J.D. Salinger And A Separate Peace example essay topic

Comparison and Contrast Essay A Separate Peace and The Catcher in the Rye The coming of age novels, The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger, and A Separate Peace, written by John Knowles, both interpret the lives of adolescent boys journeying through their conflicts and inner confusion to reach the level of maturity. Salinger and Knowles both discern the literal ways a typical teenager grows up with the help of literary elements such as plot, setting, character development, conflicts, irony, symbolism, theme, and point of view. In both of the novels, the setting is taken place in an all boys's chool. The all boys's chool in A Separate Peace was named Devon High School, located in New Hampshire and the school in The Catcher in the Rye was named Pencey Prep, located in New York. By having both main characters being raised in a same type setting, they both can experience similarities that they might have to go through. However, each novel was set in a different timeline.

A Separate Peace was actually written during the time of World War II, while The Catcher in the Rye was written after World War II. As a result, different time periods probably differentiated their lifestyles, which can produce unlike conflicts that the teenage boys might encounter. The protagonists in A Separate Peace, Gene Forrester, and The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Claufield, make them coming of age novels by the struggles that they come across as they grow up into becoming mature, adult like men. Gene Forrester attains his maturity by dealing through the confusion he has from cooperating with his best friend, Finny, and the guilt he inherits as he blames himself responsible for Finny's death. On the contrary, Holden Claufield, in The Catcher in the Rye, illustrates his attainment of maturity by growing with the depression he possesses and his alienation from the people in the novel. The battle of Gene with himself and Holden with himself creates the similar major conflicts between the novels.

In this case, Holden has it much more difficult in The Catcher in the Rye because he has to struggle with a great depression and he constantly tries to escape it through drinking, sexual intimations, his awful attitude, and attempts of being out going after he leaves Pencey Prep early. The cause of this depression is the death of his younger brother Ally. In the novel, he describes that he literally broke all the windows in the garage and that he wasn't able to attend Allie's funeral because he spent his time in the hospital healing his hands. Also, the switching of private schools and the way his parents are always neglecting him is another reason of his depression. An example of how they describe Holden's depression is found early in the novel. In chapter 1, Old Spencer says "Life is a game boy.

Life is a game that one plays according to the rules". Then Holden replies with, "Yes sir. I know it is. I know it...

Game my a. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right- I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it?

Nothing. No Game" (Salinger 8). This quote shows that Holden is a victim of depression and in his thoughts he compares himself as not being with the "hot-shots", which means that he is alienated in society. However, in A Separate Peace, Gene doesn't have this conflict because he belongs to a club.

This club that he is in is called the Super Suicide Society in the Summer Session where his major conflict started. When Gene causes Finny to have and accident, it haunts him throughout the story. As it haunts him, it develops their friendship into a relationship with jealousy. While this continues, Finny encounters another accident from the confession of the first accident and breaks his leg again. As a result, Finny dies through a surgery from his injury and Gene puts himself in a situation of guilt because if he didn't break Finny's leg the first time, it wouldn't have caused the death of Finny. In A Separate Peace, Gene expresses himself of fault with the quote, 'I did not cry then or ever about Finny.

I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case. ' (Knowles 194). Both authors include aspects of irony in the novels. Being un supportive to one thing and then coping with it is one of the ironies that the novels share. In A Separate Peace, Finny, Gene's best friend, totally disgraces listing into fighting in World War II; however, at the end of the novel, he matures up and confesses that the war was something that he coveted and wanted to be a part of.

Similarly, in the same content, Holden clearly shows his being un supportive about school when he is kicked out of Pencey Prep because of failing four classes; but, at the end of the novel, he resolves this issue and agrees to actually apply himself to the other school that he will be enrolled in. This irony fits in with how achieving maturity is involved. Another irony that the novels share is that the main characters are actually intelligent, but their conflicts drag them down. In A Separate Peace, Gene is a student that strives to be valedictorian; however, Finny catches his appeal to go out and have fun like the time they went to the beach and then he failed his Geometry test. Similarly, Holden Claufield is also intelligent in The Catcher in the Rye; but, his compassion about school is very low and this drags him down to show his intelligence and knowledge. In both of the novels, symbolism is a significant part.

A symbol that both of the novels share is an article of clothing that a character wears to show that they don't care whatever other people think about them and it also gives them confidence. In A Separate Peace, Finny's article of clothing would be the pink shirt "is going to be my emblem. Ma sent it up last week" (Knowles 24). In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Claufield has a red, funky looking, hunting hat which he wears as a symbol. Constantly people make fun of his hunting hat but he feels comfortable with it and it is something he cherishes. Also, each novel has a symbol that they both cherish and is significant.

In A Separate Peace, Gene cherishes his club, the Super Suicide Society in the Summer Session, because it is something that he enjoyed and it was very significant in his life. He also cherishes the tree because it was a significant part of his life where many transitions occurred. While, in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Claufield cherishes his sister Phoebe and his little brother's glove with the poems in green ink. Phoebe is an important symbol to Holden because she is the only thing in Holden's life that cheers him up from his depression and the glove with poems in green ink written on it is significant to Holden's life because it is the only remembrance of his little brother's, Allie's, life. In the novels, both of the authors describe a theme that has to do with conflicts involved in the lives of immature boys turning into mature men. In A Separate Peace, John Knowle's theme was having enemies within friendships.

This theme was given through the description of the relationship between Gene and Finny. On the other hand, J.D. Salinger's theme in The Catcher in the Rye was developing through adolescence with depression and confusion in your life. Through the point of view of Holden's place, his attitude and experience he went through discerned that stress was a big issue to him and struggling through depression as a teen and achieving maturity from it is something the most of us could relate to. Overall, both of the themes in the novels have something to do with social events in our lives and both of the themes became interesting appeals. J.D. Salinger and John Knowles both accomplished their description of their protagonists reaching their level of maturity through literary elements. They provided excellent examples of a teen growing up; and A Separate Peace and The Catcher in the Rye have at least one moral that one can rely on. In conclusion, the conflicts in the stories were things that I could actually relate to and I can expect to experience the same things that the characters experienced.

Bibliography

Knowles, John. A Separate Peace Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960 Salinger, J.
D. The Catcher in the Rye New York: Bant an books 1951.