Compare The Curious Incident Of The Dog In Night-Time And The Catcher In The Rye

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and The Catcher in the Rye display the importance of balancing parental support and independence through its main protagonists’ journeys. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye successfully shows Holden Caulfield’s need of a balance between support from his parents and independence through his journeys. Holden impulsively travels to New York on his own, which ultimately leads to many incidents that hurt him one being his altercation with Maurice. This occurs due to Holden’s strained relationship with his parents and his refusal to see them. When Holden talks about his expulsion letter he says “I didn’t want to go home or anything till they got it and thoroughly digested it and all. I didn’t

She’s nervous as hell. Half the time she’s up all night smoking cigarettes.” (Salinger 175). Holden is unable to confide in either of his parents and does not open up about how Allie’s death has affected him. Instead of facing his mother, he choses to hide in Phoebe’s closet and shows how distant their relationship is. Holden’s mother has been greatly affected by Allie’s death, but he does not want to upset her even more and this takes a toll on their relationship. His parent’s lack of appearance in his life causes him to become self-reliant. Salinger shows a protagonist that requires a proper balance in his life much like Mark Haddon. Both authors have created similar characters, both needing consistent stability in their

When Christopher was at the train station, he jumped on the train tracks to get his pet rat “I saw Toby, and he was in the lower-down bit where the rails were (…) so I climbed down (…) and then I heard roaring (…) and I saw the train coming out of the tunnel” (Haddon 182). Christopher has been sheltered his whole life and during his first time on his own he almost dies. Christopher’s father does not allow him to roam free with no supervision, which causes him to make poor decisions when he is on his own. He has relied on his father all these years and once he leaves on his own he is unable to tell right from wrong. Once Christopher experiences independence for the first time, he makes the impulsive decision of jumping onto the train tracks. Christopher begins his journey to London when he first leaves home to hide from his father “It would be a bit warmer in the shed but I knew that Father might look for me in the shed, so I went round the back of the shed and I squeezed into the gap between the wall of the shed and the fence,