Free Essay

Compare and Contrast of Charlie and Holden

In:

Submitted By byau94
Words 2014
Pages 9
Holden and Charlie
In both the novels Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Chbosky’s the perks of being a wallflower, the main characters Holden Caulfield and Charlie are troubled teens. Although they were teenagers in different time periods they shared many similar teenage difficulties. Both novels portray a male protagonist growing up while struggling to find his identity, while loathing their lives. Thus both novels are of the coming of age genre. Both boys are socially awkward and are not able to integrate into society. In this case, Charlie is insulted by senior students of his high school, “God, that kid is such a fucking freak,” (Chbosky 145). Throughout the novel Holden and Charlie strive to become a part of society. While Charlie tries to integrate with society, it seems that Holden rejects it and wants to create a new society that suits him more. With the downs of life they find a way to cope with the failure of being accepted which leads to a self-destructive behavior. Such behavior tends to lead to the use of drugs, alcohol and violence. However similar they may seem, they also share many differences which are responsible for the differing results of their outstanding social statuses. While Holden avoids his problems, Charlie chooses to confront them and this is partially why Charlie becomes socially accepted. Despite their resembling problems, they also differ greatly in lifestyles. While Holden comes from a rich family and goes to a prestigious private school, Charlie is poor and goes to a local public school. Another contrast of these coming-of-age characters is that they have extremely different personalities. One could say that if both Holden and Charlie were part of one story they would be character foils of each other. Both characters face the same dilemma yet have completely different outcomes. Holden is perceived to be judgmental, cynical, depressed and a manic while Charlie is shown to the reader as an excited and enthusiastic child. Regardless of how similar Holden and Charlie are, their futures end in a contradicting manner. Both Holden and Charlie are regarded as social outcasts, not able to make many friends. Their failed attempt to connect with society leads them towards a path of uncertain self-destruction.
Holden and Charlie’s self-destructive behaviors are quite similar, both characters turn to smoking as stress relief. Holden begins to smoke several packs a day, whereas Charlie turns to drinking and dangerous drugs, such as marijuana and acid. There are many small factors as to why Holden and Charlie become self-destructive. Mainly it is the loss of someone close giving, them a feeling of hopelessness. Holden was consistently unable to find friends, but for Charlie, he slowly adapts and progressively makes more and more friends. In the novels, both Holden and Charlie are not portrayed as the center of attraction in their families. In Holden’s case D.B, his older brother, shines the greatest in the family. D.B has graduated from school and has become a successful play-wright in Hollywood, whereas Holden has been kicked out of school and has no direction in his life. Similarly, Charlie’s brother is also successful, as he attends the Pennsylvania State University on a football scholarship. Both novels start with the characters not having a lot of friends. The reason for Holden not having friends is because he judges and hates everyone, but at the same time he wants to join them. Holden consistently makes a half-hearted attempt to reach out, and then becomes disappointed when that person isn’t there to talk to him, support him or to understand him. This is displayed when Holden yells at Sally Hayes for not agreeing with him on their date. ‘I said. “You give me a royal pain in the ass, if you want to know the truth.”’ (Salinger 133). In the previous passage, Holden had tried to ask Sally to leave with him, but she refuses and Holden turns sour. Holden dislikes all the boys at his school and regards them all as phonies. ‘“You ought to go to a boys’ school sometime. Try it sometime,” I said. “It’s full of phonies, and all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to be able to buy a goddam Cadillac some day,…”’(Salinger 131). This passage proves that Holden is dissatisfied with the boys at his school, he believes they are fake and he does not social well with them. Although Holden doesn’t want to interact much, when he does end up interacting with people, he usually gets the short end of the stick. For instance he invites Ackley, a boy he meets at Pency Prep, along to the movies, but Ackley won't return the favor by letting Holden sleep in his roommate's bed. ‘“I’m not worried about it. Only, I’d hate like hell if Ely came in all of a sudden and found some guy-”’ (Salinger 49). Another instance is when Holden pays Sunny even though they don’t have sex, and ends up getting scammed. At a young age, Holden lost his younger brother, Allie. This had a huge traumatizing effect on him; Holden felt useless because he was unable to help his brother. Holden turns his emotions into anger; stating that he punched out all the windows in the garage. Another time Holden felt unable to help was when his peer, James Castle, was harassed and bullied, leading to James’s suicide. Holden says, “... and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was dead, and his teeth, and blood, were all over the place, and nobody would even go near him. He had on this turtleneck sweater I'd lent him”’ (Salinger 170). Holden feels that society had stripped him of everything, one brother dead and the other lost to the glamour of Hollywood. His relationship with his parents seems to have dwindled down to almost nothing. It is not surprising that this is a society that he rejects. All these small factors build up to Holden’s bitter view of life and leads to his self destruction. Charlie, very much like Holden, loses someone important: his aunt Helen. Throughout the novel Charlie expresses that Helen was the only one that had made him feel special, frequently telling him that she loved him. Charlie feels responsible for the death of Helen, because she died in a car crash trying to buy his birthday gift. Charlie also suffers another loss, Michael, a close friend from elementary school. Through reading Charlie’s letters it can be determined that Michael has committed suicide. When Charlie had first found out about the death of his best and only friend, he was unable to stop the tears from flowing. He cried so much that he was recommended a guidance counselor. Charlie felt responsible because as Michael’s friend he was not able to comfort Michael from the pain he was suffering. Crying seems to be Charlie’s way of expressing his emotion whereas Holden is more physical and breaks windows. Unlike Holden though, Charlie meets two new friends that help him get through life and is able to cope with the hardships of life. Both characters were originally unable to connect with anyone, but throughout the novel we see that both Holden and Charlie find at least one person with whom they are able to console and talk comfortably with. For Holden, it was his little sister Phoebe and for Charlie, it was Patrick and Sam.
Holden and Charlie have completely different personalities and this is what separates their methods of confronting their problems at hand. Holden is perceived as a drab, cynical, unenthusiastic, and indifferent boy. While Charlie is quite the opposite, he seems to be a lively young boy despite his hardships, he is excited about new friendships and feeling euphoric at moments of his life, “I feel infinite.” (Chbosky 33) When faced with a problem, Holden’s method of dealing with it is to avoid it, to run away from his complications. When Holden is kicked out of school, instead of returning home like he was supposed to he runs away. He travels around New York, instead of facing his consequences and his parents. He is fed up with how bad his life is and wants to ‘run away’.
Holden says “Here’s my idea. How would you like to get the hell out of here? Here’s my idea. I know this guy down in Greenwich Village that we can borrow his car for a couple of week. He used to go to the same school I did and he still owes me ten bucks. What we could do is, tomorrow morning we could drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont, and all around there, see. It’s beautiful as hell up there. It really is.” (Salinger 132)
In that quotation Holden asks Sally Hayes to leave society with him. He wants to leave the city and travel and live in the wild. This quotation proves the point that Holden runs away whenever he is faced with a challenge. On the other hand Charlie is honest and in a straightforward manner confronts his problems. In the following passage Charlie has upset a close friend of his and thus confronts her to resolve the problem, ‘She just said, “It’s too late, Charlie.”... I just said, “I’m sorry.” And I really was sorry. And I know she believed me.’(Chbosky 138).
There are many contrasts between the characters as well, such as in their personalities is that Charlie is extinguished as boy of innocence, he doesn’t like to lie and almost never does. On the other hand, Holden constantly lies, even about the smallest things like his age. Holden comes across as a headstrong and stubborn person, this was proved to the reader when he was confronted by Maurice who openly threatened him for five dollars, yet he refused to pay him. However, Charlie is easy influenced and isn’t himself most of the time. He does this to make his friends happy. “You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.” (Chbosky 200) He tries to do what he thinks other people want him to do instead of what he really wants. Lastly, by the end of the novel, Holden's depression/anger starts to take a physical form, he becomes nauseous, has headache, feels dizzy, and he eventually passes out. At the end of The Catcher in the Rye Holden’s view of society have not changed much and he still has not accepted society. Holden is still drab, and feels that society is hopeless. Whereas, at the end of the perks of being a wallflower Charlie suffers a breakdown due to the fear of his new found friends leaving for college. After being hospitalized for two months, Charlie has a new perspective in life. Charlie states that he is in fact ready to “participate” (Chbosky 213) with life. Charlie is renewed with positive energy, he no longer feels sad rather he is full of hope. ‘please believe that things are good with me, and even when they not, they will be soon enough.’(Chbosky 213)
In essence, Holden and Charlie, children of different eras face similar teenage social issues despite their different lifestyles and personalities. Both want to become socially accepted and strive to make friends. Their failure to do so, leads them towards a path of self-destructive behavior. Holden was not able to integrate into society due to his distinct personality. Holden is extremely judgmental, he constantly analyzes the errors of mankind and openly expresses them. This is what deems Holden as cynical and so he is not able to engage properly with others. At first Charlie too was unable to integrate with society, however as time passes Charlie accommodates himself to meet the needs of those around him and thus he was able to make friends. Ultimately, where Holden falls to self-destruction, Charlie is successful in finding salvation.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Building a Revolution - Russ

...iaJasper Jones Reading Guide S.A. Jones v2 April 2010 http://www.sajones.com.au Synopsis .................................................................................................................................................. 3 About the Author .................................................................................................................................... 3 Edition Used ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Morality and Ethics ................................................................................................................................. 3 Moral Duality ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Scapegoats .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Morality versus Ethics ......................................................................................................................... 5 Responsibility and Culpability ............................................................................................................. 6 Atonement .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Law and Legality .............................

Words: 6848 - Pages: 28

Free Essay

Jezz Bezos

...Begin Reading Table of Contents Photos Newsletters Copyright Page In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. For Isabella and Calista Stone When you are eighty years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. —Jeff Bezos, commencement speech at Princeton University, May 30, 2010 Prologue In the early 1970s, an industrious advertising executive named Julie Ray became fascinated with an unconventional public-school program for gifted children in Houston, Texas. Her son was among the first students enrolled in what would later be called the Vanguard program, which stoked creativity and independence in its students and nurtured expansive, outside-the-box thinking. Ray grew so enamored with the curriculum and the community of enthusiastic teachers and parents that she set out to research similar schools around the state with an eye toward writing a book about...

Words: 120163 - Pages: 481

Premium Essay

Writing for Success

...This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org 1 Preface Writing is often a challenge. If you were ever challenged to express yourself via the written word, this book is for you. Writing for Success is a text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing, reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with an introduction to paragraph writing and composition. Beginning with the sentence and its essential elements, this book addresses each concept with clear, concise, and effective examples that are immediately reinforced with exercises and opportunities to demonstrate learning. Each chapter allows students to demonstrate mastery of the principles of quality writing. With its incremental approach, this book can address a range of writing levels and abilities, helping each student prepare for the next writing or university course. Constant reinforcement is provided through examples and exercises, and the text involves students in the learning process through reading, problem solving, practicing, listening, and experiencing the writing process. Each chapter also has integrated examples that unify the discussion and form a common, easy-tounderstand basis for discussion and exploration. This will put students at ease and allow for greater...

Words: 171477 - Pages: 686

Free Essay

Art and Story Proceedings 2004

...Proceeding for the School of Visual Arts Eighteenth Annual National Conference on Liberal Arts and the Education of Artists: Art and Story CONTENTS SECTION ONE: Marcel’s Studio Visit with Elstir……………………………………………………….. David Carrier SECTION TWO: Film and Video Narrative Brief Narrative on Film-The Case of John Updike……………………………………. Thomas P. Adler With a Pen of Light …………………………………………………………………… Michael Fink Media and the Message: Does Media Shape or Serve the Story: Visual Storytelling and New Media ……………………………………………………. June Bisantz Evans Visual Literacy: The Language of Cultural Signifiers…………………………………. Tammy Knipp SECTION THREE: Narrative and Fine Art Beyond Illustration: Visual Narrative Strategies in Picasso’s Celestina Prints………… Susan J. Baker and William Novak Narrative, Allegory, and Commentary in Emil Nolde’s Legend: St. Mary of Egypt…… William B. Sieger A Narrative of Belonging: The Art of Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon…………… Catherine St. John Art and Narrative Under the Third Reich ……………………………………………… Ashley Labrie 28 15 1 22 25 27 36 43 51 Hopper Stories in an Imaginary Museum……………………………………………. Joseph Stanton SECTION FOUR: Photography and Narrative Black & White: Two Worlds/Two Distinct Stories……………………………………….. Elaine A. King Relinquishing His Own Story: Abandonment and Appropriation in the Edward Weston Narrative………………………………………………………………………….. David Peeler Narrative Stretegies in the Worlds of Jean Le Gac and Sophe Calle…………………….. Stefanie Rentsch...

Words: 117240 - Pages: 469

Premium Essay

Mm4 Details Case Study

...www.it-ebooks.info www.it-ebooks.info E L E V E N T H E D I T I O N MARKETING MISTAKES AND SUCCESSES 3 0 T H A N N I V E R S A RY Robert F. Hartley Cleveland State University JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. www.it-ebooks.info VICE PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE MARKETING MANAGER ASSISTANT MARKETING MANAGER MARKETING ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR SENIOR DESIGNER SENIOR MEDIA EDITOR George Hoffman Lise Johnson Carissa Doshi Dorothy Sinclair Matt Winslow Amy Scholz Carly DeCandia Alana Filipovich Jeof Vita Arthur Medina Allison Morris This book was set in 10/12 New Caledonia by Aptara®, Inc. and printed and bound by Courier/Westford. The cover was printed by Courier/Westford. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2009, 2006, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995, 1992, 1989, 1986, 1981, 1976 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, website www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should...

Words: 177260 - Pages: 710

Premium Essay

Maytag

...ROBERT F. HARTLEY • Cindy Claycomb 12th Edition T W E L F T H E D I T I O N MARKETING MISTAKES AND SUCCESSES Robert F. Hartley Late of Cleveland State University Cindy Claycomb Wichita State University VICE PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER SENIOR EDITOR PROJECT EDITOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF MARKETING MARKETING MANAGER MARKETING ASSISTANT DESIGN DIRECTOR PRODUCT DESIGNER SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION EDITOR COVER DESIGNER George Hoffman Franny Kelly Brian Baker Jacqueline Hughes Amy Scholz Kelly Simmons Marissa Carroll Harry Nolan Allison Morris Janis Soo Joel Balbin Eugenia Lee Kenji Ngieng This book was set in 10/12 New Caledonia by Aptara®, Inc. and printed and bound by Courier/Westford. The cover was printed by Courier/Westford. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of knowledge and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Our company is built on a foundation of principles that include responsibility to the communities we serve and where we live and work. In 2008, we launched a Corporate Citizenship Initiative, a global effort to address the environmental, social, economic, and ethical challenges we face in our business. Among the issues we are addressing are carbon impact, paper specifications and procurement, ethical...

Words: 180086 - Pages: 721

Free Essay

Bloodlines of the Illuminati

...Bloodlines of Illuminati by: Fritz Springmeier, 1995 Introduction: I am pleased & honored to present this book to those in the world who love the truth. This is a book for lovers of the Truth. This is a book for those who are already familiar with my past writings. An Illuminati Grand Master once said that the world is a stage and we are all actors. Of course this was not an original thought, but it certainly is a way of describing the Illuminati view of how the world works. The people of the world are an audience to which the Illuminati entertain with propaganda. Just one of the thousands of recent examples of this type of acting done for the public was President Bill Clinton’s 1995 State of the Union address. The speech was designed to push all of the warm fuzzy buttons of his listening audience that he could. All the green lights for acceptance were systematically pushed by the President’s speech with the help of a controlled congressional audience. The truth on the other hand doesn’t always tickle the ear and warm the ego of its listeners. The light of truth in this book will be too bright for some people who will want to return to the safe comfort of their darkness. I am not a conspiracy theorist. I deal with real facts, not theory. Some of the people I write about, I have met. Some of the people I expose are alive and very dangerous. The darkness has never liked the light. Yet, many of the secrets of the Illuminati are locked up tightly simply because secrecy is a way...

Words: 206477 - Pages: 826

Premium Essay

Work, Culture and Identity in Mozambique and Southafrica 1860-1910

...Acknowledgments ix Acknowledgments This book owes a great deal to the mental energy of several generations of scholars. As an undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, Francis Wilson made me aware of the importance of migrant labour and Robin Hallett inspired me, and a generation of students, to study the African past. At the School of Oriental and African Studies in London I was fortunate enough to have David Birmingham as a thesis supervisor. I hope that some of his knowledge and understanding of Lusophone Africa has found its way into this book. I owe an equal debt to Shula Marks who, over the years, has provided me with criticism and inspiration. In the United States I learnt a great deal from ]eanne Penvenne, Marcia Wright and, especially, Leroy Vail. In Switzerland I benefitted from the friendship and assistance of Laurent Monier of the IUED in Geneva, Francois Iecquier of the University of Lausanne and Mariette Ouwerhand of the dépurtement évangélrlyue (the former Swiss Mission). In South Africa, Patricia Davison of the South African Museum introduced me to material culture and made me aware of the richness of difference; the late Monica Wilson taught me the fundamentals of anthropology and Andrew Spiegel and Robert Thornton struggled to keep me abreast of changes in the discipline; Sue Newton-King and Nigel Penn brought shafts of light from the eighteenthcentury to bear on early industrialism. Charles van Onselen laid a major part of the intellectual foundations on...

Words: 178350 - Pages: 714

Free Essay

Living History

...___________________________ LIVING HISTORY Hillary Rodham Clinton Simon & Schuster New York • London • Toronto • Sydney • Singapore To my parents, my husband, my daughter and all the good souls around the world whose inspiration, prayers, support and love blessed my heart and sustained me in the years of living history. AUTHOR’S NOTE In 1959, I wrote my autobiography for an assignment in sixth grade. In twenty-nine pages, most half-filled with earnest scrawl, I described my parents, brothers, pets, house, hobbies, school, sports and plans for the future. Forty-two years later, I began writing another memoir, this one about the eight years I spent in the White House living history with Bill Clinton. I quickly realized that I couldn’t explain my life as First Lady without going back to the beginning―how I became the woman I was that first day I walked into the White House on January 20, 1993, to take on a new role and experiences that would test and transform me in unexpected ways. By the time I crossed the threshold of the White House, I had been shaped by my family upbringing, education, religious faith and all that I had learned before―as the daughter of a staunch conservative father and a more liberal mother, a student activist, an advocate for children, a lawyer, Bill’s wife and Chelsea’s mom. For each chapter, there were more ideas I wanted to discuss than space allowed; more people to include than could be named; more places visited than could be described...

Words: 217937 - Pages: 872

Free Essay

Publicity

...Introducere în publicitate cursuri universitare Dan Petre Mihaela Nicola Introducere în publicitate comunicare.ro Ilustraþia copertei: Cristian Kit Paul, Brandient Toate drepturile asupra acestei ediþii aparþin Editurii Comunicare.ro, 2004 SNSPA, Facultatea de Comunicare ºi Relaþii Publice „David Ogilvy“ Strada Povernei 6–8, Bucureºti Tel./fax: (021) 313 58 95 E-mail: difuzare@comunicare.ro www.editura.comunicare.ro Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii Naþionale a României PETRE, DAN Introducere în publicitate / Dan Petre, Mihaela Nicola. – Bucureºti: Comunicare.ro, 2004 Bibliogr. ISBN 973-711-004-8 I. Nicola, Mihaela 659.1 Cuprins Notã introductivã / 7 Introducere: surse teoretice ºi delimitãri conceptuale / 9 Surse teoretice / 10 Delimitãri conceptuale. Definiþii. Distincþii faþã de domeniile înrudite / 18 Scurt istoric al publicitãþii / 25 Scurt istoric al publicitãþii la nivel internaþional / 25 Scurt istoric al publicitãþii în România / 34 Publicitatea ca proces de comunicare / 41 Funcþiile publicitãþii / 44 Tipuri de publicitate / 47 Rolul publicitãþii în activitatea de marketing / 52 Obiectivele campaniei de publicitate / 55 Canalele media utilizate în publicitate / 56 Agenþia de publicitate / 67 Agenþia de publicitate / 67 Scurt istoric / 68 Agenþia de publicitate modernã / 71 Cercetarea pentru publicitate / 87 Cercetarea exploratorie ºi de dezvoltare a campaniei (developmental research) / 93 Cercetarea confirmatorie de testare (confirmatory research...

Words: 106426 - Pages: 426

Free Essay

Test2

...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...

Words: 113589 - Pages: 455