The Catcher in the Rye Response “I felt so lonesome, all of a sudden. I almost wish I was dead.” (Salinger 48) Loneliness and depression is exhibited by Holden, the main character in the book, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. In the Poem “Hanging Fire”, Audre Lorde, the author, focuses on a young person who also suffers from being lonely and depressed and feels many of the same emotions Holden does. There is a common theme between this poem and this book: the loneliness, depression, and neglect teenagers face leads them to feel like “outliers” of society.
Loneliness is one of the many major themes found in the novel and more or less every character is lonely in one way or another. Within the book loneliness is described in many different situations linking to other emotions such as jealousy or anger and also leading to horrendous events such as death. Steinbeck sees loneliness as a part of the human condition, something we are born with and something we either fight or succumb to all our lives. However in the book George and Lennie overcome loneliness with their relationship. George and Lennie need each other to survive and in the novel this is clearly shown to the reader.
The feeling of being alone is a desperate loneliness, you feel lost and at times it can feel as if you are drowning in a sea of nothingness. This type of unwanted emotions tends to lead to anger and depression. Another common theme is doubt and the undeniable search for truth. The later of these themes is one I admire greatly; I connect with this since it would seem I’ve spent most of my life trying to find my own truths. Doubt in something leads you to question everything.
With these three elements, Richard Wright illustrates the life, hardship and influences of Bigger Thomas, and the down fall of his life in Native Son. Thomas Bigger is a dislikeable and cold character throughout the novel. We recognize that it is not his doing. The fact the Bigger is poor and uneducated; we recognize the circumstances have created his journey towards crime and his controlling bully personality. Bigger is mean to his little sister, cruel to his friends, and uncaring to his girlfriend.
Dystopias provide for unsettling reflections on ourselves and our world. To what extent is this idea reflected in you chosen text? As the world became exposed to periods of war and political unrest, society’s belief in humanity has been conflicted due to the corruption and deprivation that has arisen. This has resulted in writers to foreshadow a perverted world by further exploring the damaging effects of such upheavals, labelling the world as a Dystopia. Dystopia refers to a fictional society whereby the conditions of living are exceedingly low, in many cases due to oppression, greed and prejudice.
Hamlet’s Characteristics Hamlet has very many different characteristics that Shakespeare shows in his play. Out of most of the characteristics shown, most of them show him not being heroic. He goes from being depressed and suicidal to brave and determined. Hamlet also is very disgusted at times and filled with hate because of his mother and his uncle. All these things are shown many times throughout the play but there are certain times that stand out more than others.
These realizations develop from his lying and deception, his fear of relationships and intimacy, and his self imposed loneliness. Growing up is hard to do. There is no set route and countless decisions to be made which lead to the good, the bad, and the ugly. Unfortunately one cannot have only the good and more often than not has more of the bad and ugly. Holden himself saw the bad and the ugly at a very young age and it is this that makes such an impact on the personality he maintains while telling his story.
In the book, the largest problem I have is the main character Okonkwo, and him being entirely unlikable. His insecurity and fear of his father has to lead him to be mean, inconsiderate, and violent, while also regularly committing atrocious acts. I find most other characters realistic and relatable, and yet I feel completely disconnected with the main protagonist of the book. If it weren't for the positives I will list later in this review, I would not have viewed the book nearly as high. Other problems arise sporadically, such as seemingly purposeless digressions, and mysteries left unanswered due to the cultural divide between both my culture and the one presented within the book.
Therefore, the conflict between id, ego, and superego is the psychological battle that characters in this story have to cope with. Moreover, based on the three components, there is also a connection between psychological struggles of characters and major theme of this short story: life has so many fluctuations; therefore, a small thing can save or destroy your life. This short story was published before World War I started. At that time, people were really worried about their wealth, class, popularity, and reputation. There was an unequal distribution of social roles between men and women.
“A close relationship has been documented between low self-esteem and such problems as violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, school dropouts, teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low academic achievement.” (NASE, 2010). A person with low self-esteem is going to face many challenges in life, mostly introverted challenges. Depression is a major side-effect of a low self-esteem. There are also many psychological problems that are influenced, negatively and positively, by low self-esteem. “Low self-esteem can predispose you to developing a mental disorder, and developing a mental disorder can in turn deliver a huge knock to your self-esteem.” (Psychology Today, 2014).