Similarities Between Huckleberry Finn And Catcher In The Rye

Self-discovery is the idea of achieving understanding or knowledge of oneself. Discovering individuality is something that many people face at some point in their lives and the outcome varies. One of the most prominent stages in which self-discovery occurs, is during adolescence. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye are both examples of coming of age novels. The main characters, Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield, both experience a journey of self-discovery. These experiences lead to their maturity and awareness of identity. Huck is trying to find purpose and identity through conflicting of morals, while Holden is an adolescent struggling to find maturity into manhood.
Although Huck and Holden come from different backgrounds

Both works feature the adolescent runaways as narrators, each commenting on problems of their times. Holden is excessively judgmental, setting him apart from Huck, who in comparison was much more descriptive than hypercritical. For example, Holden seems to have a negative comment for everyone, whether it be labeling his older brother D.B, as a “prostitute” for moving to Hollywood, or his teachers who act different or “phony” in class. While many may see this as one of his faults it may also be considered one of his special attributes. His ability to make judgments allows him to see past the superficial layers and into the “phoniness” of almost every individual he

Holden is against the routine that he believes creates the life of an ordinary adult as he imagines what his future would be like if left to Sally, “working in some office, making a lot of dough, and riding to work in cabs and Madison Avenue buses, and reading newspapers, and playing bridge all the time, and going to the movies, and seeing a lot of stupid shows.” Instead of this Holden would rather “drive up to Massachusetts and Vermont” and stay in “cabin camps” and “chop all his own wood in the wintertime”. Instead of being a lawyer like his father, who gets the priority of making money confused with helping people, Holden would rather be “the catcher in the rye” who saves the children from falling off the edge of the cliff. Like Huck, Holden also chooses death over conforming, volunteering to sit on the atomic bomb rather than fight in a war.
In comparing both novels, it is interesting to see how Huck has taken something from his adventures and become a new character, while Holden seems to be essentially unchanged by his experiences. Holden remains at the end what he was at the beginning, cynical, defiant, and blind. Holden still lives to get his own pleasure whether it would be by lying or getting drunk and still clings on an immature idealism. However, whether or not his idealism is immature, he displays strength of character by not allowing the views