The feminist theory is based on finding and exposing negative attitudes toward women in literature. Their goal is to reveal the reality of how women get portrayed in literature due to the fact that most literature presents an inaccurate view of women and are most of the time minimized. In the Catcher in the Rye there is a few female characters such as Sunny, the girls at the club, and Sally who are put in situations that show nothing but stereotypes and puts them in a bad spot throughout the novel. J.D Salinger decides to put some of the female characters in situations that can cause those who read this novel to think bad or leave readers with a bad image of women. This bad image on women is due to the fact that he decided to portray some of …show more content…
They could go on an say that one of the female characters named Phoebe shows this unbiased novel because she is shown as an independent young girl who is seen as her brother Holdens supernatural aid. They can also show the nuns as another unbiased portrayal of women because of how kind hearted they are. Besides the faulty representation of the other women throughout the novel these two examples do go on and show a better portrayal of women. Even though the author decided to add these three characters it still does not make up for what he did with the other women characters and how he made them look. By him using these three “good” female characters readers might think that he is being equal with the men and women in the novel,but that is not the case. J.D Salinger might have thought that by adding just these characters readers would forget about the fact that he put other female characters in bad situations. The way he wrote this novel can also signify what he thinks of women.wrote good about only two female characters because he thinks there is more bad women than there is good. This goes back to the feminist theory that states “feminist critics believe that Western literature reflects a masculine bias, and, consequently, represents an inaccurate and potentially harmful image of women.” Basically male authors like J.D Salinger will always have a bias say on women and sometimes authors like him will create harmful stereotypes that will end up messing with the image of not just a character, but with the image of all
The purpose of my essay is to explore how different social backgrounds and the social norms that follow affect the personality of two fictive characters and encourage them to break out of their station to find an identity. The protagonists Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye and Tambudzai in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions are both victims of social norms. Therefore, the foundation of this essay was to analyze the character’s social background, which has influenced their personalities, behavior and aspirations, and consequently their opposing actions against society. Holden Caulfield is an American adolescent during the period after the Second World War.
Specifically, the women in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, take a small role in the novel, they are not given a plot line. They are often stereotyped as not being able to do the same things as men. The
There are two extremes of one “whore-ish” and the other cruel that do not give room for a positive interpretation of women. The one woman who is given a softer role is not given enough time to be a true character to really matter in the representation of Women. Kesey does not represent the women in a good way because these men have basically been ruined by women, and that is the underlying reason that Kesey gives them poor characteristics. Many of the characters seem to have problems with the women in their lives be it Ratched, their wife, mothers, or other women in power, which leads to the point Kesey is trying to make with portraying women this way. The changing culture of women obviously frightens men because they have never been used to women being so powerful or so open with thier sexuallity and all they would like in this blossoming era of the 60’s is to go back to the ideal and perfect
He compares and contrasts these two women to each other throughout the novel in order to describe the two distinctive categories of women that he believed existed in the Victorian Era. One category focused on women who are innocent and submissive. The other category focused on women who are rebellious, daring and aren’t afraid of going against the restraining features of society. Although Mina and Lucy hold different views on both categories, they both are well aware of the belief that men are seen to be more prevailing than women in this culture. An example of this is when Lucy asks Mina, “My dear Mina, why are men so noble when we women are so little worthy of them?”
While the women roles in the novel are minor, they hold an impact towards the men. In the novel, the role of women is used as an escape and a reminder of home. In the start of the novel, Lieutenant Cross carries a handful of items that dealt with a girl named Martha. He carries two pictures of her and letters that she had written to him.
I believe the author wanted to show us that men are not perfect to begin with and even at a young age (like the characters in the novel) the boys struggle with responsibility, maturity, and respect. So, would the story be different if the characters were all female? In this essay I will compare differences on boy and girl characters in the novel and I will replace a character from Lord of the Flies with a female counterpart. Giving details on how she looks, acts, what motivates her to do the things she does, and how would life on the
Society as a whole is something you make of it. If one wants to denounce the society they live in because it is “phony” that is because they’ve made the world around them phony. The character of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye is a prime example of someone being stuck in the idea that society is unchanging. Society is just how a person perceives the world in front of them. The eye of the beholder is the one that creates the society of their choice.
Holden Caulfield lives his life as an outsider to his society, because of this any we (as a reader) find normal is a phony to him. Basically, every breathing thing in The Catcher in the Rye is a phony expect a select few, like Jane Gallagher. What is a phony to Holden and why is he obsessed with them? A phony is anyone who Holden feels is that living their authentic life, like D.B. (his older brother). Or simply anyone who fits into society norms, for example, Sally Hayes.
Jessica Casimiro October 30, 2015 English 3/PayLea Short Story Essay Patrick Rothfuss once claimed, “The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” The novel Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield, an angst-ridden teen conflicted between remaining in a state of prolonged innocence or transitioning into the world of adulthood, thus facing the corruption and phoniness that it correlates with. Through Holden’s dynamic character, J.D Salinger depicts how innocence is slowly lost when exposed to adulthood. Reluctant to the idea of growing up, Holden strives to protect the innocence of himself and the ones’ around him. Holden reminisces about the Natural Museum of History, a place he enjoyed going
The traditional gender roles are noticeable in the novel because the women were either in the homes or in the Red Center. The men could have different kinds of jobs and even rise to a higher social status. Women were to remain the same all through their
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feministic ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women can fulfil their individual dreams that are not in sync with traditional conventions of that time.
In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Mr. Antolini gives Holden Caulfield advice when he is at one of his lowest points. Already aware of Holden’s mental state and position on school, he quotes Wilhelm Stekel, a psychoanalyst, “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” (Salinger 188). Although Holden fails to grasp Mr. Antolini’s message, the quote applies directly to his life because of his relationship with death as a result of his younger brother, Allie’s, death. Mr. Antolini uses this quote specifically because he wants Holden take a step back and try to live for a noble cause instead of resorting to death.
In the beginning of the novel Salinger portrays Holden as a antisocial person who is often seen alone and describes the world as a “ world full of phonies” one example of this is at the beginning of the book wherein the
Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, embodies the classic teenager in the process of discovering himself, and how the world works. But, regardless of Holden 's rich, prep school lifestyle, the series of events that have mapped out his life up to this point have utterly affected his emotional well being and perception of the world. Many traumatic events such as the death of holds brother Allie, the death of a class mate, and countless numbers of awkward incidents with adults have all added up to affects Holden 's well-being and detach him from reality. The death of Holden 's younger brother Allie has caused him to confuse his perception of reality and to alienate himself.
Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help develop and inform the text 's major themes. One of the recurring themes in the novel The Catcher in the Rye is the omnipresent theme of death. It could be argued that the novel is not only full of references to death in the literal sense, physical disappearance, but also in the metaphorical, taking the form of spiritual disappearance, something which Holden often focuses on, along with the actual theme of mortality. It is possible that this occurs because of his reluctance to interact with the living world. As his means of escaping from the reality he despises, his mundane thoughts and the “phoniness” that he is surrounded by.