Catcher in the Rye & Eleve Seconds
In the novels Catcher in the Rye, and Eleven Seconds, the main characters cope with society in very different methods. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield deals with society in an unusual way. When his brother Allie died, four years before his story, he decided to break windows with anger. Doctors observed this action physically and mentally. I think that the doctors help him cope with his feelings for Allie because they try to fix any problems he might have. Also, when he was expelled from Pency Prep, he rented a hotel for the night. He should have stayed at the school until they picked him up in a few days, but he didn’t. While at the hotel, this 17-year-old boy orders a prostitute, since he was depressed, but decides he is not in the mood for sex when she arrives. In addition, Holden also smokes a lot and is a heavy drinker, and this doesn’t help him with his depression. For example, “ I ordered a scotch and a soda, and told him not to mix it,” proves that he drinks under age. I think that when Holden is in NYC he cannot manage and cope with his feelings of his brother Allie because he is so depressed and keeps thinking of his deceased brother. Another method Holden uses to cope with society is to be sarcastic. An example of this is shown when he tells the mother of a kid he finds obnoxious, that he was kind shy, and adaptable in his school, just for his pleasure. A quote from the book that explains this is, “Well, a bunch of us wanted old Ernie to be president of the class.” This way of joking makes him feel better but is a wrong thing to do. A last example of Holden’s actions to deal with society is that he plans to become a deaf mute and live out west .He thought that if he did this it would solve his problems and keep him away from the “crumby” people in society. All of his actions and plans show signs of immaturity in him and that his choice making to deal with things is not very successful. In the novel Eleven Seconds, Travis Roy has a