Similarities Between Holden Caulfield And Willy Loman

The anti-hero is an essential part of literature. Anti-heroes are complex characters that have serious negative and positive personality traits that directly affect their lives. They allow one to relate to a character that may be more human than a “simple” protagonist or antagonist. Both Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye, and Willy Loman from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman are similar, and should both be considered as anti-heroes because of their endless similarities. Holden and Willy are both depressed, both of their families view them differently because of the actions their conditions cause them to do and do not have many people supporting them in their lives. Willy and Holden both experience depression,

I was sort of crying. I don’t know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘sleep tight ya morons!’ I’ll bet I woke up every bastard on the whole floor. Then I got the hell out.” (Salinger 59). When Holden says that, it is known that he resents Pencey and thinks it is full of phonies, yet he cries when he leaves. This shows that Holden is not only having deeper emotions than expected from someone his age, he also feels his emotions heavily and without control over them. He also mentions his red hunting hat, which has been a comfort for him since childhood. Holden putting it on and adjusting it to how he feels comfortable with it is related to a typical behaviour of people with depression. People suffering from depression look for control in uncontrollable situations, and in this situation, Holden cannot control that he is leaving, so he tries to find comfort in the control of his appearance with his hunting hat. In addition, the behaviours that got him to the point of

Biff complains about Willy as a father, saying, “He’s got no character - Charley wouldn’t do this. Not in his own house - spewing out that vomit from his mind.” (Miller 56). Biff does not understand how his father has gotten to such a state of existence. Biff is also clearly frustrated, as even though he loves his father, he resents him for his emotional absence from Biff’s life, and compares him to other people that seem more stable on the outside, like Charley. Holden experiences similar alienation from much of his family. In multiple passages, it is noted that while Holden’s mother is not mentioned, his father is consistently mentioned as having negative feelings toward Holden. When he goes home to see Phoebe because he misses her, he tells her that he is not in Pencey anymore and he mentions her response, saying “Old Phoebe didn’t say anything for a long time. Then when she said something, all she said was, ‘Daddy’s going to kill you’” (Salinger 191). Even at the beginning of the book, Holden mentions his father, saying “They’re quite touchy about anything like that, especially my father.” (Salinger 3) in reference to giving out personal details about them. There is constant reference throughout the text as to Holden feeling like he is a disappointment to his father, which may be caused by Holden’s father seeing him differently because of Holden’s