Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And Barn Burning

In both Catcher in the Rye and ‘Barn Burning’, the issue of self-identification is a key theme. Specifically that of the main characters, Holden and Sarty. Both characters constantly attempt to find themselves and are conflicted throughout the book. Holden struggles in his teenage world with the issues of individualism, who to trust, and adulthood. Sarty, experiences different issues. He struggles with weighing the consequences of family and society. His dad plays a major role in the oppression of his identity and stops him from truly being an individual, expecting him to put family before anything else. They both use their journey to struggle through the difficult challenge of finding one’s self. For these reasons, both Sarty and Holden struggle

with identity at the beginning of their stories, however, throughout their respective stories, they find their identity through challenges.
At the beginning of both novels, both Holden and Sarty feel as if they are not able to show their true identity.

Holden’s true self is constricted by Pencey. He feels as if acting as himself, while a good thing, causes him to do poorly in school and not succeed. Throughout the book he blames both Pencey and the students in it for being phony. He feels as if the constant focus on the future by his peers and students is useless, and that he should be able to decide he life as he goes. He expresses this disregard for his future when he says, “Oh I feel some concern for my future, all right. Sure. Sure I do….But not too much I guess” (20). Holden doesn’t want his future to be determined by others or his school, he wants to find it himself. Similarly, Sarty is unable to find his identity because of his dad. During their first court date, Sarty doesn’t seem to know what to do. While he wants to be able to tell the truth and be a moral citizen, his dad restricts him. His dad illustrates this restrictive personality when he says, “’You were fixing to tell them. You would have told him….’ You got to stick to your own blood or you aint going to have any blood to stick to” (3). He is faced with the issue of whether or not he should follow his family as his dad wants, or testify and potentially face the consequences of turning against his own blood. Both feel as if they have more to offer to the world and themselves, but do not know how to express this in their restrictive

environments.
As their stories progress, both Holden and Sarty start to realize who they truly are because they are forced to deal with various challenges and conflicts. Holden deals with the issues that come with becoming an adult. He does various immoral acts he find his identity in the adult world, drinking, cheating, lying, and even almost hiring a prostitute to try realize who he really is. He struggles with adults in general, not listening to his teachers, and not following the precedents the adults in his life set. He is especially frustrated with his peers. He feels as if they are all fake, saying, “Pencey was full of crooks. Quite a few guys came from very wealthy families, but it was full of crooks anyway” (7). Holden doesn't think that anyone is truly who they really are. This causes him to also experience self-conflict. His entire adventure through New York seems to be an attempt to find his role in the adult world. He tries to alleviate himself of all innocence by doing immoral things that he deems as ‘adult.’