Love is a human necessity. Whether one receives it from friends or family, feeling wanted gives one reason to live their life to the fullest. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy, is desperate for true companionship without it being “phony”. He continually falls through hard times without anyone close to him helping him along, as he pushes them all away. In At a Window by Carl Sandburg, the narrator claims he would rather have hunger, poverty, and pain rather than being without love. Clearly both characters in these two texts have a desire for companionship, but have distinctly different ways of showing it. Ultimately these pieces of literature express that companionship is a two-way street, Holden needs
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However, both of them push away the reception of that thing, companionship and love, in their own unique, yet connected ways. The narrator in the poem ends by saying that he will “wait and know the coming Of a little love.” He does not seek out to receive love from others only waits in hope that he will get some. A flawed idea which Holden does not share, on the other hand, Holden often calls others such as Sally, Carl and even strangers. When leaving a taxi cab, he’s so desperate that he asks the driver, “Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I'm loaded.” However, in Holden’s case he lets his desolate emotions push away his companions; for example, he insults Sally on their date after she refuses his crazy proposition of running away. While Holden and the narrator differ in this aspect, they are very similar in that they both do not give out love and companionship to others. Perhaps the main reason why they are so lonely, despite their want for “A voice to speak to me in the day …show more content…
At a Window reveals that one will never receive love simply by waiting for it to come to them, no matter how amazing or terrible their lives are. While A Catcher in the Rye expresses treating others without love does not result in receiving companionship. Both pieces of literature also express what happens to the minds of people who lack love and companionship through the narrator and Holden. Both of whom fall into desperate and depressed mental states, struggling to connect with other human beings. Life is not complete without the love of others, but giving out that same love is just as
However, both of them push away the reception of that thing, companionship and love, in their own unique, yet connected ways. The narrator in the poem ends by saying that he will “wait and know the coming Of a little love.” He does not seek out to receive love from others only waits in hope that he will get some. A flawed idea which Holden does not share, on the other hand, Holden often calls others such as Sally, Carl and even strangers. When leaving a taxi cab, he’s so desperate that he asks the driver, “Would you care to stop on the way and join me for a cocktail? On me, I'm loaded.” However, in Holden’s case he lets his desolate emotions push away his companions; for example, he insults Sally on their date after she refuses his crazy proposition of running away. While Holden and the narrator differ in this aspect, they are very similar in that they both do not give out love and companionship to others. Perhaps the main reason why they are so lonely, despite their want for “A voice to speak to me in the day …show more content…
At a Window reveals that one will never receive love simply by waiting for it to come to them, no matter how amazing or terrible their lives are. While A Catcher in the Rye expresses treating others without love does not result in receiving companionship. Both pieces of literature also express what happens to the minds of people who lack love and companionship through the narrator and Holden. Both of whom fall into desperate and depressed mental states, struggling to connect with other human beings. Life is not complete without the love of others, but giving out that same love is just as