Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

In many ways The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and “The Perks of being a Wallflower” movie face similar circumstances coping with the loss of innocence. Protagonists Holden and Charlie both emerge the hardship of dealing with maturity. However, with unlike perspectives, disparate relationships with the society, and different processes of moving from ignorance to knowledge. Holden changes by seeing not only darkness but beauty in the world, while Charlie has been enlightened to be himself and sees the world as a new opportunity.

Before any recognitions with innocence loss, both protagonists have unlike personal perspectives. With only an age of sixteen, Holden and Charlie both interact with sexuality. In The Catcher in the Rye,

Holden has already lost his innocence from being exposed to the society. As a sexually active person, he has many interests in female and sex, yet scared of taking actions. For instance, Holden invites prostitute Sunny but ends up with refusion to do sex. After Sunny says “Like fun you are” when Holden introduces his age, he notes: “It was a funny thing to say. It sounded like a real kid. You'd think a prostitute and all would say "Like hell you are" or "Cut the crap" instead of "Like fun you are.”’ (The Catcher in the Rye, 94) Holden has a chance of losing his innocence but chooses to reject since he sees a chronic innocence in her, which stops his sex behaviour. Throughout the book, Holden plays a role of an unclean teenager while hiding his own fear of losing innocence as well as taking the responsibility of stealing from the others. Nevertheless, Charlie is an innocent kid. Unlike Holden, he is willing to mature; shown by his forgiveness of his aunt Helen’s act of sexual abuse. He mentioned: “If my Aunt Helen were still here, I could talk to her. And I know she would understand how I am both happy and sad, and I'm still trying to figure out how could that be.” With love still in Charlie’s heart, he believes that the loss of innocence is unavoidable. By forgiving Aunt Helen he demonstrates a mature perspective on his growth by not blaming anyone for his lost.

The relationships with society also impacts their process of maturing.

In the Catcher in the Rye, Holden express his hope of protecting innocence by trying to erase the swear word on the wall but this time, with failure. He notes: “ I went down by a different staircase, and I saw another “fuck you” on the wall. I tried to rub it off with my hand again, but this one was scratched on, with a knife or something.” (Catcher in the rye, 202) The word “Fuck you” is strongly symbolic of the loss of innocence, which reminds Holden the impossibility to erase all phoniness from the world, and forces him to face maturity. Holden hints his hope of blocking children from adulthood, which implies his hatred with the society. However his growth begins with realizing his imaginary role of being the “Catcher in the Rye” is unrealistic. While Charlie, who blends into a circle of friends and switches his role of being innocent to impurity. Charlie cherishes his friends to the extent of losing himself. He uses alcohol and drugs in order to fit in. In the movie he often repeats: “I just want you to be happy” indicating his voluntary supports for his friends, but forgetting to follow himself. He believes that satisfying others is important. However, he continually to be a follower rather than a believer in

himself.

While both characters deal with difficulty moving to adulthood. They still gain knowledge at the end but in different manners. Holden comes to a conclusion that losing innocence is unavoidable. While Holden allows sister Phoebe to enjoy the carousel, he finally has his moment of understanding maturity. He notes: “All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she’d fall off the goddam horse, but I didn’t say anything or do anything.” The golden ring effectively symbolizes maturity. The way all kids are trying to grab the “golden ring” reflects the moments of loss of innocence. The view of Phoebe on the carousel reminds Holden the old version of himself, who masks his fear and unwilling to mature. However Phoebe’s action of grabbing the golden ring symbolizes a new beginning for Holden’s life. Charlie, sees a new version of himself and learns the importance of being himself. He notes: “ We accept the love we deserve”, which shows his understanding of how a sense of self worth will attract people who belongs to him. Which informs him about the fact that he does not always have to be a follower, but rather follow his own self in order to find the true beauty in the world.

The Catcher in the Rye and The perks of being a Wallflower emphasize the loss of innocence in different aspects. While both innocence losses encourage a new view of the world for both protagonists, Holden ends up with realizing the impossibility of living in an utopia and decides to face the world with a positive perspectives and Charlie takes a deeper look into himself. The loss of innocence is a process of their self-discoveries, which allows both characters to participate in the adult world.