Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And Brownies

Both The Catcher in the Rye and "Brownies" explore society and the human experience through similar themes, despite their differing backgrounds. The protagonists in both stories offer insight through their unique experiences and encounters. Throughout the stories, the protagonists learn more about themselves through their struggle to fit into society, autism, depression and discrimination based on race or social class. The use of these three elements helps reveal things the characters use to make assumptions about the culture of people in society. The first similarity discussed will be the theme of youth culture and struggling to fit in. Then it will be the use of mental illness as a tool that helps broaden parts of the character's development.

Mental illness helps us gain deeper insight into each story. The types of mental illness displayed in both stories are different but both help the story progress in their own ways. In "Brownies", the mental illness displayed is autism. A part of this illness is echolalia which the troop leader explained some of the girls had. She said, “some of our girls are echolalic… that means they will say whatever they hear, like an echo" (23). Mental illness drives the plot of "Brownies". Had the girls in Troop 909 not had this illness, they would not have said what they did. It is through mental illness that Snot and her troop learn more about the people around them. Although the girls continue to belittle Troop 909, Snot has her own learning moment. She realized that the girls belittled others because they had experienced the same. Snot connects her treatment to their treatment of Troop 909. She learns that this time they were the ones discriminating. They had turned the tables and seen what it could do to the person receiving this abuse. This realization would not have been possible without the presence of mental illness. That is also why mental illness also plays a large role in The Catcher in the Rye. It helps Holden learn more about himself. In the book, Holden suffers from many problems including mental illness. He has depression which causes him to also feel a great deal of guilt. It is

The discrimination in "Brownies" has spread both ways. Not only is it from white to black but also from black to white. When Snot's troop see Troop 909, Arnetta says “they smell like Chihuahuas, wet Chihuahuas" (2). Arnetta says this because she believes she is able to say anything she wants. This is due to her being a victim of racial prejudice and getting revenge. This fact helps fuel the main conflict in the story. Snots' troop believe they can attack those who discriminate against them with impunity. This is because they see it as righting the wrong caused by other whites. It is challenging for them to solve this problem without resorting to conflict. The consequences they receive make it clear that their actions were not allowed. While the troop believes they are doing it for a good cause they do not understand the whole situation. Discrimination shapes the way characters handle different situations as the story unfolds. The Catcher in the Rye focuses on discrimination based on social class, rather than race. Discrimination based on differences in people's social class is evident in the book. When Holden is telling a story about his old Headmaster, he says “if some boy had little old funny-looking parents… [He] would just shake hands with them and give them a phony smile and then he’d go talk for maybe half an hour, with somebody else's parents” (19). Holden is talking about how Mr