Huck vs. Holden

Huck Finn, the protagonist of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which is written by Mark Twain, comes from a poor family and has the lowest status in the white society. He is about 13 years old. He wants his freedom back and starts his journey with a black slave named Jim. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye which is written by J. D. Salinger, is expulsed by a school called Pencey Prep. He comes from a rich family and is about 17 years old. He wants to escape from this phony society and escapes to New York City by himself. Despite the background differences of Huck and Holden, there are still numerous similarities and differences between them.

Both Huck and Holden are individualists and are trying to escape from their societies. Huck does not care about rules and he does not want to follow Widow Douglas’ strict rules. He just wants to be individual and has a natural life instead of being civilized. “I didn’t want to go back to the widow’s and live so ‘sivilized,’ as they called it.” Later, Huck is imprisoned by his abusive father, Pap, and does not have any freedom at all. After Pap’s attempt of killing Huck when Pap is drunk, Huck decides to leave and go to Jackson Island. “All I wanted was to go somewhere; all I wanted was a change.” He wants to live in his own way and pursue freedom. Likewise, Holden is an individual who does not conform to the society. For example, he loves wearing his red hunting hat with the peak of the hat to the back. “It was this red hunting hat, with one of those very, very long peaks. The way I wore it, I swung the old peak way around to the back - very corny, I’ll admit, but I liked it that way.” This shows that he wants to be unique and be different with others. He thinks th...

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...pay them. However, when Maurice pins Holden against the wall, Holden cries, “If you rough me up, I’ll yell like hell. I’ll wake up everybody in the hotel. The police and all.” The only thing Holden does to resist is crying out things to threaten someone like a kid. This shows that Holden is coward and impotent. In summary, Huck is valiant and righteous while Holden is a little coward and impotent.

To conclude, both Huck and Holden are individualists and are trying to escape from their societies. Huck is a courageous boy with a sense of justice while Holden is a coward and impotent teenager. However, both of them have become more mature throughout their journeys. Therefore, there are similarities and differences between them. Compared Huck to Holden, I like Huck more than Holden because I think that we should always be courageous and try to help others out wisely.