Holden Caulfield Conformity

In, both J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Dead Poets Society, the theme of conformity is present in the main character’s journeys in very similar ways. In Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the main character Holden Caulfield struggles with conformity throughout the novel as he is often pressured to do things he is opposed to but society deems acceptable and expected of someone his age, many of which he conforms to. Throughout the novel, Holden is characterized as a very hypocritical character, which often highlights his unintentional conformity. For example, he often labels people as “phonies” and continues to describe their pretentious attitudes, yet later contradicts himself by expressing that same falsified behavior. In Holden’s interaction …show more content…
This behavior of appeasing those around him is one that Holden often expresses and is one of the few ways Holden conforms to the pressures of society. However, Holden is more commonly characterized as a very rebellious character rather than conforms to society’s expectations. This defiant nature is depicted in Holden’s interaction with Carl Luce. After meeting his old friend who is known for his sexual advice to the younger boys at Whooton, Holden exhibits his immaturity by noticeably irritating Carl, “‘Hey, I got a flit for you,’ I told him. ‘At the end of the bar. Don't look now. I been saving him for ya.’ ‘Very funny,’ he said. ‘Same old …show more content…
The movie features several young men, including Neil, who attend an elite Prep School that holds extremely high standards for its students in order to preserve the school’s esteemed reputation. Throughout the movie, Neil is also very intimidated by his father and school administrators and is pressured into conforming to several of society's standards as a result. As the school year begins, the students are lectured on the honor they must uphold, which quite clearly puts an enormous amount of pressure on the boys. Additionally, Neil’s father often reminds him throughout the movie of the sacrifices he has made in order for Neil to attend the Prep school, thus bestowing unreasonably high expectations of academic as well as social success upon his son. However, Neil yearns for an outlet in which he can finally defy these pressing expectations and, for once in his life, not conform to society’s expectations. This outlet, Neil finds, is acting, which he also discovers is one of his great passions. Unfortunately, however, this passion conflicts with his father’s and society's expectations of a young man during this time period. As a result of Neil pursuing his passion, Mr. Perry plans his son’s future, which unsurprisingly does not include a career in acting. This inability to express himself and conform to his father’s standards proves to be far too much