How is it that modern American teenagers across the nation still fear for their safety of coming to school every day? Why has the teenage suicide rate skyrocketed, hitting an all-time high in the past decade? Although the situation is very complicated, the truth of the matter derives from the increased rate of children living with depression due to social pressures at home or school. Just like Esther and Holden, from The Catcher and the Rye and The Bell Jar, both characters portray exemplars of teenagers growing up with depression and demonstrate the impact it has on their lives. Even though these books have existed for over a half-century, the moral messages from both novels still relate to the concept of the modern American teen years later. Within both works, Salinger and Plath utilize their characters to provide insight into the feelings of a modern American teen to portray the social issues during the 1950s. Throughout The Bell Jar, Esther exhibits personal withdrawals from society and displays feelings of isolation, relating to the reality of how others act due to their depression. As Esther illustrates her sorrows, she sees “the days of the year stretching ahead [of her] like a series of bright, white boxes separating from another” (Plath 128). As Esther pours out her emotions, she provides the imagery of her feeling alone and separated from everyone else as she does not resemble these “bright” others. Hence, symbolically, Esther approaches the mere obstacle of her