Bird in the House and the Catcher in the Rye

Both J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye and Margaret Laurence's collection of interrelated stories A Bird in the House highlight the struggles of the main characters as they come of age in unforgiving times with largely unsympathetic families, but the ways in which either character deals with these issues differ greatly, and comparing the two will help to reveal the particular statements each narrative makes about growing up and coming of age.

Holden Caulfield, the central character of The Catcher in the Rye, does not deal with his journey into adulthood well, not least of all because more than anything he desires to keep others from having to leave their childhood behind, and wants to become the titular catcher in the rye, catching children before they fall off a cliff that is adulthood. Of course, even Holden's desire...
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