The Pleasure Of My Company Analysis

Introduction: One may not realize that a person is living in isolation, especially if they are seen around people. It is quite a wonder that one can be quite alienated from normal life or people while still living around them. More so, it is surprising how a person could just choose to live indoors because of his phobia and be happy enjoying his own company. In the two works of literature, The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, this theme has been expressed in different ways. While Martin in his book, The Pleasure of My Company expresses the theme of isolation by developing a protagonist who is confined from the normal social life like other people with his fears, Salinger develops such a character …show more content…
The two pieces of literature are quite contrasting in their thematic development, setting, style, characters and story. BP 1. Although the setting of the two works is in the same country, The Catcher in the Rye does not give one specific setting, but several places are described as the protagonist describes them while The Pleasure of my Company describes one setting. The two settings take place in different cities and in different centuries. The Pleasure of my Company takes place in the early 21stcentury, in Santa Monica (Steve Martin, The Pleasure Of My Company, page 1.), while The catcher in the Rye takes place in several cities, which the protagonist describes, starting with Pennsylvania where he was schooled to New York where he spent several days. The play is set in the mid 20th century, in 1950s. While in that Pleasure of My Company the protagonist is located in one place, the Catcher in the Rye’s protagonist is seen in different places. In Pleasure of my Company, the protagonist hardly leaves his apartment to go outside, loves doing indoor chores such as ironing pillows, flat, because of his fear of the outside, and lacks the chance for interaction. On the other hand, …show more content…
The protagonists in the stories are both alienated by personal issues, but have many differences where one is obsessed with fears while the other is not happy about the world itself and the thought of being an adult. The difference comes from the fact that one is isolated from people, but wishes to have people around, but cannot since he is always indoors. The other person is between people, but still, lives an isolated life. The two protagonists are alienated from the normal social interaction by different personal matters and issues. Daniel lives in the confinement of his apartment because of his personal phobias such as crossing over a curb to go over the other side of the road. Holden on the other hand cannot come to terms with his own person and the world of adulthood that makes him quite unhappy and view the world of adulthood as cruel and chooses not to engage in friendships with people of his age, ending up alienated. The two protagonists are from different age groups. Daniel just stays at home and has an apartment, but is jobless suggesting that he is past schooling and probably above 20 years. Holden on the other hand is just a high school student at the age of 17, which is among the ages that maturity enters hence a lot of differences are noted. Between the two protagonists, one is aware of his condition, while one just thinks there is nothing wrong except the people around him are all wrong. Daniel is aware of his conditions and describes them, when he