Compare And Contrast Catcher In The Rye And Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Our Experiences Make Us Who We Are

The novels The Perks Of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger both narrate stories about a teenager’s struggles. The protagonists respectively, Charlie is about to start high school and Holden has been expelled from his last school just like he did from the previous four schools he has gone to. They both are going through typical teen problems but they both also have their odd, complicated problems as well. Their many struggles are actually alike but despite their similar problems, they have contrasting behaviours against them. Charlie is discerning, Holden is judgemental. Because people’s way of looking at and reacting to similar situations differ depending on their different experiences throughout their lives. Their psychology depends on how they were treated by other people and all kinds of events they’ve been through. Therefore, Charlie and Holden’s self-assessment and thought patterns are antithetical. They both have borderline personality disorder. However, it can’t be said that they are quite always reacting and thinking likewise. Their difference is that during a difficult situation, Charlie generally thinks that himself is the problematic one unlike Holden, who thinks that the other people are

He shows a lot of symptoms as well. Anger regulation problem is one of Charlie’s very distinctive problems. "I used to play sports when I was little, and I was actually very good, but the problem was that it used to make me too aggressive, so the doctors told my mom I would have to stop"(page 56). As seen in this quote of Charlie, he was and still is capable of being aggressive. Also, he tells that his psychiatrist explains him as aggressive. Another example of him being aggressive is when he beat up the guys who were hitting Patrick. He suddenly got angry and behaved in