Examples Of Catcher In The Rye Essay On Thoughts And Choices

Dania K.
Culminating activity
Mr. Shirbegi
June 6th

Part A. Mini essay
Thoughts, Choices, and Actions

Fate and destiny, people often confuse the two. According to the law of destiny, people "are in control of their destiny but have no control over fate. Destiny gives [people] an opportunity to turn a situation to [their] advantage and accomplish something great through [their] own efforts. It is designed to give [people] the best opportunities for the development of [their] consciousness. It doesn't detract from [their] free-will in any way, because [they] decide exactly how [they] want to act in any situation" - (EsotericScience.org). Sometimes, we are unaware of the fact that we are in charge of our own destiny. While those who are aware
of this fact but still choose not to take charge, as a result they end up looking for excuses to justify their poor decisions. One important thing to keep in mind is that life is in a constant state of change, and at any given moment you can take full control of it. As Bob Marly once said, "every man gotta right to choose their own destiny". Through the various of texts read by our English class this semester: the students were taught life lessons through the characters' experiences. For example, people refusing to take responsibility for their own actions. The students see how characters tend to blame others for when things go wrong or not as planned.

From the novel Catcher in the Rye, a perfect example of pinning the blame on others would be of Holden Caulfield's character and his battle with his transition from childhood to adulthood.
Holden could have looked at entering adulthood in a positive manner but failed to do so. Instead of learning from their mistakes, Holden blames the adults in his life for ruining adulthood. His pessimistic state of mind and childish behaviors led to hardship and
consequences.

Another good example would be of the two blind men, Mr.
Parson and Markwardt from the text The Man Who Had No Eyes. Both the men start off as factory workers, and go through the same traumatic experience of the Westbury chemical explosion, where "a hundred and eight people [were] killed, about two hundred injured, and over fifty of them lost their eyes" It was up to them where they wanted to end up. Choosing to not let his impairment get in the way, Mr. Parson decides to take control of his life by turning himself into a "successful, respected, [and] admired" insurance broker. Whereas, Markwardt decides to take the easy road and plays on the sympathy of others. He blames the Westbury chemical explosion for him being handicapped and jobless. The quote "people who make the choice to study, work hard or do whatever they endeavor is to give it the max on themselves to reach to the top level. And you have the people who get envy and jealous, yet are not willing to put that work in, and they want to get the same praise" (Evander Holyfield) perfectly describes the characters, Mr Parson and Markwardt. Unlike Markwardt, Mr Parson chose to take control of his life after the explosion. He made the choice to change himself as well as his life for the better and not to be so dependent on others, despite his
impairment.

Destiny is structured when a person formulates the thoughts into an action-plan with sincere determination to achieve the goal(s). A person can choose to be adamant and cling on to something that is not even there anymore, like Holden, or one can choose to be like Mr. Parson and get back up when life knocks them down. As Stephen Covey, the author of the best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People once said, "sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."