Comparing Huckleberry Finn And Holden Caulfield

Julia Hamilton
Mrs. Gdaniec
AP English 11
30 August 2016
Title

Both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, are American classics that have been cherished for decades. Even though, the novels are written over fifty years apart, there are numerous similarities between their protagonists. Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caulfield both are the main characters struggling with maturing into the corrupt world and finding where one fits into society. Although Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield deal with their struggles differently, both characters try to resist society’s standards and keep from entering the adult world. Society is trying to mold Huck Finn into something that he is not. First, Widow

Then the novel shows the cruel side of society in Huck’s father. When Pap gets custody of his son, he treats him dreadfully. All Huck wants is his own sovereignty, and to live where he doesn’t have to follow anybody else’s standards. Another struggle Huck must face is when Jim, a runaway slave, enters the novel. Huck has to choose between what society thinks is morally correct and what he thinks is the right thing to do. Society has engraved in Huck that helping a colored person is an awful sin, however Huck thinks of Jim as a friend, and would be feel terrible if he turned Jim in. Huck begins to get overwhelmed on whether to betray Jim, and must choose whether to follow the restrictions of society or to follow his own heart. Huck finally deals with his struggles, and chooses what he feels is the moral thing to do. First, to escape society’s standards, Huck runs to nature. The peacefulness of nature is what Huck wanted the entire time, he finally has freedom, comfort, and most importantly, his free will. “The sun was up so high when I waked, that I judged it was after eight o’clock. I laid there in the grass and the

Holden feels that everybody is just putting on an act, and being phonies, just so they can fit into society. He judges people based on everything they do and can find a fault with anybody, however this bitterness is just resulting with him being burdened with loneliness. It is clear to see that Holden feels he is better than anybody else, and nobody is on his level. This superiority however, his way of self-protection. Interactions with other people confuse and overwhelm Holden, so instead of dealing with his fears he decides to act like nobody is good enough for him. Also, Holden fears growing up. He does not like change so he wishes he could just stop time before he has to mature into an adult. He wants children to not have to face the corruption in the real world, he wants them to keep their purity and innocence. When ask what Holden would like to do with his life he replies that he would like to keep children from falling off that cliff. “Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing in some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them” (Salinger