Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And Huckleberry Finn

A recurring problem for adolescents is the search for oneself, and often times this discovery is not an easy one. Both Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye and Huck Finn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn struggle with the journey of self identification. Each character goes through their own journey of self-discovery and react to their journey with different behaviors. Holden is a young man who is struggling with the concept of maturity and entering the adult world, while Huck is struggling with finding his purpose and true morals. Huck Finn and Holden both go through a journey where they are tested along the way and have different outcomes. Through both Huck and Holden’s quest, one can see that self-discovery can be challenging,

Holden talks and fantasizes about having relationships and friendships, but in real life he doesn’t really have any. Holden always talks about Jane and how important she is to him, but he can never get the courage to call her. This shows that Holden is struggling with the idea of Jane because in his mind she is this amazing female figure yet is afraid of what reality might show. This goes back to the theme of reality versus imagination in which Holden is confused about where he is in life and growing up. Holden is very lonely and makes attempts to be social. However, every time he is with someone he always finds a way to ruin the moment by getting annoyed by their “phony” behavior. Holden victimizes himself and as a result isolates himself from society. Holden is lonely, but his behavior holds him back from reaching social fulfillment. It seems that he is protecting himself from the outside world through isolation because of his fears of growing up and reaching full maturity. A major part of maturating and development is sexual behavior. This is a subject where Holden struggles with the most because he is always thinking about sex but can never follow out the act. He even says that, “In my mind, I’m probably the biggest sex maniac you ever saw” (Salinger 81). Holden truly believes that sex is meant for two people who are in love and is extremely bothered by the fact that sex can be casual. This shows Holden’s inner struggle with

At first Huck is just a poor, uneducated boy struggling with following the rules. However, by the end of his journey Huck has learned to distinguish what is right from wrong. Yet, that didn’t come easy. Huck struggled with what is expected of him from a “civilized” society. A big issue for Huck is that society has failed him. For example, it is the rules of society that gave Huck’s father custody of him even though it put Huck’s welfare in danger. As a result, Huck always question how good society actually was which only added to his feelings of confusion. A difficult concept for Huck to grasp was the society allowed for slaves to be owned and how nearly everyone in town owned a slave. The townspeople are always so religious and telling Huck do be good and god-loving, but Huck did not understand how religious, “good” people could own slaves. This led to Huck’s realization that society is not always correct, and that he should listed to his heart when making moral decisions. At the end of Huck’s journey Aunt Sally had offered to adopt Huck, but Huck didn’t want to be adopted because he feared civilization. He said, “I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before”(Twain 293). This shows that Huck realizes the corruptnesses of society and doesn’t want to deal with the same moral battle