Junior And Catcher In The Rye Comparison Essay

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Holden of Catcher in the Rye and Junior of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian are distinct personalities in terms of integrating with the society. Holden endeavors to isolate himself from the society; on the other hand, Junior wants to become a part of the society he is living with, while still isolating himself. However, Holden couldn’t achieve not confining himself, whereas Junior turns out to harmonize himself with the society he is a part of. There are various factors influencing their incorporation with the society: their financial backgrounds, their tendency to socialize and refrain from isolating themselves, and their effort for solving their problems regarding the issue of isolation.

Holden and Junior originate from contrary
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On the one hand, Holden doesn’t even realize that he has mental problems, however, he is aware of the fact that he is alone, while not seeking any solution for loneliness either because his depression pushes people away from him. As soon as Holden derives the conclusion that he is desperate for preventing loneliness, he starts “horsing around” with girls, because he assumes ”horsing around” would enable him to socialize. As soon as he realizes that “horsing around” wouldn’t change anything either, because his depression ends up pushing people away, he accepts his loneliness. Here is an example of Holden remaining desperate: “When I finally got down off the radiator and went out to the hat-check room, I was crying and all. I don't know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome. Then, when I went out to the checkroom […] the hat-check girl was very nice. […] I sort of tried to make a date with her. […] She said she was old enough to be my mother and all” (Salinger, 169). The girl mentioned was not in the age she specified in the quote, but Holden’s depression caused her to deny him and to …show more content…
On the one hand, there is Holden who originates from a wealthy background and assumes that people are biased towards wealthy; therefore, he isolates himself from people who are lower than him terms of wealth. Also, the main problem with Holden is him not trying to associate with people, and on top of that, he doesn’t aim to find any solutions for his loneliness. On the other hand, there is Junior who also, sometimes, disengages himself from people while trying to fraternize with his acquaintances, just because he assumes people will discriminate against him due to his financial background. Also, for Junior’s concern regarding his financial background, he finds a very simple solution of admitting the truth; all the obstacles in front of him terminate and people met his background with understanding. Because of all the reasons stated, Holden remains mentally unstable and isolated, whereas Junior builds relationships with people around him and integrates with the society he lives

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