The Journey Of Two Picaresque Essay, Research Paper

Mark Twain s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and J.D. Salinger s The Catcher in the Rye depict journeys from which the chief characters learn many life lessons. Huck traveled down the Mississippi River and Holden wandered the streets of New York City. Even though these journeys are really different in puting, there are similarities in what Huck and Holden learned about themselves, about American society, and about the universe in which they lived.

Both Holden and Huck are on a pursuit ( Heisman, Miller 23 ) . Huck is running off from place to the wild West where he thinks he will be accepted, while Holden is rolling the streets of New York City seeking to happen love and credence from others. Both feel as though everyone around them is bogus or bogus. All the male childs want is to happen a topographic point in life where people don t justice them and aren Ts so hypocritical.

The societies in which they are seeking, nevertheless, are non peculiarly friendly. The societies are filled with barbarous people who do barbarous things ( Pritchett 13 ) . Holden experiences a cruel act when Maurice, the lift male child, and Sunny, the cocotte, attack him for purportedly non paying Sunny ( Salinger 154 ) . When attacked, he thought he was deceasing. He began to fantasy about being a film hero seeking retaliation. This is an illustration of how he is psychologically interrupting down and fighting in his pursuit. In

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Huck s instance, he climbs onto a isolated boat and overhears two robbers endangering to kill another adult male ( Twain 75 ) . He besides witnesses the slaying of Old Boggs ( Twain 95 ) . In add-on he observed the force of the South where one adult male shooting another because of an abuse. This is a lesson to Huck of human nature and what was acceptable in society. He was discouraged by these lessons because they showed how people really treated each other.

To do their journeys even more frustrating, Holden and Huck have to cover with lip service. Hypocrisy is an property in which both Holden and Huck experience on their pursuits. Having love for his sister, Phoebe, and seeing that lip service can ache her, Holden feels he must protect her, and at the terminal of the book he feels he has done so. This makes Holden so crazily happy he has a nervous interruption down ( Hieserman, Miller 24 ) . Huck experiences lip service when he wants to smo

ke a coffin nail and Ms. Watson says no, even though she smokes herself ( Twain 10 ) . Sing this lip service confuses and frustrates both Huck and Holden.

Death plays a large function in Huck s and Holden s changed lives. Huck s staged decease represents his growing into manhood. He withdraws from the life of society to the river. Each clip Huck returns to the land so withdraws once more to the river is an illustration of a form of decease and metempsychosis. Huck s transmutation from a male child to a adult male is an illustration of his old ego death and his new ego being born once more. In comparing, Holden s experience with decease was existent. The decease of his brother, Allie, was one of the most traumatic experiences of his life and played a major function in his psychological dislocation. His turning away of showing his feelings may hold resulted from Allie s decease.

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Some qualities hurt Holden in his journey but aid Huck in his ain. One of these qualities is love. Although he is non really successful, Holden seems to be in hunt of love from another adult female. He besides experiences traumatic brushs with his gender. Holden s sexual desire gets him into problem, about against his will, as he moves more profoundly into the grownup universe. For illustration, Holden is driven by his gender to hold the cocotte semen to his room, but in the long tally was hurt for purportedly non paying. The character of Jim and his relationship with Huck is besides an illustration of love. At the beginning of the book, Huck seems to be infantile and inconsiderate towards Jim. For illustration, he puts a serpent at Jim s kiping topographic point as a gag to frighten him but it bites Jim ( Twain 39 ) . Huck finally notices Jim s kindness and starts to accept him as a human. Huck accepts Jim so much he begins to see him non merely as a friend but besides as a male parent. Feeling this love towards Jim is a life lesson to Huck to accept others every bit.

This comparing of the experiences of these two characters, Huck and Holden, describes the similarities in life lessons learned. Cruelty from others, lip service, decease and the hunt for love are subjects that Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye have in common. Some of these experiences make the quest for Huck and Holden more hard, and some help them along their journey. As a consequence of these life lessons, Huck and Holden transitioned from adolescence to maturity.