaches a breaking point with his parents, he says, “Every time you can't face yourself you want to move and you say it's because of me or the neighborhood or some other phony excuse. Now I want to do one thing right and I'm not letting you run away,”(Rebel Without a Cause). Jim is against running away from his issues because he wants to try to make things right even if doing so ruins his life. He understands that running away will not solve anything and is realistic in knowing that if he does not fix the problems he is facing, nothing will ever change. Holden, the less sensible character decides to leave all of his problems behind him and tries to move on. While trying to figure out what was next for him, Holden informs the reader of his decision by stating, “Finally, what I decided I'd do, I decided I'd go away. I decided I'd never go home again and I'd never go away to another school again”(Catcher in the Rye, 198). Holden does not want to fix the problems he is dealing with and instead he decides to abandon them. He makes a very rash decision that will isolate him from everyone he knows and the people who care about him in a moment of