Catcher In The Rye Conflict Essay

1883 Words4 Pages

Intro
In the novels Crime and Punishment and The Catcher in The Rye the authors Feodor Dostoevsky and J.D Salinger create internal conflict in the main protagonists to thoroughly convey their messages.Feodor Dostoevsky attempts to promote Christianity through Raskolnikov’s struggle with morality as he characterizes him as having a split personality. J.D Salinger illustrates the struggles of transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, conveying to reader that it is inevitable. In order to thoroughly convey their messages the authors incorporate symbols, allude to religion, and have the main protagonist have an epiphany to resolve their internal conflict.
Internal Conflict: Superhuman vs Average human
In Feodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, …show more content…

He comes across two kids in a museum near a tomb, he notices one had his pants open and when mentioned the kid “buttoned them up right where he was standing”. (202) He comments that he “would’ve laughed” but afraid he would feel like “vomitting again”. Ironically, children may also be corrupt in life and as much as Holden wishes to ignore this fact he subconsciously knows that children are not very innocent as he feels nauseous when observing the boys actions. Subtly Holden is shown to be disturbed and is closer to coming to terms with himself as the setting of this scene is in a tomb. In this tomb “it was so nice and peaceful” but instantly ruined by graffiti. The setting foreshadowing the end of Holden’s views of childhood. As the graffiti in the tomb is in red crayon. The red crayon symbolizing childhood, juxtaposes with the meaning of the written words “Fuck you” (204). This immediately has negative effects on Holden physically as to where he has diarrhea and even “pass[es] out”. However, Holden states he “felt better after [he] passed out” (204). The motif of sickness reflects Holden realizing that children are not as pure as he initially thought, the boys he encountered emulating distasteful adult behavior. The idea that he could protect innocence is crushed as he could not enjoy his one sense of

Open Document