While over fifty years separate the two novels, Looking for Alaska and The Catcher in the Rye, both are “coming of age” stories that show similar characters struggling with the angst of adolescence. Both John Green and J.D. Salinger were able to catch the disarray of a young person when confronted with the test of adjusting to a grown-up society through the symbols of depression shown in their risky behavior, smoking, and withdrawal from other characters. This is also shown through their encounters, isolation, and loneliness that they experience due to their conflicts with death, family, and alienation from peers. Both authors depict characters with symbols of depression, lacking in character development arguably because of their unresolved
