When we are born in the first place, we all are blank canvases that desire to be painted. Our family members, the artists who stroke the foundation of our personalities, play a crucial role in our life journeys either by inspiring us through our roads of trail or destroying us through their ruthless actions.The Catcher in the Rye, a fictional novel by J.D. Salinger, and Hamlet, a well-written play by Shakespeare, portray the influence that family has given to Holden and Hamlet, the main characters in the books. Although Holden grows up in the 1950s’ America, where nascent social rebellions started emerging, and Hamlet is identified as the Prince of the rotten state of Denmark, J.D Salinger and William Shakespeare manage to present these two
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Starting from the very beginning of the story, Shakespeare portrays Prince Hamlet as a loyal son who truly admires and honors his father and is willing to speak up against anyone who questions his faithfulness. In fact, when his mother, King Hamlet’s ex-wife, asks him why his father’s death seems so particular to him that he refuses to move on, Hamlet defenses himself, “‘seems,’ madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems.’” (Shakespeare, Act.1, Sc.2, 79-80) Claiming that he is not showing his grief intentionally to anybody, Hamlet’s love to his father is unquestionable and thus, when he finds out that his uncle, the current King of Denmark, is the murderer of his venerable father, he is not able to recover from this ruthless betrayal, just like Holden is unable to move on from his beloved brother’s sudden death. It has turned Hamlet into such a disturbed person that he starts showing uncontrollable mental instability: he once claims to Ophelia that “I loved you not” right after saying “I did love you once’ (Shakespeare, Act 3, Sc1, 125 & 129); not only so, secretly escaping from the ship to England, when he hears Laertes mourning the death of Ophelia and sees him leaping in her grave, without much colligation, he advances and acclaims his fervent love to Ophelia, “Forty thousand brothers/ Could not with all their …show more content…
Salinger’s happy ending, Shakespeare, depicting only conformity and rancor in Hamlet’s family, puts a slaughter on the entire household because the situation of this royal family is implacable. Unlike Holden’s family members who give Holden much support and care, although Prince Hamlet expresses great admiration towards his father King Hamlet and puts on a well-planned revenge, Hamlet Senior does not seem to care too much about his son’s feeling. Instead, he urges Prince Hamlet to justify his murder and defense the dignity of the royal family of Denmark. When the king appears to Hamlet Junior as an apparition, he demands, “if thou hast nature in thee, bear it not./ Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/ A couch for luxury and damnèd incest.”(Shakespeare, Act 1, Sc 5, 88-90) Here he is almost threatening Prince Hamlet to revenge by saying everyone with a heart would take actions to this terrible murder, but he could not care less about his son, who is always timid in taking actions rather than speaking. Showing more conformity than willingness, Hamlet has to start a journey that is not designed for him, which drowns him in intense negativity. In addition, his mother, who remarries her husband’s murderer, also shows very little care towards Hamlet. In fact, when Hamlet mentions to her about the faithful queen in the play, she responses, “the lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (Shakespeare, Act 3, Sc 2, 254) There is nothing worse than realizing his
Starting from the very beginning of the story, Shakespeare portrays Prince Hamlet as a loyal son who truly admires and honors his father and is willing to speak up against anyone who questions his faithfulness. In fact, when his mother, King Hamlet’s ex-wife, asks him why his father’s death seems so particular to him that he refuses to move on, Hamlet defenses himself, “‘seems,’ madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems.’” (Shakespeare, Act.1, Sc.2, 79-80) Claiming that he is not showing his grief intentionally to anybody, Hamlet’s love to his father is unquestionable and thus, when he finds out that his uncle, the current King of Denmark, is the murderer of his venerable father, he is not able to recover from this ruthless betrayal, just like Holden is unable to move on from his beloved brother’s sudden death. It has turned Hamlet into such a disturbed person that he starts showing uncontrollable mental instability: he once claims to Ophelia that “I loved you not” right after saying “I did love you once’ (Shakespeare, Act 3, Sc1, 125 & 129); not only so, secretly escaping from the ship to England, when he hears Laertes mourning the death of Ophelia and sees him leaping in her grave, without much colligation, he advances and acclaims his fervent love to Ophelia, “Forty thousand brothers/ Could not with all their …show more content…
Salinger’s happy ending, Shakespeare, depicting only conformity and rancor in Hamlet’s family, puts a slaughter on the entire household because the situation of this royal family is implacable. Unlike Holden’s family members who give Holden much support and care, although Prince Hamlet expresses great admiration towards his father King Hamlet and puts on a well-planned revenge, Hamlet Senior does not seem to care too much about his son’s feeling. Instead, he urges Prince Hamlet to justify his murder and defense the dignity of the royal family of Denmark. When the king appears to Hamlet Junior as an apparition, he demands, “if thou hast nature in thee, bear it not./ Let not the royal bed of Denmark be/ A couch for luxury and damnèd incest.”(Shakespeare, Act 1, Sc 5, 88-90) Here he is almost threatening Prince Hamlet to revenge by saying everyone with a heart would take actions to this terrible murder, but he could not care less about his son, who is always timid in taking actions rather than speaking. Showing more conformity than willingness, Hamlet has to start a journey that is not designed for him, which drowns him in intense negativity. In addition, his mother, who remarries her husband’s murderer, also shows very little care towards Hamlet. In fact, when Hamlet mentions to her about the faithful queen in the play, she responses, “the lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (Shakespeare, Act 3, Sc 2, 254) There is nothing worse than realizing his