Vernon God Little Character Analysis

Pierre’s protagonist Vernon God Little is an agreeably significant character when it comes to the general meaning of the text, categorising the novel as of one of initiation. Vernon is in a stage of teenage-hood, where he is neither a grown up nor a boy, who begins to be confronted with the reality of life. He has a challenging family life; a mother, who is referred to as a “knife-turner,” whose presence is pointless to him due to her ignorance, and a dead father whose support Vernon is deprived of. The author presents Little in two ways: a contemporary teenager—an anti-social, childish, comic, rebellious figure with a foul mouth, who has no serious aspirations in life and an ominous future in his hometown, Martirio, suggested by “my nerves

D. Salinger 's The Catcher in the Rye. Both of the novels are met with controversy due to the liberalism and the social criticism that both books convey. The novels share an adolescent protagonist who demonstrates a critical attitude of the society: “my fucken struggle for learnings and glory(p80)”. Both of them share a story of a teenage boy on the verge of the adulthood. A difference between the characters is that Vernon ends up being an outlaw due to his passive response to the circumstances, which is why his anxiety is taken advantage of. However, Holden becomes one as he is actively against the society that requires him to go along with the crowd and any bourgeoisie understandings, as suggested by the paragraph 3.1 “the most terrific liar.” Nevertheless, the repetition of “fucken” implies that Vernon is discontent with society as well. Little ́s thoughts are as straightforward: (page 60) ”Makes me want to puke.” Similarly, Holden Caulfield does it in his own way: (page 55) “She’s old as hell…” Both of the characters tell the audience about their experiences of the society at the time using three technical devices:1st person narration, soliloquies, and epical reports. (Bange 1982, 77), as for instance in the following: page 13: “Old Spencer started nodding”.(epical report)…pretty disgusting to watch(1st person narration)… ́They are grand people”(epical narration.)I could

Vernon’s case of being the scapegoat at the mass shooting is an example of a satire of the socio-cultural aspects of the modern American media. Although it is evident that it is the US society being criticised in both cases, the targeted themes vary. Pierre tackles the hunger for popularity, even if they have to betray and treat each other badly, “racism, gun-possession, death penalty, fast-food, internet-pornography and its impact on society, general decay of human values and the ruthlessness of the media frame one of America ́s newest and greatest traumas: High school shootings” (Bellerman). On the other side, Salinger is against “phonies”— dishonest, pretentious and dishonest people who do not realise what truly matters in life and hide their true emotions. The extent of his hatred is so high, Holden fantasises about his own place where “phony” people