Examples Of Happiness In Catcher In The Rye

756 Words4 Pages

This semester in Junior English we had a large focus on setting and achieving goals, specifically in regards to happiness. I believe that happiness found through making others happy. Happiness is not something that you can find or give to yourself, but rather is something you need to give to others. There were many texts that we read or watched, that taught me about happiness and goals, and these ultimately shaped my idea of my happiness. One theme we saw portrayed many times was: Happiness is having family and friends. We see this theme being clearly portrayed in The Catcher in the Rye. In the novel, Holden is generally unhappy with his life. Even when he gets a stripper, or a date with a pretty girl, he is unsatisfied and still searching …show more content…

McMurphy makes the other people in the ward happy through laughter. From the minute he arrives on the ward he is joking around and brightening up the place with his big laugh and goofy smile. He does a lot to make the other patients happy, for example, taking them on a fishing trip, and fighting for them to be able to watch the World Series. Ultimately McMurphy suffers great consequences for these actions, but he also one great reward. By making others happy, he makes himself happy, and dies a happy man. This again is a great lesson to us, even when we are in the worst possible situation we can make it better for ourselves by making other people happy. Sure, sometimes we need to do things for ourselves, but in the end we feel better when we give to others than when we help …show more content…

Chris prioritizes his family, mainly his son Christopher, by doing anything and everything to keep him safe and happy. Even though they are in a bad place in their life, Chris thinks only of Christopher's happiness, not his own. He give up many things do this; his money, his home, his job, and even his blood. Chris finds creative ways to work his job while still entertaining his son. He takes Christopher to a football game to make him happy, and it ends up rewarding himself by allowing him to make many new business contacts. Chris is a great example for us of being utterly selfless. He never thinks of himself, or how he is going to make it, and this is something we should follow. Now obviously I’m not advocating for selling your blood for money to buy your son a candy bar, but we all need to realize that making others happy is what ultimately will make us