Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And Antigone

Despite being written centuries apart, JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Sophocles's Antigone both of one thing largely in common: a protagonist searching for themself in a long, confusing way. In Antigone, the main character, Antigone, is found disagreeing with her sister, Ismene, as to whether they should break the law and bury their brother, or disregard what the gods say and let her die unburied. Antigone says that despite what Creon believes, her brother deserves to be buried, and that the Gods’ word is higher than Creon’s word. Ismene, on the other hand, believes that they although he deserves to be honored, it’s not worth sacrificing their innocence. Antigone buries him, and is taken to Creon, where he sentences her to death, despite what Haemon, Creon’s son who was supposed to marry Antigone, says to try to change his mind. Creon then

sends Antigone to a cell so that she will starve to death, but when he comes back later to check on her, she has hung herself, in addition to Haemon and Creon’s wife killing themselves too. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a depressed teenager who gets kicked out of his private high school, Pencey Prep. Holden’s younger brother, Allie, died when he was young because of a disease. Holden doesn’t like his other brother, however, and isn’t a fan of his father either. On his way home, he says that he is not religious, yet he thoroughly enjoys a conversation he has with two nuns, a big deal, as Holden doesn’t like many things. Through his journey, Holden goes through many troubles, and while he channels most of his problems into battles with others, the real fight is with himself the whole time. In Sophocles’s Antigone and JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, Antigone and Holdens’ searches for self have many similarities and differences, yet both are probably most affected by the deaths of their brothers, their religious beliefs, and the relationships that each have with the rest of their families.
One factor that largely affects both Holden and Antigone’s paths is the deaths of their brothers. In Antigone, the main reason that the entire play is happening is because of her brothers fighting for who would rule. And even further, the only reason that Antigone’s issues with Creon arise are because she decides to bury her brother. In the play, Antigone says “I will go to heap the earth above the brother whom I love” (Sophocles, 119) If Antigone did not have the extreme dedication for her brother that she did, she would have never felt the need to go out and bury him. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden has just as big, if not a bigger dedication for his brother as Antigone does. While Allie, his little brother, is never seen in the book, like some other characters that were not actually seen, such as Jane, he still has a huge impact on Holden’s life. Allie is probably one of the biggest reasons why Holden is depressed, as he can never really seem to get over Allie’s death. In fact, when Holden’s sister challenges him to think of one thing he likes, Holden says, after much consideration, “I like Allie” (Salinger, 92) This shows that even though Allie is long gone, Holden is holding on to him, and he is the only thing that Holden likes is him, which drastically slows down his search for himself.
One way in which Antigone and Holden differ in their searches for themselves is their religious beliefs. Antigone is obviously very religious, as her entire reasoning for burying her brother is because she believes that the word of the Gods is higher than the Creon’s, showing that she is obviously very religious. She even accuses Ismene of not being religious enough, saying “If you will, be guilty of dishonoring laws which the gods have established in honor.” (119) Her religious dedication is really the reason she is put in jail, eventually leading to her death. Thus, Antigone is really, in turn, a martyr. Holden, on the other hand, would never die for a religion. Holden says that he is not religious, yet he has a rather odd encounter with two nuns. Again, when Phoeboe questions him as to what he likes, he says (not out loud), “All I could think of were those two nuns.” (91). While Holden is thinking about the nuns, he still does not say them as something he likes, as he is still an atheist. The two texts have contrasting portrayals of religion. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden chooses to be atheist, yet he uses the nuns as somewhat a sign of hope for himself. In Antigone, however, her intense dedication to her religion is the main reason as to why not only she, but many other characters die.
A final deciding factor in Antigone and Holden’s searches for themselves is their relations with their families, other than their brothers.

For Antigone, it is rather hard to analyze her family, as nearly every character in the book is related to her. The relative that probably has the biggest impact on Antigone is her uncle, Creon, as he is the one who sentences her to death, saying “‘Tis determined, it seems, that she shall die” (130). Creon completely disregards the fact that the two of them are related, and sentences her to die. In Catcher in the Rye, Holden doesn’t like his other brother, saying “Now he’s out in Hollywood, DB, being a prostitute” (2). This shows that although Holden may have loved his brother at one point in his life, he now thinks that he sold himself out to make it big. In addition, his relationship with his sister is not particularly a good one, as they get in a fight when he finally arrives at home. This establishes yet another connection between the two, as they both have poor relationships with certain people in their families, and it affects them both negatively in their searches for

themselves.
Throughout both Catcher in the Rye and Antigone, the protagonists have complex searches for themselves. However, throughout both stories, the three biggest factors in their searches are their relationships with their dead brothers, their stance on religion, and their feuds with the other members of their families. While these similarities could be a simple coincidence, the theory could arise that Salinger possible stole some of Sophocles’s literature techniques when writing his “classic” Catcher in the Rye.