Preview

The Catcher and the Rye Compare and Contrast Essay Example

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
583 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Catcher and the Rye Compare and Contrast Essay Example
In the book Catcher in the Rye the main character Holden Caulfield is being compared to another character in The Great Gatsby Daisy Buchanan. They both live similar lifes, but they live them in different ways. Holden seems to be an anti-social person and doesnt have that many good friends where as Daisy is very social and has alot of friends. Holden is a 17 year old high school student who cant seem to stay in one high school. He either fails out of his prep schools or drops out. He doesnt do that many "normal" teenage things, he is the manager of a fencing team at his prep school Pency. Daisy is a 30 year old lady married to Tom Buchanan she is a young, beautiful girl who is trying to make the best out of the rest of her life. Holden came from a wealthy family and could have anything he wants. His parents have paid for him to go to a numerous amount of prep schools. He has everything he could ever wanted and more and still this kid isnt happy. He wont be happy untill he can actually find his true love. For some reason holden having everything he could ever imagine he is still unhappy. He wastes his parents money that go towards to the prep schools that he fails out of. He doesnt want to tell his parents anything about him failing out of the school because hes afraid they will be mad. Holden doesnt have any friends that he hangs out with. The only person he really feels close to is his sister Pheobe. He tries to do everything he can to see her. with all that holden has in his life he still feels like he needs love or a substitute for love. The only person he is really in love with is jane who went out on a date with holdens roommate at pency. Daisy Buchanan seems to have everything she could ever imagine; a handsome husband amed Tom buchanan who was a jock in college and he knew daisys cousin nick carraway.
Tom was a wealthy handsome young man that daisy married thinking she was in love. They live in a beautiful house and have a daughter named Pammy she

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Being flunked out of school made Holden think bad about himself, he started to imagine himself dying and ending it all, but when he went to go visit Phoebe he knew that he could not leave her behind anymore and knows he now needs to stay with…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden is a very mysterious person, very moody. He could be smiling then he’ll start crying. If he likes something, he’ll start hating it once something happens. He calls other “phony”, but he doesn’t realize what he’s doing. Sometimes he’s real and expresses himself like a normal human being, but most of the time he a fake person surrounded by fake people. One example of Holden being weird and fake is he says he hates movies, but then he goes on a date, he takes his girl to watch a movie! Some people think that he’s normal and that’s what every teenager goes through but in reality Holden is just…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Daisy Buchanan Quotes

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page

    In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Fay Buchanan is the object of Jay Gatsby’s singular obsession, which means in many ways she is the center of the novel. But despite this, there is quite a bit we don’t know about Daisy Buchanan as a character – her inner thoughts, her desires, and even her motivations can be hard to read.…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of Holden’s biggest problems is his idealism. What he demands and expects of the world is unreasonable; he expects near perfection from everyone and everything and, as this is impossible, is always disappointed with the world and those around him.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Her husband, Tom Buchannan also believed that Daisy was a prize. To Tom, it seemed, that Daisy was a trophy wife, someone he could show off, not care about, come back, and she would still be there. What brought them together was money, the thing that they both loved and had in common. Nick summed up her love for money well, “She wanted her life shaped now, immediately—and the decision must be made by some force, of money…” (Fitzgerald, 151). Daisy didn’t care about who she loved more when she had to pick Tom or Gatsby; she cared about the money while she was making one of the biggest decisions of her life. To Tom, Daisy was a beautiful woman who he would love to have for his wife. Tom and Daisy were alike in that way, neither of them cared about personality or values; they cared about their reputation. It wasn’t Daisy’s disposition that made Tom marry her; it was her looks and reputation that he found attractive.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caulfield, the novel’s protagonist, is a pivotal character in The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is characterized as an innocent, apathetic, naive teen who is seeking knowledge of life and the meaning of becoming an adult. Holden’s struggle with seeing the genuine nature of people is something that acts as a barrier for him throughout the novel. Holden is troubled and burdened throughout the story, which causes him to have a warped view on an array of subjects. Holden passes strict judgement on everyone, as he struggles to transition from adolescence to adulthood. Holden appears to be stunned when he sees how different the life of an adult is comparison to that of children. His views on topics such as, life, his future, and sex. Holden approaches each of these subjects with strict views, and feels dejected when he realizes there are more multiple perspectives to these topics.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion Tom Buchanan is an arrogant man. He has a beautiful trophy wife Daisy Buchanan and a child Patty. He cheats on his wife with a woman named Myrtle who is already married. When Gatsby comes back into Daisy’s life he gets angry and wants it to stop. He does not care who he hurts in order to get what he wants.This made him so angry he lied to get Gatsby…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden Self Quotes

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Holden also has an unstable sense of self. His unstable sense of self is depicted in a few ways. First is his relationship with his little sister Phoebe. He says “The thing with kids is, if they want to grab the gold ring you have to let them do it, and not say anything” (273). In this quote in a way he saying let them be adventurous they will learn from their mistakes. He acts this way towards his little sister because he is trying to give her the childhood he didn’t get to experience. You can tell that kids have a certain place in his heart. For example anything that was said about his younger brother Allie was positive, also how he took Phoebe to the carousel and finally when he helped a little girl at the park tie her skates and the 2…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Holden Caufield, either mentally unstable or too morally advanced for society, misses the innocense of his childhood. Holden's mentality, although confused and seemingly unstable, show the effects of exposed innocence. He becomes frustrated that he does not belong where ever he goes. He travels away from his school with no logial direction for a more internal desire to find his place. Holden has trouble understanding why he does not fit in anywhere and implies mental deterioration from stress. Holden Caufeild struggles with the contrast of society's standards of innocence, change and affection to his own intuitive values.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Holden is still trying to get a grip at maturity as he is regardless a rebellious teenager, just as shown though our adolescents today. This kind of behavior and attitude grasps onto most high schoolers as they are trying to grow up faster. Most are missing what’s behind them and aren’t realizing what they have left. “Sometimes I act a lot older than I am--I really do--but people never notice it. People never notice anything” (Salinger 22). Holden has been trying to get away from the life he has, and wants to be grown up for all the freedom they are allowed to have. There comes a point in everyone's life where they just become…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Catcher In The Rye Themes

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the book, the theme of growing up is shown. Holden has observed adults as he goes from school to school. When he was in Elkton High almost everybody was a phony and Holden…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel “Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger, we are given this protagonist by the name of Holden Caulfield who feels like he’s trapped on “the other side” of life. Throughout the novel, we read into why Holden is the way he is.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the needs that holden wants to achieve in the book is social.According to Maslow the social need is “[The] needs for belonging, love and affection”(1). Holden tries many ways to satisfy the need. He starts talking to strangers on the street and he even invites the taxicab men for a drink(60-61). Holden does not have the social need because he doesn 't have many friends and his parents do not pay much attention to him. Holden wants to have friends and feel the need to be loved. The only person that shows love for him is his sister Phoebe. Holden really cares about her and feels that she is the only one that loves him. Also, Holden wants to satisfy the social need because when he goes on a date with Sally he starts to tell her that they should get married and go live…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Holden Caulfield seems to be a troubled kid who keeps having to leave the school he is attending. He has just flunked out of Pensey Prep School because he was not applying himself. Holden goes to tell his former history teach Mr. Spencer goodbye. Mr. Spencer annoys Holden by reminding him that he flunked him and forces him to read his horrible essay he had written. Holden is in his room reading Out of Africa when one of the students Ackley comes into his room. Ackley stays for a while until Holden’s roommate Stradlater returns home, Ackley hates him. Stradlater gets ready for a date and asks Holden to write his English essay for him. Holden is concerned when he realizes he knows the girl that Stradlater is taking out. Holden goofs around with some of the other students having a snowball fight and going to see a movie. Holden writes the essay about his brother Allie who had died of Leukemia. Stradlater comes home from his date and asks Holden if he had written the essay. When he finds out what the essay was about he gets mad at Holden, Holden then rips up the essay and they get into a huge fight. Holden, after the fight goes into Ackley’s room full of blood and keeps him up. It really bothers Holden with the thought of his roommate with Jane. He decides to not wait until Wednesday to leave school and takes off in the middle of the night. On the train to New York he visits with a lady who turns out to be the mother of one of his classmates. He tells her some lies and does not give his real name. Once he gets to the hotel he goes down to the bar and meets some girls that he doesn’t find all that attractive but has some drinks and he dances with them. Holden gives a very descriptive account of his sister Phoebe. He has a lot of respect and loves her very much.…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the novel Holden fights to protect his innocence from the cruel society around him that is just so… phony. He hates all of society for the phony things it does, he hates sex because that may make him feel that he too is apart of the adult life, and he hates change because change is just a recipe for a child to step into the new life, the older more mature life. The one that comes with responsibilities that Holden is not ready to…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays