Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And The Breakfast Club

The catcher in the rye and the breakfast club both demonstrate how a loss of innocence occurs in people when society pressures them into a way of thinking.In the Catcher in the Rye Holden feels a pressure to coform to society. Holden hires a prostitute, however he sends her away: “ ‘Look’, I said, ‘I don’t feel very much like myself tonight. I’ve had a rough night. Honest to God. I’ll pay you and all, but do you mind very much if we don’t do it? Do you mind very much?”(96). Holden felt pressured from the outside world and his classmates to lose his virginity, he had felt like everybody else was doing ‘it’ except for him. This pressure caused him to hire a prostitute so he would finally be able to say he was experienced. The peer pressure from his classmates made him believe that he needed to lose his virginity too in order to be a …show more content…
These are gender stereotypes that are put on men, causes them to act in certain way that is deemed ‘cool’ or ‘manly in order to conform to what the social norm is . However he turns away the prostitute, and claims he is not feeling it. Holden is actually really scared but does not want to admit it to the prostitute or to anybody else. In his life Holden had always been very respectful of girls, and hiring a prostitute was a loss of innocence for Holden. The pressure put on Holden to act a certain way causes him to try to lose his virginity because he cares what society thinks about him. This also occurs in the Breakfast Club, when both Alison and Claire feel pressured to prove themselves to their peers. In the Breakfast Club, the group is trying to get Claire to tell the group if she is a virgin or not. However she is hesitant and Alison chimes in explaining why; “ ‘It’s kind of a double-edged sword, isn’t it?’... ‘Well if you say you haven’t, you’re a prude. If you say you have, you’re a slut. It’s a trap. You want to but you can’t, and when you do you wish you didn’t, right?’” -