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Holden And Antigone Comparison Essay

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1123979 Thesis: Holden and Antigone both show that anytime a person attempts to express their individuality, their success relies on their status in society. Holden rejects his “perfect” life in order to become an individual, but he fails because of his youth and high class status, which both help define his spot in society.While Holden is on the train leaving Pencey he meets a woman who asks him “‘Excuse me, but isn’t that a Pencey Prep sticker?’” and Holen replies, “‘Yes, it is,’... I did have a goddam Pencey sticker on one of my Gladstones. Very corny, I’ll admit” (Salinger 61). Holden being forced to go to prep school after prep school and expected to succeed at a high level. Since he is a part of the elite class, the only accepted path …show more content…

When Antigone asks Ismene for help burying their brother, Ismene responds by saying, “You ought to realize we are only women, not meant in nature to fight against men, and that we are ruled, by those who are stronger, to obedience in this,” (70-73). Antigone is a women in a society ruled by men. Ismene knows that their position gives them no power over the situation. Realistically, Antigone has no power over her world, but she still seeks unsuccessfully to take control. She wants to be able to take action outside of the law and to do what she thinks is right in the eyes of the gods. But a man’s world stands in her way. The laws put in place by the men of the city bring about a severe punishment. Antigone’s singularity and defiance is punished. As Creon faces the two sisters after Antigone is discovered burying her brother, he says, “I never thought that I was raising two sources of destruction, two rebels against my throne,” (585-587). Antigone is a princess in a city that is attempting to recover from chaos. As a female figure of royalty she is expected to be perfect, to stand by quietly. She is a role model of female behavior for all of the women in her city, and in Ancient Greece, women never opposed men. Antigone was raised in the royal family, and as a princess she was only allowed to obey the rules. Because of this, Creon is even more

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1104 Words | 5 Pages

We are only women, We cannot fight with men Antigone!” (Prologue Lines 45-47). While Ismene would gladly obey the laws set forth by her Uncle, Antigone would rather die than let her brother’s body be desecrated. She refused to give up no matter the obstacle in her way. At the end of her crusade, Antigone is condemned to be buried alive in a tomb by Creon.

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1072 Words | 5 Pages

This creates a whirlwind of problems for Holden, convincing the reader that “Holden is clearly flawed . . . (Bickmore and Youngblood 254)” His failure to reflect upon his poor choices, such as his failure to study and lack of motivation, can be seen as the birthplace from which many of his problems spring, leading to his pessimistic

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1695 Words | 7 Pages

This is exactly what Holden grows to detest whilst attending Pencey, the conformist culture he was forced into, which Holden describes as “corny” (Salinger, 19) or “phony”

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648 Words | 3 Pages

(3.28) He believes he must prove himself, and his manliness, which was a common sentiment among the men of Ancient Greece. Creon is also a firm believer that women have a place in society and should stay in that place; therefore, when he hears that Antigone is the one to defy him and bury Polyneices, he is astonished. Creon exclaims, “But this is Antigone! Why have you brought her here? (2.20) He doesn’t believe that a woman could be bold to break the law.

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944 Words | 4 Pages

However, during that time, Holden was hardly in the right frame of mind to enjoy the dream of the typical prep school boy. The way in which he parted by belittling his classmates as he left represents a complete rejection of the adolescent world, which, in this case, was “the glamorous adult life that his school is the monastic and detested antithesis of” (Trowbridge 683). He continues to seek innocence and reject the adult world any way that he can, even while trying to escape into a world that is filled with the phony

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794 Words | 4 Pages

Creon gave his speech to the chorus and stated that whoever buries Polyneices, will be sentenced to death. Then Antigone was captured by the sentry and came to Creon’s palace. Creon was insulted by Antigone's boasting of her doing, and stated that, “This girl is guilty of a double insolence; breaking the law and boasting of it. Who is the man here, she or I, if this crime goes unpunished?” (Sophocles 784).

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It is clear that Holden is at odds with the mainstream, as he controversially identifies as an atheist and a pacifist. In many ways, Holden was before his time. His prevalent profanity, lying, and drinking contrast with our traditional view as of the 1950s as a paradigm of virtue. Perhaps the best representation of this “man against society” struggle is the tragic case of James Castle. Castle, a relatively minor character, is one of the few people other than Holden who speaks out against the status quo by calling a well-to-do fellow student “a very conceited guy” (Salinger 188).

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For years, Holden had been placed in numerous expensive boarding schools, which all ended in the same way—getting expelled. Because Holden’s parents don’t recognize Holden’s clear difficulties with boarding schools, Holden essentially gives up trying as he is so consumed with grief that could have been better dealt with if his parents gave him the proper guidance to do so. Holden’s parents repeatedly sent Holden to boarding schools that always ended in him getting kicked out, and Holden’s father, who is described as “quite wealthy,” gives Holden many resources, such as money, that in his perspective, sets him up for success (140). However, at these luxurious boarding schools, Holden’s father sends him to surround him in an environment full of “phonies” and loneliness (MLA). At Pencey, according to Holden, “All I did was, I got up and went over and looked out the window.

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Antigone also falls victim to the excessive force and jaded complexity of her uncle, when he prioritizes patriarchal standards and his law over her moral act of goodness and makes it known that, “while I’m alive, no woman is going to lord it over me” (590). All the trouble Creon put his family through just to save face and show his dominance ends up destroying what was left of his family just to avoid, “never be rated inferior to a woman, never”

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123 Words | 1 Pages

Men were more better than women and antigone also change that so people can see that they can stand for themselves. She showed woman that they can do that as

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860 Words | 4 Pages

In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone, a woman’s individual conscience trumps state law when Antigone displays time and again that she values her divine motives higher than those of the state throughout the tragedy. Her continued defiance of the state’s authority marks the importance of her individuality through various scenes in Antigone. Knowing full well her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, Antigone goes beyond the powers of the common man to carry on morals of herself and family exceeding beyond immortality and death. Engulfed in the menacing misogyny King Creon set forth in the state, Antigone is determined to thrive and keep the sacred deeds of herself and family in tact despite the fate it bears. The character of Antigone exhibits

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Purpose: To show how a small change in choice could affect holden’s life The Catcher in the Rye is about Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York. The novel starts with Holden, writing in his book, hinting that he is in some sort of mental facility .Even though he comes from a wealthy family,because of his loss of interest in studies,and low grades, he gets expelled from all schools he has studied in .Holden leaves his final school, Pency Prep and decides that he will stay in New York City until his parents learn of his expulsion and “cool down” .Most of the novel is dedicated to Holden’s time in the city, Holden lives in a hotel room for a few days during his stay .Holden then starts meeting with people that he used know, some strangers and goes to places with. From his conversations, he

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742 Words | 3 Pages

Creon throughout the whole play shows a discrimination toward women, in the end he ends up undergoing a terrible downfall. In the play, Antigone is the protagonist who most of the sexism is appointed toward. Creon shows a lot of feminism toward Antigone not only because of her criminal action but also that the fact that she is a female. Creon goes on to send Antigone to a cell deep in the middle of the woods because she went against his law. The fact that she was a female and went against a man’s power makes it seem worse than it actually has to be, all she did was pay her respect to her brother because no one would.

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770 Words | 4 Pages

Women are viewed as lower class, or “slaves”. So when Creon heard of Antigone’s actions, he is in disbelief and thinks her actions should be punished by death. In response to Creon ordering her to her death, she sneered, “Then I beg you: Kill me… I should have praise and honor for what I have done.” She has accepted consequences and is welcoming her fate of death. She is proud in the fact she buried her brother

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1735 Words | 7 Pages

King Creon was unjust with his actions towards Antigone, not only was he punishing Antigone but, he was also going to punish her sis Ismene by default. I believe the main reasons why he was going to punish Ismene was because she was related to Antigone by blood, and the fact that she was a woman; “Creon: You too Ismene, Snake in my ordered house, sucking my blood stealthily—and all the time I never knew that these two sisters were aiming at my throne!” (Abcarian, Klotz and Cohen 358). Pleading their case, which has no agenda of “aiming at his throne”, Creon is only worried about losing his power but in reality, it’s much more than power, I see it as males losing their authority over women.

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