Preview

A Clash of Philosophies: Seymour Glass vs the Misfit

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2218 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Clash of Philosophies: Seymour Glass vs the Misfit
A clash of philosophies: Seymour Glass vs The Misfit

Two books written by J.D. Salinger, known for his “Catcher in the Rye”, proposes two alternative thinking towards the defiance against society and its current state of “accepted” reality. Below you’ll find a short comparison of the similarities and differences of the characters Seymour Glass, a war veteran, and The Misfit, an escaped convict.

How are Seymour Glass and The Misfit similar?
Seymour Glass and the Misfit are similar in a sense that they know what reality is all about; that they have this sense of self-awareness that they’re not great and how they have lost the innocence which the adults most often crave. They’re philosophies in life may seem different at first but they are both geared towards the same ending: A glorious discovery of what they’ve become and what they’ve resolved to do with it; to accept their defeat or to defy the laws of society?

How are Seymour Glass and The Misfit different?
As much as they’re the same in thinking, their actions fall quite differently.
Seymour Glass realizes his unimportance, his lack of life, and how he’s no longer fit for his world’s society. Upon realizing this, he decides that the only way to escape the world he’s living in is to ultimately deprive him of all the nonsense and to do that, he knew he had to kill himself. Only in death can he fully attain the freedom from all the pains and anguish he’s suffered through. He knew he couldn’t change anything and that he couldn’t go back to what he was before.

The Misfit on the other hand is on a quest to find answers specially noting on why he deserved to be in prison. He clearly knows that he doesn’t know anything. He’s unsure and overly perplexed as to how many people think he needs to go to jail while he himself can’t seem to accept that fact. He finds himself breaking out of that prison cell, the usual thinking or norms of society, and dares to question life and its meaning and overall to know the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the book, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls portrays her life searching for steady ground in a world of chaos, created by her alcoholic father and irresponsible mother. Lori, Jeannette’s oldest sister blazes the trail for her siblings escape from their whirlwind childhood into a stable adult life. Lori voices her feelings and emotions through sarcastic comments as well as providing emphasis or relief to the situations.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Misfits is a funny and sensitive story that will touch the reader’s heart. This novel, written by the famous and wonderful author, James Howe, is about four best friends who are trying to win the student council elections in their school. The only problem is that these students aren’t quite popular, but as they call themselves, they are misfits.…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I think that these two topics have a lot in common with each other because they both die, that is how their families stop hating each other but in “the interlopers” it is not from poison it is from a pack of wolves. That got to them before their men could.…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first aspect of these people I would like to make a comparison is how they view the rules of society, and to what extent they are willing to bend the rules for their own purposes, starting with Philippe…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    - they both have a substitute for God (in BNW: the Ford Model T (our Ford) and in the movie they believe in the lottery)…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls is an eye-opening look at the world of poverty that touches so many lives within in the United States. There are many reasons for poverty wheather they be out of consequence or one is simply born into it there are many reason for its occurance. The story of Jeannette Walls is not only inspiring but motivating as her climb from the depths poverty allow her to become the successful journalist and novelist she is today. Throughout her life there have been many struggles including her own father, Rex Walls, the finicial instability their family faces together, and the bullies Jeannette must face alone. She clearly outlines her own growth with her father throughout the novel and proves that with…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rye Rough Draft

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Salinger demonstrates the struggles of a boy Holden as he tries to battle his way though his high school years given all the obstacle and task he has to overcome to do as he pleases. The basis of the authors work is to show readers how alienation can be detrimental to one’s life.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Glass Castle Analysis

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Glass Castle is a chilling memoir written by the writer Jeannette Walls. The memoir is about her unfortunate childhood, which involved constantly being on the move due to her father Rex’s drinking problems getting them into debt or losing him a job. The author has a way of describing things that leaves readers emotionally connected, sympathetic, grateful, wanting more and many other reactions. Overall, The Glass Castle was an excellent life affirming and inspiring memoir.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle Response

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the memoir, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, four dysfunctional kids learn how to grow up on their own and take on new responsibilities due to the absence of their parents. The parents, Rex and Rose Mary live very different lives but seem to always be on the same page when it comes to doing things for there kids. The story takes place in many different states because Jeanette's dad Rex does not always have a stable job. The Walls family moved to various towns in the Desert until they had to move again due to their lack of money and Rex’s poor reputation. Rex was an alcoholic, which hurt the families budget and made things difficult. As a result of this, the kids got more independent and took on responsibilities that they should not have…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The inherent aversion to corruption in society often inspires individuals to respond to an issue in an isolated way in hopes of minimizing the effects it may have on them as well as other people. In this way, J.D Salinger in, Catcher in the Rye, and John Steinbeck in, The Grapes of Wrath, each analyze this corruption through the protagonists in their novels as they experience isolation due to a result of society’s corruption. Although both authors entirely address this commentary, they do so from different points of view allowing them to reach differing resolutions. Both protagonists in each novel experiences isolation as a result of society’s corruption; however, Salinger chooses to displays isolation with…

    • 1580 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Glass Castle Essay

    • 973 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In order to explain that the individual has full control over how they choose to perceive their own situation Eric Hoffer says, “It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities.” This remarkable trait is apparent in Jeanette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, in which Walls retells the story of her childhood surrounded by her extremely dysfunctional yet oddly vivacious family. The reader becomes engrossed in Jeannette’s endless battle between defending her family and the greatness she hopes the Walls will amount to, and settling for the fact that her family is based on false hopes and meaningless lies with her extraordinary story telling techniques. Walls uses her story to encourage others to embrace their past because it affects the person one grows to be, and also to inspire them to look for the opportunity in every situation.…

    • 973 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Glass Castle Thesis

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeanette’s unconventional childhood is characterized by constant poverty and the chaos and confusion of having dysfunctional parents along with their nomadic lifestyle, moving from neighborhood to neighborhood. What is exceptional about Jeanette’s story is that although her parents were irresponsible, neglectful and careless, they were still able to manage to instill admirable qualities in their children and raise sane adults. Jeanette’s parents, Rex and Rose Mary, taught her and her siblings, Brian and Lori to be independent, strong, and to love gaining knowledge and learning.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his unpublished paper Jack and the Monster Factory, Simon Roltson, compares Misfit with the serial killer Carl Panzram, because both claims that their acts of violence were performance of revenge on a society whose rules and courts had brutalized them. Which rendered them violently antisocial. Panzram also claims that the penitentiary has a similar antisocial effect on all the other prisoners (Roltson 2). The Misfit also seems to argue that Jesus should be cursed, because Jesus put the humanity in dilemma by raising the dead. His act of raising the dead “thrown everything off balance.” He compares himself to Jesus because they both were punished. At least Jesus knew what he was being punished for, but Misfit had no idea. So, he thinks he was not treated right. But he finds the rational solution to this that is why he always sign for everything he does and get a copy of it. So, he says “you’ll know what you done and hold up the crime to punishment and see do they match and in the end, you’ll have something to prove you ain’t been treated right” (O’Conner 10). This is his way of “doing right by himself.” Misfit wants to transfer his own felt degradation to grandmother as a means of freedom, that is why he said “no pleasure but meanness.” He also wants to decrease his pain by killing or by mean to others but all this increases it as he mentioned “it’s no real pleasure in life.” So, his act of reducing or get rid of his pain by…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Glass Castle Essay

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It still holds true that man is most uniquely human when he turns obstacles into opportunities. This is evident in Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, which reiterates the story of Jeannette who is raised within a family that is both deeply dysfunctional and distinctively vibrant. Jeannette is faced with numerous barriers throughout her life. Despite the many obstacles set forth by her parents during her childhood, Jeannette develops into a successful adult later in life. One of these obstacles is the lack of a stable home base moulds her into the woman she grows up to be. Throughout her life, Jeannette must cope with the carelessness of her mother, Rose Mary, while also dealing with the destructive nature of her father, Rex.…

    • 1700 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Glass Castle Essay

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The novel The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, addresses many social issues that we deal with every day. The most important social issues disputed on a daily basis are the kind of parents we want to be and what we want to teach our children for their future. In this memoir we are able to see how Rex and Rosemary Walls choose to educate their children to see the better side of their daily troubles. The Walls teach their children that no matter what nature throws at them, that they can handle it. Rex and Rosemary Walls may not have been the best parents, or even good parents for that matter, however they were able to turn their children into well-educated and better off adults. They were able to accomplish this by finding creative ways to teach them important life lessons. Like to learn how to face your fears and what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Although many people would not necessarily agree with the manner these parents educated their children, we can certainly accept the fact that most of the children gained exceptional values that otherwise may have not been learned.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays