The Bell Jar And The Catcher In The Rye

In literature, loss of innocence refers to an adolescent character who experiences an event that leads to a greater awareness of pain and suffering which profoundly reshapes their life. The loss of a loved one at a young age can cause disruption and irreparable damage to the innocent mind. After a tragedy of losing a loved one, the naïve mind is ill-equipped to deal with the loss, which can cause it to spiral out of control. Esther and Holden are two fictional characters who are both unfortunate enough to experience this trauma during their adolescence and both suffer the negative mental consequences. Throughout The Bell Jar and The Catcher in the Rye, Plath and Salinger use their protagonists’ to demonstrate the motif of loss of innocence, caused by tragic events in their youth, to teach the reader that buried childhood trauma can have a negative impact on mental health. In The Catcher in

Holden is severely depressed and wants to talk to someone, so he talks to his dead brother and describes, “What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get his bike and meet me in front of Bobby Fallon 's house” (Salinger 98). Feeling guilty that he does not take Allie with him when he goes out with his friend, he tells Allie to get his bike and join them at Bobby’s house. Holden’s actions are borderline schizophrenic, a mental disorder which affects the way a person thinks and acts, with no bearing on reality. Pained by the loss of his brother, Holden has delusions that if he tells Allie to join him, then he can change the past and be a better brother. Holden relives his past through schizophrenic episodes in attempt to bring his brother back, however, his mind has been exposed to shattering pain and his life will never be the same