Huck And Holden's Characters example essay topic

Search for self in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye Everyone wants to know who they are, and why they were put here. People often wonder about their futures and what kind of person they really are. In the novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Catcher in the Rye, both of the protagonists, despite the different settings, the other characters, their restrictions and the different people that they are, are searching for the same thing - themselves. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a timeless tale of a young boy who escapes his society that keeps trying to " " him and retreats down the Mississippi river with a runaway slave.

On his journey he meets many different kinds of people on the banks of the river, some bad and some good, they all help Huck on his journey to self discovery. Catcher in the Rye is a story of a young boy named Holden who leaves his prep school in New York and ventures alone into the city. On his journey he meets a number of people. Holden is quite cynical and he denigrates nearly everyone he meets. Set in pre-civil war America, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn takes place along the Mississippi river. As Huckleberry travels along it he learns lessons about life, society and most importantly; himself.

Surrounded by a world of prejudice and racism, Huck is forced to learn to make decisions on his own. He is able to learn from the imperfections in the rest of the world as he views them. While on the river, Huck and Jim are at peace. The river symbolizes freedom for both Jim and Huck.

The river is Jim's path to freedom from slavery, and it is Huck's freedom from society. When Jim and Huck journey onto the banks of the river they see the inhumanity to man that goes on in the world. This juxtaposition of the river and the land help emphasize the peacefulness of the river in comparison to the crazy society on land. Huck learns to think for himself, and tries not to conform to the ways of the people on the land. Although the world that he lives in teaches him to be a racist, his journey down the river teaches him to use his own mind, and find out what he really believes in. New York city is the setting for this more contemporary novel, yet it has many similarities to the older, more timeless Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Catcher in the Rye takes place in the 1950's in a busy city. While Holden Caulfield is not living in a world where there are slaves, he too is surrounded by people trying to make impressions on his mind. He is surrounded by people who he calls "phony" and they are always trying to teach him what to think. The city in which he lives represents the world that, to Holden, he does not belong in. He feels like an outsider in his own home. He wants to get out of that place and be on his own away from everyone else.

He is trapped inside a world where people keep telling him what to do. When he leaves school and ventures alone into the world he, like Huck, is forced to think for himself. In the world of Huckleberry Finn, everyone is constantly trying to " " Huck, despite his reluctance to be "". Even if Huck was aware of his ability to think for himself, it proves to be quite difficult when he is surrounded by people always telling him what is right. If Huck really wanted to make his own decisions and not be prejudice like the rest of his society it would prove to be quite difficult because of all the restrictions around him. Huck's society would not accept him if he were to make a decision that is not normal.

Huck has no abolitionist thoughts, and doesn't question the justice of slavery (Fiedler 26). Huck believes that because he freed a runaway slave, he may be condemned to hell (Hoffman 157). Huck's racist tendencies do not make Huck a bad person, because he does not know any better. Holden's restrictions are much more internal than Huck's. Holden feels that he is trapped inside a world that is filled with phonies and fakes. He feels that no one can relate to him at all.

Holden is all alone in the world, and he feels like no one can understand him. He tries to escape into a series of ideal worlds (trowbridge p. 22). Although he himself is guilty of the phoniness he sees in others, he does not see it in himself. He differs however in that he still has genuinely passionate feelings that have atrophied in what we would now call conformist clones.

(French 65) Most of the characters in Huck Finn influence Huck in a negative way. at home, people keep trying to " " him. On the river, all the people he meets try to seduce him into a materialistic, unmoral life. Huck almost never makes a moral judgment. He is a magnificent observer. (Hoffman 32) If it were not for the other characters in the book, Huck would not have trouble doing the right thing. The only character with a positive influence on him is Jim.

Jim is a person who has morals and despite the fact that he is a slave, Huck is able to befriend him. Holden would like to think he does not let the people around him affect him, but in reality they do. He hates the phoniness in the world, but actually, Holden has become everything he despises. Although most of the people around him want him to be happy, they tend to have an opposite effect. They cause him to be what he hates. The only person who has a positive effect on Holden is his sister, Phoebe.

Phoebe makes Holden want to succeed for her. Holden just wants to escape and the only thing that keeps him going is his sister. Huck wants to get away from civilization and escape to the river, which serves as a sanctuary for him. Huck is [a] free spirit- choked when forced to wear shoes and proper clothes, to abide by societal customs and to be civilized. He is most at ease on his raft.

(Hoffman 155). Tired of people telling him what to do, he escapes to the river and in doing so, is able to prevent people from molding him into what they want him to be. Instead, he allows himself the opportunity to mold himself. Holden is tired of all the phony people around him and wants to escape them.

He talks of retreating to the woods, away from the rest of the world. He wants to "build [himself] a little cabin somewhere... and live there for the rest of [his] life". (Salinger p. 258) He is searching for a way out of the society that he is confined to. He wants to get out, but has no way of actually doing so. He is trapped in the midst of society (Wells 56) Huck Finn, who lives in pre-civil war America speaks in the vernacular of the region where he lives.

He uses words like "warn't"mustn't" and "reckon" in his speech. This colloquial diction provides information as to where Huck lives and his social status. There are many different dialects used in the novel including the dialect of the slaves and a few versions of other southern dialects. The way Huck speaks shows his naivete, innocence, curiosity and mischievous charm that almost makes the reader laugh I says to myself, if a body can get anything they pray for, why don't Deacon Winn get back the money he lost on pork?

Why can't the widow get back her silver snuffbox that was stole? Why can't Miss Watson fat up? No, says I to my self, there ain't nothing in it. I went and told the widow about it, and she said the thing a body could get by praying for it was 'spiritual gifts.

' Holden Caulfield colloquial diction in The Catcher in the Rye also help to distinguish his character. He uses slang such as "phony" and "Cris sake" and says things such as "that killed me" to express his feelings. His diction helps him to express who he is and helps him to criticize the world. Holden is extremely cynical and never looks at the bright side of things. Grand. If there's one word I hate, it's grand.

It's so phony. For a second, I was tempted to tell her to forget about the matinee. But we chewed the fat for a while. That is, she chewed it. You couldn't get a word in edgewise. (138) A large part of both Huck and Holden's characters rely on their use of diction.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ends in the reader smiling at all the adventures Huck has had. Huck's character has been through a lot, but in the end, the reader discovers that he is still the same old Huck. It is also amusing to find out that throughout the entire time that Huck and Tom were trying to free the runaway slave Jim, unbeknownst to Huck, Jim was already free. The reader laughs to find out that Tom Sawyer knew it all along.

Tom Sawyer only wanted adventure. The novel ends with Huck looking forward to his next adventure, as he plans on going west. Aunt Sally wants to adopt him, but he can't stand the idea of being "civilized" again. "But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and me, and I can't stand it. I been there before". (pg.) The ending is a happy one, and the reader wants to laugh at the fact that Huck just can't settle down. Catcher in the Rye, on the other hand ends somewhat tragically.

Although it is unclear, the reader is led to believe that Holden is in a mental hospital. He mentions that he is sick, and mentions a psychoanalyst. Throughout the novel Holden's journey for self discovery is never really successful. In the end, he is still wondering who he is.

Unaware of the phoniness within himself, while still criticizing it within others. He too, still seems to be the same cynical Holden Caulfield. When talking about the story that has been told he says "I'm sorry I told so many people about it... Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody". By the end of the novel, the reader loves, and truly feels sorry for Holden.

Through all of the things that he does in the novel, and all of the people he meets, the only person who he really cares about is his sister Phoebe". I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth. I don't know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God, I wish you could " ve been there" (pg. 275) Despite the different settings and situations, both novels protagonists are young boys who have set out on a journey to find themselves. Both are outcasts in the society that they live in.

However, in Huck Finn, the resolution of the story is a happy one. The reader is amused at Huck's moral triumph, but in Catcher, the ending approaches tragedy. In the conclusion of the novel, Holden is on the verge of despair, still lost in his world of fantasy.