Disillusionment in All My Sons by Arthur Miller
One of the central themes of All My Sons is the disillusionment of the young, and this theme can be traced through the character Chris, who comes to be disenchanted with his family, society and himself by realizing that none of these is as moral as he once believed. When he finally finds out through questioning his father that his father is, in fact, guilty of knowingly shipping out the cracked cylinder heads, he says to his father “What the hell are you? You’re not even an animal, no animal kills his own, what are you? What must I do to you? I ought to tear the tongue out of your mouth, what must I do?” This is the point where Chris becomes disillusioned with his family. His father is guilty of doing the crime, and his mother is guilty of hiding the information. Chris now believes that his father is worse than an animal and is disgusted that he has lived with his parents since the crime happened without being aware of it. He sees his parents now as evil people rather than role models, and feels that if even his parents are capable of such a thing, then society as a whole must be the same or worse, because he tells his father that he once believed him to be better than most men. He says “That’s the principle; the only one we live by – it just happened to kill a few people this time, that’s all.
The world’s that way, how can I take it out on him?” He now believes that everyone in society is only looking out for his or he...
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were both strong presidents who kept a stabile nation, but they differed in their methods of doing so. Adams was a federalist so he helped establish a stable government by focusing on forming a strong central government. Jefferson being a democrat-republican worked to establish stability in the US government by promoting state’s rights. They both worked for stability in different but successful ways. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson brought many different viewpoints and strengths after the establishment of the Constitution but they both put the nation’s stability first and wanted to preserve the wellbeing of the people first by Adams ending the Quazi war and Jefferson making the Louisiana Purchase.
Since Holden was isolated from his family, in order to not get hurt again he tries to find hypocrisy in people to stop himself from trusting others. Holden feels isolated after being sent to a boarding school that “was full of phonies” by his parents (Salinger 90). Salinger’s message to the audience with this quote is that when
He comes to some realizations, but nothing that makes him less pessimistic, making him a shining example of how being immoderately idealistic can disrupt your expectations for the world. It is glaringly clear that Salinger purposely portrayed Holden as a mess in order to show off the flaws of setting expectations above the healthy dose. If you only accept people without flaws and never leave room for air, you will always be
The Catcher in the Rye has been described, analyzed, rebuffed, and critiqued over the years. Each writer expresses a different point of view: It is a story reflecting teen-ager's talk--thoughts-emotions--actions; or angst. I believe it is an adult's reflection of his own unresolved grief and bereavements. That adult is the author, J.D. Salinger. He uses his main character, Holden, as the voice to vent the psychological misery he will not expose -or admit to.
As stated earlier, Adams was a Federalist, which made him a rival to Thomas Jefferson and his Republican Party. The disagreements between them carried on through Adams’ presidency and even Jefferson’s. The struggle was over the office’s environment and “the limits of Federal power over the state governments and individual citizens” (Ushistory.org).
Holden is like most teenagers: he’s trying to find his place in society without having any sort of direction. One of the main reasons this is hard for Holden is because he doesn’t have any role models and is misguided. His brother D.B. lives all the way in Hollywood “being a prostitute” (Salinger 2) and he resents his parents. Everyone around him seems to be “phonies “and Holden is continuously trying to be different but notices that the lifestyle he wants just doesn’t fit in the world he lives in . He constantly rejects certain ways of living but can’t seem to find the purpose for his own and because of this he criticizes the life of the...
When one finds themselves in a reader’s position, they search for things in the novel that they can relate to. J. D. Salinger wrote a story that contained countless topics that people, past, present and future, can relate to in several ways. The novel follows the story of a troubled boy named Holden who leaves school due to his poor academic performance, an altercation with his roommate, and complications with his emotions due to the traumatic loss of his brother. He quickly understands how his narrow view of the world will lead him into trouble when he finds himself alone. The reader accompanies Holden through his stressful experiences over a period of three days through which we learn of his pain-filled past and negative outlook on the future. Some of the barriers Holden came upon during the time period of the novel are themes of everyday life. In The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger intends to grab his audience’s attention with the story of a young teen named Holden Caulfield who must face emotional damage, hidden truths, and accepting responsibility
Each year in the United States depression affects over 17 million people of all ages, races, and economic backgrounds. One in every eight teens are affected by depression (“Understanding Depression”). Depression can be defined as a mental illness where the person affected feels very sad and melancholy. Most people have passed through a stage or a short period of time where they have felt downhearted. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, a 16-year old boy, can be viewed as insane in the eyes of many readers because of his behavior and actions. Despite this common belief, Holden most likely suffered from depression. Some symptoms which convey Holden was depressed was his mood, lack of sleep, and his suicidal
Holden's walk to the natural history museum holds strong emotions in him. He begins to reminisce about his past visits when he was young. He ponders on what changes have happened and whether his younger sister, Phoebe, is still the same person she used to be. Holden does not want to go inside the museum; he refuses to discover his new self. This shows that Holden is petrified to embrace his own character and would rather live in denial. He consistently reflects and judges other people, but he is unable to see his own life and express his feelings freely. The museum is a symbol of Holden's childhood growing up, experiences, and his lost of innocence. People change as time goes on whereas the museum remains the same. Holden fears that he cannot preserve his youth the way the museum preserve its values, and he sees it as a place to restore his memories.
Holden is a pessimistic, remote, and miserable character and he expresses this attitude through dialogue, tone, and diction. Throughout the book he has remained to be a liar, a failure, a loner, and lastly, a suicidal guy who feels like he has no purpose in life. Perhaps Salinger expressed his perceptions and emotions of his teen years in this book and it was a form of conveying his deep inner feelings of his childhood. Readers can see this clearly shown in The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger.
Death is a tragic thing that affects everyone around the deceased, including the deceased themselves. While there are many ways to deal with such matters, one thing is for certain, it’ll be a hard time no matter what you do.
To Holden, everyone is either corny of phony. He uses these terms to describe what a person is if they do not act naturally and follow other people?s manners and grace. Holden dislikes phonies and thinks of them as people who try to be something they are not. He loathes people who showed off because it seems unnatural every time they do not act like themselves. Holden does not allow himself to have friendship because of his dull attitude. In the beginning of the book, the reader knows that Holden is lonely when he separates himself from the rest of the Pencey students by watching the football game from Thomsen Hill and not the grand stands. Holden is not a very sociable person partly because he finds himself better than many others. He dislikes his roommate because of his generic leather luggage. His next door roommate Ackley does not seem to want a friendship with him either. Holden finds Ackely?s zit crusted face ridiculous and doesn?t want him in his room at first. This shows the reader that Holden is a lonely person because he chooses to be lonely and does not want anything to do with people who do not fit into his perception of normal.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Cawfield a New York City teenager in the 1950's as a manic-depressive. Holden's depression starts with the death of his brother, Allie . Holden is expelled from numerous schools due to his poor academics which are brought on by his depression. Manic depression, compulsive lying, and immaturity throughout the novel characterize Holden.
J.D. Salinger presents Holden Caulfield as a confused and distressed adolescent. Holden is a normal teenager who needs to find a sense of belonging. All though Holden’s obsession with “phonies” overpowers him. Dan Wakefield comments, “The things that Holden finds so deeply repulsive are things he calls “phony”- and the “phoniness” in every instance is the absence of love, and , often the substitution of pretense for love.” Holden was expelled from Pencey Prep School not because he is stupid, but because he just is not interested. His attitude toward Pencey is everyone there is a phony. Pencey makes Holden feel lonely and isolated because he had very few friends. Holden’s feeling of alienation is seen when he doesn’t attend the biggest football game of the year. His comments on the game: “It was the last game of the year and you were supposed to commit suicide or something if old Pencey didn’t win” (2, Ch. 1). This also hints to Holden’s obsession with death. Holden can’t find a since of belonging in the school because of all the so-called phonies. Holden speaks of Pencey’s headmaster as being a phony. Holden says that on visitation day the headmaster will pay no attention to the corny-looking parents. Holden portrays his not being interested by saying, “all you do is study so that you can learn enough to be smart enough to buy a goddam Cadillac someday, and you have to keep making believe you give a damn if the football team loses”(131, Ch. 17). Holden does not care for school or money. He just wants everyone to be sincere and honest.
Why do people choose to live in the past rather than pursue a possibly greater future? This can occur due to a fear of the coming days, months, and years ahead that await. People would rather think and engross themselves in memories then have any sense of direction for the the inevitable passing of time. While every age is unique, “The Collective Neurosis” states the problems that can arise from not believing that people can escape, improve, or adapt to their environment. A person’s environment can be described by where they live and grew up, their socioeconomic status, and even their current mental state. These conditions can have dramatic effects on one’s personality, beliefs, and overall outlook on life itself. This potential nihilism that