English, Analytical Essay, Catcher in the Rye and...

Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye essay The novels ‘The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn’ and ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ are both set in times where the expectations of society differed from the ones of today. Huckleberry Finn is set in the late 1800s, pre USA civil war and in a time where slavery was an accepted occurrence and the escape of a slave was seen as legally and morally wrong. This was also a time in which church attendance and education were seen as tokens of respectability. A young boy, the eponymous character, Huck, seeks to reject all that he regards as oppressive and cruel in order to establish an alternative life as a wanderer, far from adult control. ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, on the other hand, was set in the late†¦show more content†¦However in the 40s there still existed traditional views about respect for authority although they were gradually evaded. His parents however do not approve of him staying in the hotel by himself. In the 2000s however, we would frow n upon a young teenager travelling around alone, talking to strangers and booking a hotel room in a large city. The maturity of the two different characters is also very different. Although Holden wants and tries to be mature, the reader very quickly sees that he is in actual fact very childish and naive. This could be so that he can escape the realities of adult life, and stay in his idealistic child’s world forever. Despite this, he does attempt to seem more of an adult by using more taboo language and more complicated language around people who he would like to impress, like the females in the Lavender Room. For example, he says; ‘I’m twelve, for Chrissake. I’m big for my age.’ Although the word Chrissake, which is the words ‘Christ’s sake’ after undergoing elision and with Holden’s idiolect, is not considered taboo now, it was still frowned upon in the 1940s, as some sectors of society were still highly religious. Another taboo word he used a lot is ‘Goddamn’. Again this word, which is the words ‘God damnâ€⠄¢ that have also undergone elision and are with Holden’s idiolect, is no longer considered taboo or offensive, due to the change in society over time. This language choice illustrates Holden’s immaturity as it