Comparing Catcher In The Rye And Joy Luck Club

Rick Riordan once said, “It's funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.” The difficulties of life mostly revolve around the battle of what people want to believe versus what is actually there. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club, Holden Caulfield and Waverly Jong become puppets of their own illusions and fall to their realities which creates new internal struggles.
Allie’s death warps Holden’s lifestyle; however, it also allows him to grieve once he realizes his wrongdoings. When Holden talks to Phoebe about what he wants to be, he says to her, “I have to come out from somewhere and catch them … I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all” (225). Allie causes

After dropping off a message to Phoebe at her school, Holden thinks to himself, “You can’t rub out even half the ‘Fuck you’ signs in the world. It’s impossible” (262). Unfortunately, in this moment, Holden realizes that he cannot save every child from adulthood. He cannot save them from losing that sparkle in their eye. The best thing he can do for them is to meet them or help them when they need it which is what he does for Jane. Throughout Holden’s journey, Phoebe seems to be one of his only supporters that loves him unconditionally. Phoebe provides Holden a safe space where he can be himself and she will love him no matter what. He knows that all she wants for him is to be happy which lets him almost idolize her. As a person, Holden’s main goal is to save children from adulthood where they could lose their innocence. In children and those nuns, he sees qualities that he has lost and he admires them most for being able to retain them. He sees pure people that are able to reject the corruption of the world and look at the world as if it and the people are perfect. Holden grows to comprehend the harshness of reality even with noble motives, but never loses sight of what is important to