What is change? According to Merriam-Webster, the word change is described as, “to undergo transformation, transition, or substitution” (“change”). In other words, change makes the future different from the present. Change is what shapes our life and without change, life can be very boring and monotonous. No matter what happens, change is always present in some form or another. In life, there could be many ups and downs as well as twists and turns that we may all encounter to remain the same. Indeed, change is inevitable and life is full of surprises. As a matter of fact, sometimes change can be good in the world whereas other times it may be forced on you. In J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and Colson Whitehead’s short story,
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In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is incapable of accepting change in his life; therefore, he tries to avoid it as much as possible. He is fearful of all the obstacles that will arise if he makes himself change. At one point in the novel, he provides evidence that change is not a necessity for him when he searches for the ducks at the pond in Central Park. He asks the cab driver, “By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over” (Salinger 60). This conversation can prove that not everything disappears forever just like Holden believes in. However, this idea is not what Whitehead experiences when he sees New York. He establishes the point that no matter how much one tries, “Go back to your haunts in your old neighborhoods and…you find: they remain and have disappeared” (Whitehead 1026). In fact, Whitehead clearly accepts the fact that New York is constantly changing, unlike Holden who denies change. For example, Holden even admits that he can live a life with the same type of food he eats, “…a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk” whenever he goes out (Salinger 107). In addition, Whitehead acknowledges the fact that “damage has been done to [our] city” because of all the constant changes New York undergoes as time progresses (Whitehead 1026). With that being said, one has to decide themselves whether they admit change occurring or
In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is incapable of accepting change in his life; therefore, he tries to avoid it as much as possible. He is fearful of all the obstacles that will arise if he makes himself change. At one point in the novel, he provides evidence that change is not a necessity for him when he searches for the ducks at the pond in Central Park. He asks the cab driver, “By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over” (Salinger 60). This conversation can prove that not everything disappears forever just like Holden believes in. However, this idea is not what Whitehead experiences when he sees New York. He establishes the point that no matter how much one tries, “Go back to your haunts in your old neighborhoods and…you find: they remain and have disappeared” (Whitehead 1026). In fact, Whitehead clearly accepts the fact that New York is constantly changing, unlike Holden who denies change. For example, Holden even admits that he can live a life with the same type of food he eats, “…a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk” whenever he goes out (Salinger 107). In addition, Whitehead acknowledges the fact that “damage has been done to [our] city” because of all the constant changes New York undergoes as time progresses (Whitehead 1026). With that being said, one has to decide themselves whether they admit change occurring or