Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And Perks Of Being A Wallflower

J.D Salinger’s 1951 colloquial classic novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and Stephen Chbosky’s 1999 epistolary novel ‘The Perks of being a Wallflower’ are texts that seamlessly connect to each other through the concept of preserving one’s innocence. J.D Salinger’s protagonist Holden Caulfield, and Stephen Chbosky’s protagonist Charlie Kelmeckis are youths which are strikingly similar due to their suffering of angst and ambivalence throughout their teenage years. Both Salinger and Chbosky’s characters depict the made product of mental instability from past-developed and formed traumatic events. Therefore resulting in great tribulation that swamps the protagonists relentlessly throughout their narratives. Themes such as innocence and isolation emulate

Holden physically isolates himself in order to preserve his detachment from the world and to maintain a level of self-protection. In order to seclude himself, Salinger has fabricated Holden into alienating himself from society resulting in him firmly believing that everyone is a “phony”. Therefore Salinger incorporates literary techniques such as satire in order to convey Holden’s persona of ignorance and to create isolation around him. Holden’s satire is displayed when Ernest’s mother (Mrs Morrow) describes her son as being sensitive in which he exaggeratedly responds, “Sensitive. That killed me. That guy Morrow was about as sensitive as a goddam toilet seat.” Holden is able to confidently satirise his society through sarcasm consequently making him a provocative character which those around him elude. Similarly Charlie mentally isolates himself from his friends and family by overly investing himself in the well-being and happiness of his loved ones rather than himself. Charlie uses this tactic to cope with his problems; by mentally blocking out his own emotions and thoughts therefore perpetuating his innocence. He only becomes aware of his mental barrier when his closest friend Sam states, “it’s sweet and everything but it’s like you’re not even there sometimes…You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours.” From her

From ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ Holden Caulfield buys a red hunting hat at the start of the novel which becomes an inseparable image of Holden to the reader. The red hat symbolises the innocence that he has retained with him in order to protect himself. However, he often mentions that he doesn’t wear his hat in public, therefore this mirrors the central conflict that Holden has with growing up. His character has a final development in the end of the book as he gives his hat to little sister stating, “I took my hunting hat out of my coat and gave it to her….She didn’t want to take it, but I made her.” Salinger has cleverly embedded symbolism in order to convey Holden’s final transition from childhood into adulthood by giving his sister his “innocence” in the shape of a red hat. Likewise, Chbosky has utilised tunnels throughout his novel in order to present the ideas of maturing into an adult. At the start of the novel, Charlie and his friends navigate their way through a dark tunnel, in which Charlie is nervous about doing. There is an alteration at the end of the novel where Charlie drives himself through the tunnel as he states, “It was me standing up in that tunnel with the wind over my face. Not caring if I saw downtown. Not even thinking about it. Because I was standing in the tunnel. And I was