Comparing Dreams in Catcher in the Rye, Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Dreams in Catcher in the Rye, Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God

Throughout the novels Catcher in the Rye, Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main characters seem to have a dream. In their stories, Holden, Elie, and Janie tell the reader whether or not their dream was successful.

In Catcher in the Rye, Holden's dream is to be the catcher in the rye, meaning he wants to stop children or anything that may still be innocent from falling over the edge. This basically means he wants to preserve the innocence. That's why he likes Phoebe so much, because she's still young and youthful, and most importantly innocent.

The novel charts Holden's experiences over a long period of time. It starts on a Saturday in December just before school closes for Christmas break. He has been informed of his expulsion from Pencey Prep School. What worries him most about being kicked out of school is his parents' reaction, for he has already been expelled from other educational institutions. Soon, Holden decides to go to New York. Holden encounters a large number of people as he travels the city of New York and goes into nightclubs.

Holden looks for some amount of understanding and acceptance from all the characters he encounters, even taxi drivers, but he is denied his needs. As a result, Holden feels dislocated, as though he does not belong anywhere, and he is right. It becomes obvious through his meetings that he is in an entirely different path than the rest of the world. Each time Holden opens up himself, he is rewarded with rejection, until he is finally driven to almost a schizophrenic condition. With his mental health deteriorating, Holden returns to his parents' home,...

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...cts herself by firing a rifle at him. She is then tried for his murder.

In spite of the tragic circumstances and the hurricane and Tea Cake's death, the novel has a happy ending, for Janie is found innocent of murder and given a chance to run her life and find out who she really is. In telling her tale, it is obvious that she feels like a satisfied woman who has recognized love and has precious memories to surround her. If Janie's soul were to come out and see life, it would, unlike the others, be very pleased to see that her hearts desires were fulfilled.

Those were the dreams of Holden Caulfield, Elie Wiesel, and Janie Crawford-Woods.

Sources

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row, 1937.

Salinger, J.D. The Catcher In The Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

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