NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
... lt world, and he realizes that the values of the world can be judged as stated by David Galloway (Salinger CLC Vol. 3 445). Frederick Gwynn and Joseph Boltner believe Holden's quest was to preserve an innocence that is in danger of disappearing. This is the innocence of a spotless childhood in the ordinary involvements of life. First he rebelled against society, then he was inspired by his honesty against phoniness, and he finally realized what a small role he actually played (Salinger CLC Vol. 1 295). Harvey Best says Holden figured this out in the climax of the novel when Phoebe, Holden's ten-year-old sister that he wants to keep pure and innocent, was riding the carousel in Central Park.
He watched in the rain and his dream shattered because he could do nothing to prevent any coming of age, and at this is the time Holden passed into adulthood (Salinger CLC Vol. 56 318). The irony of this story is that Holden could not even prevent himself from falling off the cliff much less save others (Salinger CA 336). Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884 shortly almost ten years after its prelude The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Samuel Langhorne Clemens 2). The setting of this novel is on the Mississippi River, where Twain once lived, and the plot of this story is like the rural version of Catcher in the Rye. Huck escaped from his father and took a raft down the river along with a black slave, Jim, trying to reach their freedom. Along this journey Huck and Jim encountered many controversies such as the Grangerford/Shepherds on feud, the king and duke, and the events on the Phelps farm.
Walter Allen wrote that much like Holden Caulfield, first Huck rebelled against his society, then he was inspired by his honesty against sham, and finally he gained a sympathetic awareness of his melancholy role in life. Huck's attitude toward coming of age was ambiguous; he intervened in the activities of the adult world and made moral choices that repudiated that world (Salinger CLC Vol. 1 298). In John Aldrigdes comparison he wrote that both books rely on the concept of innocence to show how their main characters reach their coming of age. In The Catcher in the Rye innocence is a compound of urban intelligence, juvenile contempt, and New Yorker sentimentality.
The symbol of innocence in this book is the children of the world, especially Phoebe, which are continuously challenged by phonies, profanity, and adult life. In this novel, innocence calls for genuineness and sincerity in a dull and loveless world. In Huckleberry Finn, innocence is a compound of frontier ignorance, juvenile delinquency, and petty heroism. The symbols of innocence are the raft and the river. The challenging factors of innocence in this book are thugs, thieves, feuds, and other dangers on shore that call for narrow escapes. The raft represents innocence because that is how Huck and Jim make their narrow escapes from the dangers of the shore, and the river because its time, faith, and continuity, move endlessly and dependably beside and between the temporary problems of men.
In Huck Finn, innocence calls for escape from violence because innocence and the world of violence are seriously and effectively opposed (Salinger CLC Vol. 56 323). When Huck headed down the river with Jim to seek freedom, he was actually seeking a new home free from the injustices of his old life. Just like Huck, Holden too was seeking a new home where he could have a life without the pain and disillusionment that comes with becoming involved with anything life has to offer. Both Huck and Holden encountered tests for them to pass on their way to adulthood. For Huck the tests were mostly physical, but the tests that Holden had to overcome were primarily metaphorical dangers created by the loss of individuality, accepted values, and self-reliant intellectuality (Branch Mark Twain and J. D.
Salinger 3). Not only are the two books similar in their themes, but they also share other common writing devices. They have similar comic irony, informal language, picaresque structure, anti-phony themes, and both boys represent the average American boy at different times (Branch Salinger: A Critical and Personal Portrait 5). S. N. Behrman wrote that Holden and Huck are neither comical, nor are they marked by hatred or contempt of mankind; they just repudiate mankind's faults.
They always pay attention to what is happening whether involved or not. The two novels are one-way journeys from holy innocence to the enlightenment that the world offers. Both works are concerned with the problems that people were facing at the times they were written. And finally, they both have been repeatedly banned and restricted because of the use of questionable language that people use in everyday speech (Salinger CLC Vol. 56 321). The Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have strikingly similar plots, characters, and themes even though they were written in different time periods and settings.
Their primary similarity is the resemblance between Huck and Holden as they lose their youthful innocence and grow up. Huck tries to escape injustice to gain freedom floating down the Mississippi River on his raft, and Holden tries to escape the phoniness he found in the adult world to gain a pleasant life. Both boys realize in the end that they play minor roles in life and loss of innocence is inevitable in the emergence of adulthood. In J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn both authors stress the themes of coming of age and loss of innocence to prove the point that everyone grows up and passes into adulthood.
They show that this is a natural and unavoidable part of life. Bibliography: Branch, Edgar. Mark Twain and J. D. Salinger: A Study in Literary Continuity. Literary Review Sep. 1992: 32 - 33. -- -.
Salinger: A Critical and Personal Portrait. Literary Review Aug. 1992: 33. Lamazoff, Eric. The Praises and Criticisms of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. 1996. (13 April 2000).
Salinger, J (europe) D (avid). Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Vol. 39. 1992. -- -. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 1. 1973. -- -. Contemporary Literary Criticism.
Vol. 3. 1973. -- -. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 56. 1973. Samuel Langhorne Clemens a.
k. a. Mark Twain 1835 - 1910. (15 April 2000).
Free research essays on topics related to: contemporary literary criticism, samuel langhorne clemens, coming of age, j d salinger, adventures of huckleberry finn
Research essay sample on Catcher In The Rye Vs Huckleberry Finn
