The Catcher in the Rye Vs. the Bell Jar

The Catcher in the Rye vs. The Bell Jar

The Catcher in the Rye (Catcher) and The Bell Jar (Bell Jar) are both coming of age novels who, while completely different novels when looking at their themes and styles, both tell the story of troubled teenagers growing up and learning about life and who they truly are. In both novels, the protagonists go through barriers and obstacles in order to reach their turning points in life and come to terms with who they are and what it is they are doing in this life. Both are constantly experiencing difficult situations and are dealing with them in their own ways. In Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Catcher by J.D. Salinger, the two protagonists, Esther Greenwood and Holden Caulfield, feel comparable senses of estrangement and difficulty growing into adults within society. Their problems in a superficial sense are different; however, the thoughts and meanings behind them are not. While both novels express the characters' coming of age in different means, the central idea of growing up is expressed in both novels through the characters' struggles in figuring out what they want, understanding and dealing with death, and examining their relationships with their peers, parents and other adults.

In Catcher, Holden is going from rough patch to rough patch and is desperately trying to figure out what to do with his life. In Bell Jar, Esther cannot seem to find the meaning of life or its aspects and is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Holden and Esther are both trying to overcome life altering issues such as depression, isolation, absences in sexual identity and the idea of mortality. Esther is constantly feeling "very still and empty" (Plath 9) due to her depression and feeling of isolation from the rest of society. Holden is unable to escape feeling "rotten" and "lonesome" (Salinger 29) in Catcher because of his inability to let others into his life. Both characters have the same problem when it comes to people. No matter what they try, other people always seem to affect their lives for the worst. Esther has ideas in her head, based off of assumptions she makes from observations, of how things are supposed to work in life. Her inability to connect with people is because they aren't what she thinks they are supposed to be. Nobody looks at what Esther wants, nobody supports her, and this just makes Esther spiral into a hole of confusion and pessimism. They see her as different or faulty and so they all try to mold her into something she's not to make her conform to society. This compares greatly to Holden because connecting with others and conforming to society are gray areas in his life due to his lack of approval and trust for others. He's blocked out everyone who has cared about him for being "phony" (Salinger 61). Holden relates the words "depressed" and "lonesome" showing that his loneliness is what makes him depressed. As a result of this self-fulfilling prophecy, he looks to reach out to anyone around him, but quickly pushes them away before he can get hurt.

Catcher is a coming of age story in itself. Holden's values of innocence and purity contribute a lot to his growth. His problem with being anything other than himself leads to his expulsion from school and the start of his journey to self-discovery in New York. A symbol of this is his red hunting cap which he gets in his most vulnerable stage, representing a feeling of difference, division, and indifference to others' opinions. Holden's experiences in the real world along with innuendos in the text build on his maturing into adulthood. The icing on the cake is when he goes to the one person left in his world that is still pure, "his kid sister Phoebe" (Salinger 121) and has a revelation. Holden ultimately progresses from childhood into adulthood when he realizes that he is too big to ride this carousel he's at with Phoebe yet feels "so damn happy all of a sudden" (Salinger 213) because his sister is happy despite the evils of the world around, like curse words in elementary schools. This is relatable to Bell Jar in many ways. Esther experiences similar feelings to that of Holden's when she graduates high school and enters the professional world. Esther was succeeding greatly in life until that point and the very thought of leaving her comfort zone and entering the real world panicked her. The world she is entering is all superficial and about money, no sincerity or care, and that puts her literary dreams into rubble. With all of the madness going on in her new life, she feels "dead" and it weakens her will to continue. Esther breaks down and it severely halts