Was Holden A Tragic Hero

To be sucessful, one needs an original idea and room in the mind for that idea to blossom, but this can only happen with an open mind. However, open-mindedness is something that starts from a young age. It starts in the classroom. Teachers allow students to talk in groups about opinions, ideas, and methods. Group discussions encourage open-mindedness in every class. In math gives students a chance to share different methods and angles for solving mathmatical equations. In english, students can analyse characters from different points of view. In every class, students will learn to work together efficiently to gather and organize ideas. Sadly, some students believe "it is a waste of time listening to peers compared to listening to teachers.

I learned this during an English class my junior year of high school. The teacher had asked us a question about the the main character of the novel, Catcher in the Rye. She asked, "Was Holden a modern hero or a tragic hero?" The idea behind this was whether outside forces shaped him into his personality, making him a modern hero, or, was he born with his personality, making him a tragic hero. I strongly believed that Holden was a tragic hero because a person can decide wether to let an event in life effect his personality. My teacher allowed us to participate a debate over the matter, making it a group dicussion. As the debate went on, each classmate slowly went to the side of defending Holden as a modern hero. I was left with two other people still defending Holden as a tragic hero. It was through this group discussion that I started to realize the holes in my opinion. Instead of being stubborn to listen to others opinion, i listened. I listened to my classmates and I learned from them. It turns out, Holden is actually a modern hero. This group discussion helped me reflect on my own opinion and be open to seeing things in a different light and not being afraid to accept an idea that was not my own, which is why it is important to listen to peers as well as