Similarities Between Catcher In The Rye And The Friday Everything Change

In order for any society to run smoothly, it must be built upon societal expectations that are meant to be followed. These expectations are also meant to be fostered in all people as they grow up in order for them to become successful adults. In both The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and “The Friday Everything Changed” by Anne Hart, there are societal expectations that prohibit the young characters from reaching their full potential. The Catcher in the Rye is set in the United States during the 1950s and is told from the perspective of a privileged teenager named Holden Caulfield. He acts against many of the expectations presented to him, especially due to people such as his schoolmates and his sister, Phoebe, influencing his views.

“The Friday Everything Changed” is set in rural Canada, presumably in the first half of the 20th century, and follows issues surrounding the change of expectations at a school that involve members such as Alma Niles and Miss Ralston. Young people in any setting will achieve significantly more growth from breaking widely known societal expectations rather than following them, despite the strong influences to do so. A clear example of this is that women are seen as being lesser than men in both societies. Young people are also expected to have an optimistic outlook and to look towards maturity as their main objective. Additionally, they are expected to do what they are told without questioning and challenging their duties. Even though these expectations are explicitly presented to the characters, they achieve more progress from resisting them than they would have otherwise.
Both texts are set before the total equality of men and women became a widespread issue, which leads to many unfair assumptions about women being presented by the characters.

In The Catcher in the Rye, this is a major discussion point between the students at Pencey Prep, an all-boys private school. One of Holden’s peers, Ward Stradlater, follows the expectations of how men are encouraged to speak to women quite often. While Holden may feel disgusted to the point of nausea, the majority of the boys at the school would applaud Stradlater’s behaviour. Additionally, Holden has conflicting views about women throughout the novel, as he later states. While Holden does not like the combination of sexuality and maturity, one thing Holden never does is prey on the innocence of young girls, unlike his peers. This is why he feels sympathetic for the prostitute he hires at his hotel room, as he says: The aspect that he cannot articulate is that he knows she is young, innocent, and is not proud of her lifestyle. This relates to how much he cares for his younger sister, Phoebe, and the value he places the balance between her wisdom and innocence. This is also evident later in the novel, when Holden takes Phoebe on the carousel, sees her having a good time, and says. There is no malice involved when Holden connects the ideas of innocence and womanhood, which shows the happiness he can achieve from even partially breaking this

construct.
“The Friday Everything Changed” has a main conflict that surrounds this societal construct and the benefits of breaking it.

The conflict begins with Alma Niles, a student, asking her teacher, Miss Ralston, a controversial question. This upsets the dynamic of the school quite gravely, as it is established early on that two boys are chosen weekly to carry the water from the local pump. Alma’s question and Miss Ralston’s response lead to clear tensions between the boys and girls, as the narrator describes. The girls are wrongfully targeted for attempting to have equality with the boys on such an important aspect of their school life, as Alma is also beaten up by her classmates, and all of the girls are tormented in various ways. However, the boys realize the power that girls have when their teacher’s view on the subject becomes clear. Miss Ralston’s outstanding softball skills astound them, as they see batting as something only boys can accomplish. After this event, the boys appear to no longer protest the new developments in their school activities and accept the change of the social expectation. While Hart ends the story with Miss Ralston’s decision, the assumption can be made that life at this school began to resemble her experience at the school she attended, River Hibbert, with pronounced equality between young men and young women. These changes will likely lead to growth in self-esteem and confidence for the girls, and even in logical thinking and cooperation skills

for the boys. There are only positive developments that could have come out of this situation.
In both The Catcher in the Rye and “The Friday Everything Changed”, societal expectations about women being lesser than men are challenged and questioned, whether externally or internally. While Holden is not fully aware of this and still holds many negative views about women, his progress leads to a large portion of his morality and happiness coming through. Phoebe is also not aware of the fact that her candor and individuality greatly help her brother whom she deeply cares about. Alma and Miss Ralston are more direct with tackling this expectation and achieve this level of satisfaction as well, after quite a bit of hardship. Miss Ralston uses her experiences of a co-ed softball team, and likely general equality, to challenge the expectations in this more rural community. Without this construct being broken, there would be a lack of growth and satisfaction for each of the characters, making it essential to their development.