Holden in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” and Conrad in the book “Ordinary People” are very similar in many ways, but differ in a few as well. They are both go through a difficult time in dealing with a death of a brother and deal with their grief and other things in very similar ways. Holden and Conrad kept a majority of their feelings to themselves and felt inferior compared to their lost siblings. They both suffer through the stages of grief in different but similar ways but unlike Holden, Conrad is able to overcome his grief and begin to heal.
When dealing with the first stage of grief, denial, Holden and Conrad take different approaches. In Holden's case his denial affected him accepting his brothers death. Holden's denial is shown by Holden not going to Allies funeral. “I wasn't there. I was still
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In Holden’s case, he comes to accept the fact that all children need to learn how to do things for themselves and "grab for the golden ring." (Salinger 30). By saying this Holden begins to accept the fact he can not fix and prevent everything but needs to learn to accept and deal with the consequences of life. For Conrad he reaches acceptance by creating and enjoying new aspects of life. One example of him moving on and starting a new chapter of his life by making a connection with Jeanie. The difference when it comes to acceptance is that Holden just simply begins to accept his brother's death, but Conrad is able to accept his brother’s death but also move on.
So, when looking at how Holden in the novel “The Catcher in the Rye” and Conrad in the book “Ordinary People” have many similarities when moving through the five stages of grief they have underlying differences that make the story so different. They both struggle through the death of their brother and the grief in somewhat similar ways but how they accept the death of their brother was very