Analysis of The Theme in J.D Salinger's 'The Catcher in The Rye and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar'.
ABSTRACT
Proses untuk memasuki masa dewasa bukanlah suatu hal yang mudah untuk
dilewati oleh seorang individu. Dibutuhkan serangkaian upaya penyesuaian diri akan
ekspektasi, nilai-nilai, dan norma-norma yang dianut oleh suatu tatanan kebudayaan
masyarakat tertentu. Kegagalan akan tuntutan internal dan eksternal dalam proses
penyesuaian diri di dalam masa transisi remaja menuju dewasa, yang ditandai oleh
adanya pembelajaran pola-pola tingkah laku sosial orang dewasa, acapkali
menggiring individu terjebak ke dalam jurang depresi yang akan terus membawanya
bertanya akan jati dirinya.
Penelusuran dan pencarian makna akan diri sebagai bagian dari proses
penyesuaian diri menuju kedewasaan menjadi tema sentral yang diusung di dalam
novel The Catcher in the Rye karya J.D. Salinger dan The Bell Jar yang ditulis
dengan apik oleh Sylvia Plath.
Walaupun kedua novel tersebut mengangkat topik pembahasan yang sama,
yaitu proses menuju kedewasaan, terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan terutama
mengenai hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan penyebab terjadinya depresi mental yang
dialami oleh kedua tokoh utama dalam novel tersebut. Depresi yang dialami oleh
Holden Caufield dalam The Catcher in the Rye merupakan akibat dari upayanya
untuk menolak kedewasaan yang dianggapnya sebagai dunia yang penuh dengan
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kepura-puraan dan kamuflase. Oleh karena itu, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa tema
dari novel ini adalah “resistensi untuk menyesuaikan diri dalam proses menuju
kedewasaan dapat menyebabkan seseorang mengalami depresi mental.”
Esther Greenwood, tokoh utama dalam novel The Bell Jar, mengalami depresi
mental yang disebabkan oleh rasa frustrasi melihat begitu banyak pilihan yang
ditawarkan namun kondisi masyarakat tidak memberikan peluang kepadanya untuk
meraih sukses yang dianggapnya sebagai sebuah elemen penting di dalam proses
pencapaian kedewasaan. Dengan demikian, tema dari novel The Bell Jar adalah
“proses penyesuaian diri dalam tahap menjadi dewasa dapat menyebabkan depresi
mental.”
Proses menjadi dewasa merupakan pengalaman yang tidak mudah. Seseorang
harus melewati berbagai penyesuaian diri terhadap lingkungan di mana ia berada.
Seseorang harus diberikan waktu dan ruang gerak yang cukup sehingga dapat
melewati masa transisi dengan baik tanpa adanya tekanan-tekanan dari sekelilingnya
yang dapat menyebabkan depresi mental.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
………………………………………………………………………..........i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
…………………………………………………………….ii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
……………………………………………………..1
Statement of the Problem
……………………………………………………..4
Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………………………..4
Methods of Research ……………………………………………………………..4
Organization of the Thesis ……………………………………………………..5
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE THEME
IN J.D SALINGER’S THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
THROUGH THE PROTAGONIST
……………………………………..6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE THEME
IN SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR
THROUGH THE PROTAGONIST
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
…………………………………....22
……………………………………………39
……………………………………………………………………43
APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Catcher in the Rye ……………………………………………44
Biography of J.D. Salinger ……………………………………………………46
Synopsis of The Bell Jar
……………………………………………………47
Biography of Sylvia Plath
……………………………………………………48
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APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
Holden Caulfield is the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye. Currently in
psychiatric care, this teenager recalls what happened to him last Christmas, the
story which forms the narrative basis for the novel. Holden, a student at Pencey
Prep School, is irresponsible and immature. He is expelled for failing four out of
his five classes.
When Holden reaches New York, he does not know whom he should call.
He considers calling his younger sister, Phoebe, as well as Jane Gallagher and
another friend, Sally Hayes. However, he finally decides to stay at the Edmond
Hotel. Being able to watch other guests at the hotel from his window, including a
transvestite and a couple who spit drinks back at each other, Holden thinks about
sex. He calls Faith Cavendish, a stripper and prostitute, but she rejects him. He
then goes down to the Lavender Room, a nightclub in the Hotel, where he dances
with Bernice Krebs, a blonde woman from Seattle who is on vacation in New
York. Holden thinks that the tourists seem pathetic because of their excitement
over the various sights of the city.
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When he walks back to the hotel, Maurice, the elevator man, offers him a
prostitute for the night. When this prostitute arrives, Holden becomes too nervous
and refuses her. She demands ten dollars, but Holden only gives her five. Sunny
(the prostitute) leaves and soon returns with Maurice to demand the extra five
dollars. Holden argues with them, but Maurice threatens him while Sunny steals
his money. Maurice punches him in the stomach before he goes. Holden then
imagines shooting Maurice in the stomach and even jumping out of the window to
commit suicide.
Holden calls Sally Hayes to meet her for dinner near the Grand Central
Station. Before meeting Sally, Holden buys a record for Phoebe and feels
depressed when he hears children singing the song "If a body catch a body coming
through the rye." When Holden sees Sally, he immediately wants to marry her,
even though he does not particularly like Sally. During dinner, Holden complains
that he is fed up with everything around him and suggests that they run away
together to New England, where they can live in a cabin in the woods. She rejects
the idea.
Holden returns home to see Phoebe, attempting to avoid his parents. He
awakens her, but she soon becomes distressed at Holden’s failing out of Pencey.
When he complains about the phoniness of Pencey, Phoebe asks him if he actually
likes anything. He tells Phoebe that he would like to be "a catcher in the rye,"
Holden becomes increasingly distraught and delusional, believing that he will die
every time he crosses the street and falling unconscious after suffering from
diarrhea. Holden ends his story here.
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BIOGRAPHY OF J.D. SALINGER
J.D. Salinger was born in New York City on January 1, 1919. After brief
periods of enrollment at both NYU and Columbia University, Salinger devoted
himself entirely to writing, and by 1940 he had published several short stories. His
career as a writer was interrupted by World War II as he was doing service in the
U.S. Army. In 1946, after returning from the war, Salinger resumed writing for
The New Yorker magazine. Some of his most notable stories include A Perfect
Day for Bananafish (1948), and For Esmé With Love and Squalor (1950). In
total, Salinger published thirty-five short stories in the Saturday Evening Post,
Story, and Colliers between 1940 and 1948, and The New Yorker from 1948 until
1965.
Salinger received major critical and popular recognition with The Catcher
in the Rye (1951). Salinger's novel finds great sympathy for its wayward child
protagonist who views the adult world as ‘phony’. Salinger's only novel drew
from characters he had already created in two short stories published in 1945 and
1946: This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise and I'm Crazy.
Since 1953, Salinger has resided in Cornish, New Hampshire, and claims
that he continues to write. Salinger is notoriously vague because of his reclusive
nature, which has made him the subject of a great deal of speculation. Salinger
refuses to give interviews or to deal with the press.
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SYNOPSIS OF THE BELL JAR
The Bell Jar takes place during the early fifties and begins in New York
City. The narrator, Esther Greenwood, is an intern at a fashion magazine after
winning a scholarship. She soon befriends Doreen, a fellow scholarship winner.
Doreen takes Esther out for drinks, where they meet several men, including Lenny
Shepherd, a disc jockey. Esther and Doreen go back to Lenny's apartment, where
Doreen and Lenny become more intimate and even somewhat violent with each
other. Esther leaves the apartment to return to her hotel, where she only wishes to
forget the experience that night.
Mrs. Willard, the mother of Buddy Willard, a Yale student whom Esther
has been seeing, arranges for Esther to meet with Constantin, an interpreter at the
United Nations. While watching Constantin at work, Esther panics about her
future, thinking that she knows nothing except how to win scholarships. She
decides that she will let Constantin seduce her, but back at his apartment Esther
and Constantin merely fall asleep beside each another.
Esther returns home to the suburbs of Boston, where her mother tells her
that she is not accepted for the writing course she has applied. Esther finds herself
unable to sleep and goes to see her family doctor to get sleeping pills, but her
doctor tells her to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon, instead. Dr. Gordon advises
shock treatments for Esther, who begins to think more and more often about
suicide. One day, Esther attempts suicide by taking a bottle of sleeping pills.
Esther is submitted to a mental institution. At this facility, Esther is treated by Dr.
Nolan, a female psychiatrist who reminds Esther of her mother.
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Esther leaves the asylum just before the new school semester commences.
However, she’s become a changed person.
BIOGRAPHY OF SYLVIA PLATH
Sylvia Plath was born in Massachusetts on October 27, 1932. Sylvia's
father, Otto, was a College Professor and self-described bee expert. He died just
days after her 8th birthday. Sylvia was a model child; sensitive, popular with
other children, intelligent and well behaved. She published her first poem before
she reached the age of nine.
Sylvia was accepted into Smith College on scholarship in 1950. In 1952,
she won first prize ($500) from Mademoiselle Magazine for her short story
entitled, Sunday at the Mintons. The following June, Sylvia served as guest editor
at Mademoiselle's New York offices. She recounted this part of her life in her
later novel, The Bell Jar.
On August 24, 1952, Sylvia attempted suicide for the first time. She was
institutionalized at Maclean Hospital. She continued to write during this time,
which later resulted in the publication of her second award-winning short story,
Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams.
Sylvia graduated summa cum laude in 1955, and won the Fulbright
scholarship to study in Cambridge, England. It was here that Sylvia met her future
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husband, Ted Hughes, an English poet. Sylvia married Ted in June of 1956 at the
age of twenty-eight. Ted and Sylvia got a divorce in September 1962.
Sylvia packed her bags and moved with her two children to an apartment
in London. The difficulty in her life allowed Sylvia to write vigorously. The Bell
Jar was published under the pseudonym of Victoria Lucas in January, 1963,
though it would never receive critical praise until after Sylvia's death. Depressed
over the breakup of her marriage and lack of success, Sylvia felt she could no
longer go on. Sylvia Plath died on February 11, 1963 by putting her head in a gas
oven.
The Bell Jar was later published in the United States in 1971 using Sylvia's
real name. It became wildly popular and earned her a place in literary history.
Sylvia Plath was honored posthumously with a Pulitzer Prize in 1981.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
I choose to analyze J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar on the basis that these two novels are considered two of the
prominent novels which deal with the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In
my opinion, the stage in life where one undergoes changes from being a teenager
to becoming an adult is a confusing and complicated phase. During this stage, one
does a lot of self-searching and self-discovering. This is also the stage where one
feels intense loneliness and loses one’s sense of direction, because one is expected
to take more responsibilities for the first time in our life. J.D Salinger’s The
Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar are the two novels which are
often referred to as the most reflective literary works on the issue of growing up.
The Catcher in the Rye is even included as a compulsory reading in many
American high schools’ curriculum. They are both considered important novels in
the American Literature, for they serve as rite-of-passage novels which centralize
on the issue of adolescence and its entailing emotional adjustments toward
adulthood. This type of novel is often referred to as bildungsroman or ‘coming of
age’ novel.
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A Bildungsroman / bɪldʊŋs.ro ma n/, is a novel which traces
the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and
growth of the main character from childhood to maturity.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildungsroman)
Coming of age is a young person's formal transition from
adolescence to adulthood. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming
of age)
“In these novels characters grow frustrated with the parameters of their world. At
an early age, they leave home to get an education in the larger world. But during
the separation from home, they regret the loss of innocence that connected them to
childhood.” (Adamson, 2002: xi).
I would like to focus on the protagonists and their actions. A protagonist is
the leading character around whom conflicts and events revolve in a literary work.
These conflicts and events serve as tools in revealing the author’s central and
dominating idea in the literary work.
The contrast between the behaviors of each character is what
makes theme come alive and enable the reader to believe in
them. The characters react to each other and develop
throughout a novel, and it is this action and reaction that
usually makes up the majority of a good book.
(Reader and Woods, 1987: 57)
Therefore, I decide to analyze the theme through the protagonists in J.D
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.
I notice that the two novels share the same subject matter, which is
“growing up.” However, the themes are slightly different from each other. Even
though the two protagonists in the two novels share the same fate in the end, the
causes which lead them to this shared fate differ from each other. This will be
further analyzed in chapters Two and Three.
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I choose to analyze novel in lieu of the other literary genres because I find
novel most interesting. A work of prose presents detailed aspects of wellorchestrated literary elements in creating one particular or various directions to
where the reader could explore. Hence, it allows the reader to come to his own
understanding regarding the novel and how he would interpret it in his own way.
According to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of Literary Terms (1972), a novel is
defined as “…a lengthy fictitious prose narrative portraying characters and
presenting an organized series of events and setting. Every novel is an account of
life; every novel includes conflict, characters, action, setting, plot and theme”
(Shaw, 1972: 257). Therefore, I would like to analyze the “account of life” of the
two protagonists in the two novels and come to my own interpretations of the
central and dominating idea in the two literary works.
A renowned American writer, Sylvia Plath is well-noted for personal
imagery and intense focus in her poems. Plath won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize
for her Collected Poems (1981). The Bell Jar is her only novel, which has been
said to be her autobiographical novel for its narrative similarities to Plath’s own
life-story. The book is considered a powerful exploration of adolescence. With
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye it is recognized as a classic of adolescent
angst.
J.D. Salinger received major critical and popular recognition with The
Catcher in the Rye. It has been said to be “reminiscent of Mark Twain’s
Adventure of Huckleberry Finn in many ways” (Adamson, 2002: 44). This is
because Twain’s protagonist in the novel also deals with the pressure to conform
as an adolescent entering adulthood. Salinger’s sudden popularity causes him to
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withdraw from his social circles and decide to live in solitude. The American
public has considered Salinger a sociopath – a fate similar to his main character in
his The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, who ends up becoming an anti-hero
character.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problems that will be analyzed in this thesis are:
1. What are the themes of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar?
2. How do the protagonists in both novels help to reveal the themes?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of doing this analysis are:
1. To show the themes of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar.
2. To show how the protagonists in both novels help to reveal the themes.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The research approach in writing this thesis is new criticism or formalism.
Therefore, the method of research used is library research. First of all, the two
novels are read as the primary texts. I then search and gather the information
needed for the thesis from some references and materials from the internet to
support the analysis of the primary texts. Finally, I draw the conclusion.
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THE ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS:
This thesis is divided into four chapters, which are preceded by the Preface
and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which contains the Background
of Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of
Research and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two deals with the analysis
of theme in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, whereas Chapter Three deals
with the analysis of theme in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Chapter Four is the
Conclusion, in which I conclude and compare my analysis in The Catcher in the
Rye and The Bell Jar. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendix.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After careful analysis of the experiences of the two protagonists in the two
literary works, I conclude that both The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar share
the same subject matter, which is “growing up.” However, each book has a theme
that is slightly different from the other. Although both protagonists in both novels
experience mental depression due to their efforts to cope with life as they are
transitioning from adolescence into adulthood, I noticed that the causes of their
mental depression differ from each other.
In Holden’s case, he becomes mentally depressed in trying to reject the
world of adulthood around him as phony, something which he does not want to
belong to. He sees development toward maturity as losing one’s innocence. As
such, he tries hard to preserve his innocence by identifying the things in the world
which he rejects as phony. To Holden, adulthood consists of people who have
given in to society and become something they are not. This state of constant
rejection of the world frustrates Holden and leads him to mental depression.
Therefore, the theme of The Catcher in the Rye is “resistance to conform in the
process of growing up may well result in a depressive mental state.”
On the other hand, the theme of The Bell Jar is “the process of adjustment
in growing up may cause a depressive mental state.” Similarly, Esther Greenwood
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in The Bell Jar also has to cope with the issue of entering adulthood with much
emotional turbulence. Unlike Holden, however, Esther’s primary concern is about
how to live up to the expectations of others and the pressure of choosing a career
path to pursue. There is also the issue of proper codes of behavior, especially in
regards to sexuality. Furthermore, the protagonist in The Bell Jar, Esther, also
experiences mental depression. Unlike Holden, Esther does not reject the world of
adulthood as phony. Instead, Esther longs to embrace it. What frustrates Esther is
that as the parameter of her world expands she is faced with many different
choices in life, most of which promise her success and yet she is not able to seize
them all. As a very brilliant woman living in the era when most other women are
confined to serving men and occupying themselves with menial household duties,
Esther defines success as earning a good income by being a writer and having the
ability to be equal to men. She finds, however, that her society has its own
different standards and expectations for men and women. Esther finds that the
society she is living in is a sexist society. Being a woman who is ahead of her
time, she tries to breach the societal standards and fulfill her own expectations by
herself. However, she is often held back by those around her and constantly
reminded of her place in society. Thus her pursuit of success which she views as a
necessary element of growth and adulthood cannot be met simply because she is
not given the space to move and time to explore her potentials. She is also
required to make constant adjustments as she goes through life as a small town
girl who suddenly finds herself in a big city. There are new values and
expectations which confront her. As she accepts each new value and tries to fulfill
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each expectation, she finds herself making constant adjustments. Eventually, this
leads her to mental breakdown.
In my opinion, the process of growing up requires making adjustments
toward oneself and one’s society in order to adapt well to the norms and
expectations of the society. However, the process of adjusting oneself during the
transition from adolescence to adulthood is in itself depressive, especially for
those who are not apt to change. These themes are derived from careful perusal at
the protagonists’ experiences in facing their adolescence and adapting into their
adulthood. Both protagonists end up institutionalized. However, Esther
Greenwood’s ending is more resolute, whereas Holden Caufield’s ending is still
very much an open-ending without much resolution offered to the readers. Having
been written in the early 1950s, The Catcher in the Rye has an open ending, which
is interesting because the open-ending narrative technique is mostly found in
contemporary novels. I view this simply as a way the two authors would like their
readers to accept their novels. Plath’s resolved ending gives the readers resolved
feelings about Esther’s depressive experience. On the contrary, Salinger’s open
ending allows the readers to draw their own conclusion about what they think
would happen to the protagonist after having gone through the incidents in his life
which lead to his mental depression. The narrative technique of not offering a
resolved ending to the readers, in this case, intensifies the sense of depression that
Salinger is trying to convey.
The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar are both novels which deal with
the issue of growing up and its entailing aspects. In my opinion, coming of age is
never an easy experience. One goes through a lot of adjustments, not only toward
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one’s surroundings, but also toward oneself. The search of identity becomes a
major issue for teenagers during their growing-up periods. In the same manner,
Holden Caufield and Esther Greenwood, the protagonists in The Catcher in the
Rye and The Bell Jar respectively, both undergo the same experience in their
process of growing up. What sets them apart is how each of these protagonists
ends up coping with the changes in their lives as the result of their growing up.
Holden rejects the changes as phony, whereas Esther is frustrated by not being
able to seize all opportunities
which she perceives as the definition of a
successful life.
Having said that, I think the authors’ purpose to present such themes is
mainly to bring to the surface the importance of allowing oneself time for proper
transition from adolescence to adulthood. Attempts to rush or refuse the transition
may result in maladjustments and depression. The Catcher in the Rye is mainly
focused on male teenagers as the protagonist in the novel is of a male gender, and
the author is a male also. In the same manner, the target audience of The Bell Jar
is female readers. These coming-of-age novels clearly point out the fact that
growing up is very difficult to cope with for a lot of teens. As such, teens must be
carefully understood and be allowed sufficient time to go through the transition
into adulthood.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
Adamson, Lynda G. Thematic Guide to the American Novel. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: George Allen & Unwin
Ltd, 1972.
INTERNET WEBSITES
Franklin, Carolyn. Sylvia and The Bell Jar.
5 June 2004.
Herberle, Mark. Salinger. 27 May 2004.
The Wikipedia Online. 2003. 5 June 2006
Folley, Tom. Mrs. America: Women’s Roles in the 1950s 20 June 2006
PRIMARY TEXTS
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: HarperCollins Inc., 1971.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Penguin Books,1951
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Proses untuk memasuki masa dewasa bukanlah suatu hal yang mudah untuk
dilewati oleh seorang individu. Dibutuhkan serangkaian upaya penyesuaian diri akan
ekspektasi, nilai-nilai, dan norma-norma yang dianut oleh suatu tatanan kebudayaan
masyarakat tertentu. Kegagalan akan tuntutan internal dan eksternal dalam proses
penyesuaian diri di dalam masa transisi remaja menuju dewasa, yang ditandai oleh
adanya pembelajaran pola-pola tingkah laku sosial orang dewasa, acapkali
menggiring individu terjebak ke dalam jurang depresi yang akan terus membawanya
bertanya akan jati dirinya.
Penelusuran dan pencarian makna akan diri sebagai bagian dari proses
penyesuaian diri menuju kedewasaan menjadi tema sentral yang diusung di dalam
novel The Catcher in the Rye karya J.D. Salinger dan The Bell Jar yang ditulis
dengan apik oleh Sylvia Plath.
Walaupun kedua novel tersebut mengangkat topik pembahasan yang sama,
yaitu proses menuju kedewasaan, terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan terutama
mengenai hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan penyebab terjadinya depresi mental yang
dialami oleh kedua tokoh utama dalam novel tersebut. Depresi yang dialami oleh
Holden Caufield dalam The Catcher in the Rye merupakan akibat dari upayanya
untuk menolak kedewasaan yang dianggapnya sebagai dunia yang penuh dengan
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kepura-puraan dan kamuflase. Oleh karena itu, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa tema
dari novel ini adalah “resistensi untuk menyesuaikan diri dalam proses menuju
kedewasaan dapat menyebabkan seseorang mengalami depresi mental.”
Esther Greenwood, tokoh utama dalam novel The Bell Jar, mengalami depresi
mental yang disebabkan oleh rasa frustrasi melihat begitu banyak pilihan yang
ditawarkan namun kondisi masyarakat tidak memberikan peluang kepadanya untuk
meraih sukses yang dianggapnya sebagai sebuah elemen penting di dalam proses
pencapaian kedewasaan. Dengan demikian, tema dari novel The Bell Jar adalah
“proses penyesuaian diri dalam tahap menjadi dewasa dapat menyebabkan depresi
mental.”
Proses menjadi dewasa merupakan pengalaman yang tidak mudah. Seseorang
harus melewati berbagai penyesuaian diri terhadap lingkungan di mana ia berada.
Seseorang harus diberikan waktu dan ruang gerak yang cukup sehingga dapat
melewati masa transisi dengan baik tanpa adanya tekanan-tekanan dari sekelilingnya
yang dapat menyebabkan depresi mental.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
………………………………………………………………………..........i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
…………………………………………………………….ii
ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
……………………………………………………..1
Statement of the Problem
……………………………………………………..4
Purpose of the Study ……………………………………………………………..4
Methods of Research ……………………………………………………………..4
Organization of the Thesis ……………………………………………………..5
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE THEME
IN J.D SALINGER’S THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
THROUGH THE PROTAGONIST
……………………………………..6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF THE THEME
IN SYLVIA PLATH’S THE BELL JAR
THROUGH THE PROTAGONIST
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
…………………………………....22
……………………………………………39
……………………………………………………………………43
APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Catcher in the Rye ……………………………………………44
Biography of J.D. Salinger ……………………………………………………46
Synopsis of The Bell Jar
……………………………………………………47
Biography of Sylvia Plath
……………………………………………………48
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APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF THE CATCHER IN THE RYE
Holden Caulfield is the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye. Currently in
psychiatric care, this teenager recalls what happened to him last Christmas, the
story which forms the narrative basis for the novel. Holden, a student at Pencey
Prep School, is irresponsible and immature. He is expelled for failing four out of
his five classes.
When Holden reaches New York, he does not know whom he should call.
He considers calling his younger sister, Phoebe, as well as Jane Gallagher and
another friend, Sally Hayes. However, he finally decides to stay at the Edmond
Hotel. Being able to watch other guests at the hotel from his window, including a
transvestite and a couple who spit drinks back at each other, Holden thinks about
sex. He calls Faith Cavendish, a stripper and prostitute, but she rejects him. He
then goes down to the Lavender Room, a nightclub in the Hotel, where he dances
with Bernice Krebs, a blonde woman from Seattle who is on vacation in New
York. Holden thinks that the tourists seem pathetic because of their excitement
over the various sights of the city.
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When he walks back to the hotel, Maurice, the elevator man, offers him a
prostitute for the night. When this prostitute arrives, Holden becomes too nervous
and refuses her. She demands ten dollars, but Holden only gives her five. Sunny
(the prostitute) leaves and soon returns with Maurice to demand the extra five
dollars. Holden argues with them, but Maurice threatens him while Sunny steals
his money. Maurice punches him in the stomach before he goes. Holden then
imagines shooting Maurice in the stomach and even jumping out of the window to
commit suicide.
Holden calls Sally Hayes to meet her for dinner near the Grand Central
Station. Before meeting Sally, Holden buys a record for Phoebe and feels
depressed when he hears children singing the song "If a body catch a body coming
through the rye." When Holden sees Sally, he immediately wants to marry her,
even though he does not particularly like Sally. During dinner, Holden complains
that he is fed up with everything around him and suggests that they run away
together to New England, where they can live in a cabin in the woods. She rejects
the idea.
Holden returns home to see Phoebe, attempting to avoid his parents. He
awakens her, but she soon becomes distressed at Holden’s failing out of Pencey.
When he complains about the phoniness of Pencey, Phoebe asks him if he actually
likes anything. He tells Phoebe that he would like to be "a catcher in the rye,"
Holden becomes increasingly distraught and delusional, believing that he will die
every time he crosses the street and falling unconscious after suffering from
diarrhea. Holden ends his story here.
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BIOGRAPHY OF J.D. SALINGER
J.D. Salinger was born in New York City on January 1, 1919. After brief
periods of enrollment at both NYU and Columbia University, Salinger devoted
himself entirely to writing, and by 1940 he had published several short stories. His
career as a writer was interrupted by World War II as he was doing service in the
U.S. Army. In 1946, after returning from the war, Salinger resumed writing for
The New Yorker magazine. Some of his most notable stories include A Perfect
Day for Bananafish (1948), and For Esmé With Love and Squalor (1950). In
total, Salinger published thirty-five short stories in the Saturday Evening Post,
Story, and Colliers between 1940 and 1948, and The New Yorker from 1948 until
1965.
Salinger received major critical and popular recognition with The Catcher
in the Rye (1951). Salinger's novel finds great sympathy for its wayward child
protagonist who views the adult world as ‘phony’. Salinger's only novel drew
from characters he had already created in two short stories published in 1945 and
1946: This Sandwich Has No Mayonnaise and I'm Crazy.
Since 1953, Salinger has resided in Cornish, New Hampshire, and claims
that he continues to write. Salinger is notoriously vague because of his reclusive
nature, which has made him the subject of a great deal of speculation. Salinger
refuses to give interviews or to deal with the press.
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SYNOPSIS OF THE BELL JAR
The Bell Jar takes place during the early fifties and begins in New York
City. The narrator, Esther Greenwood, is an intern at a fashion magazine after
winning a scholarship. She soon befriends Doreen, a fellow scholarship winner.
Doreen takes Esther out for drinks, where they meet several men, including Lenny
Shepherd, a disc jockey. Esther and Doreen go back to Lenny's apartment, where
Doreen and Lenny become more intimate and even somewhat violent with each
other. Esther leaves the apartment to return to her hotel, where she only wishes to
forget the experience that night.
Mrs. Willard, the mother of Buddy Willard, a Yale student whom Esther
has been seeing, arranges for Esther to meet with Constantin, an interpreter at the
United Nations. While watching Constantin at work, Esther panics about her
future, thinking that she knows nothing except how to win scholarships. She
decides that she will let Constantin seduce her, but back at his apartment Esther
and Constantin merely fall asleep beside each another.
Esther returns home to the suburbs of Boston, where her mother tells her
that she is not accepted for the writing course she has applied. Esther finds herself
unable to sleep and goes to see her family doctor to get sleeping pills, but her
doctor tells her to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon, instead. Dr. Gordon advises
shock treatments for Esther, who begins to think more and more often about
suicide. One day, Esther attempts suicide by taking a bottle of sleeping pills.
Esther is submitted to a mental institution. At this facility, Esther is treated by Dr.
Nolan, a female psychiatrist who reminds Esther of her mother.
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Esther leaves the asylum just before the new school semester commences.
However, she’s become a changed person.
BIOGRAPHY OF SYLVIA PLATH
Sylvia Plath was born in Massachusetts on October 27, 1932. Sylvia's
father, Otto, was a College Professor and self-described bee expert. He died just
days after her 8th birthday. Sylvia was a model child; sensitive, popular with
other children, intelligent and well behaved. She published her first poem before
she reached the age of nine.
Sylvia was accepted into Smith College on scholarship in 1950. In 1952,
she won first prize ($500) from Mademoiselle Magazine for her short story
entitled, Sunday at the Mintons. The following June, Sylvia served as guest editor
at Mademoiselle's New York offices. She recounted this part of her life in her
later novel, The Bell Jar.
On August 24, 1952, Sylvia attempted suicide for the first time. She was
institutionalized at Maclean Hospital. She continued to write during this time,
which later resulted in the publication of her second award-winning short story,
Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams.
Sylvia graduated summa cum laude in 1955, and won the Fulbright
scholarship to study in Cambridge, England. It was here that Sylvia met her future
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husband, Ted Hughes, an English poet. Sylvia married Ted in June of 1956 at the
age of twenty-eight. Ted and Sylvia got a divorce in September 1962.
Sylvia packed her bags and moved with her two children to an apartment
in London. The difficulty in her life allowed Sylvia to write vigorously. The Bell
Jar was published under the pseudonym of Victoria Lucas in January, 1963,
though it would never receive critical praise until after Sylvia's death. Depressed
over the breakup of her marriage and lack of success, Sylvia felt she could no
longer go on. Sylvia Plath died on February 11, 1963 by putting her head in a gas
oven.
The Bell Jar was later published in the United States in 1971 using Sylvia's
real name. It became wildly popular and earned her a place in literary history.
Sylvia Plath was honored posthumously with a Pulitzer Prize in 1981.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
I choose to analyze J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar on the basis that these two novels are considered two of the
prominent novels which deal with the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In
my opinion, the stage in life where one undergoes changes from being a teenager
to becoming an adult is a confusing and complicated phase. During this stage, one
does a lot of self-searching and self-discovering. This is also the stage where one
feels intense loneliness and loses one’s sense of direction, because one is expected
to take more responsibilities for the first time in our life. J.D Salinger’s The
Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar are the two novels which are
often referred to as the most reflective literary works on the issue of growing up.
The Catcher in the Rye is even included as a compulsory reading in many
American high schools’ curriculum. They are both considered important novels in
the American Literature, for they serve as rite-of-passage novels which centralize
on the issue of adolescence and its entailing emotional adjustments toward
adulthood. This type of novel is often referred to as bildungsroman or ‘coming of
age’ novel.
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A Bildungsroman / bɪldʊŋs.ro ma n/, is a novel which traces
the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and
growth of the main character from childhood to maturity.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildungsroman)
Coming of age is a young person's formal transition from
adolescence to adulthood. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming
of age)
“In these novels characters grow frustrated with the parameters of their world. At
an early age, they leave home to get an education in the larger world. But during
the separation from home, they regret the loss of innocence that connected them to
childhood.” (Adamson, 2002: xi).
I would like to focus on the protagonists and their actions. A protagonist is
the leading character around whom conflicts and events revolve in a literary work.
These conflicts and events serve as tools in revealing the author’s central and
dominating idea in the literary work.
The contrast between the behaviors of each character is what
makes theme come alive and enable the reader to believe in
them. The characters react to each other and develop
throughout a novel, and it is this action and reaction that
usually makes up the majority of a good book.
(Reader and Woods, 1987: 57)
Therefore, I decide to analyze the theme through the protagonists in J.D
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar.
I notice that the two novels share the same subject matter, which is
“growing up.” However, the themes are slightly different from each other. Even
though the two protagonists in the two novels share the same fate in the end, the
causes which lead them to this shared fate differ from each other. This will be
further analyzed in chapters Two and Three.
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I choose to analyze novel in lieu of the other literary genres because I find
novel most interesting. A work of prose presents detailed aspects of wellorchestrated literary elements in creating one particular or various directions to
where the reader could explore. Hence, it allows the reader to come to his own
understanding regarding the novel and how he would interpret it in his own way.
According to Harry Shaw in his Dictionary of Literary Terms (1972), a novel is
defined as “…a lengthy fictitious prose narrative portraying characters and
presenting an organized series of events and setting. Every novel is an account of
life; every novel includes conflict, characters, action, setting, plot and theme”
(Shaw, 1972: 257). Therefore, I would like to analyze the “account of life” of the
two protagonists in the two novels and come to my own interpretations of the
central and dominating idea in the two literary works.
A renowned American writer, Sylvia Plath is well-noted for personal
imagery and intense focus in her poems. Plath won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize
for her Collected Poems (1981). The Bell Jar is her only novel, which has been
said to be her autobiographical novel for its narrative similarities to Plath’s own
life-story. The book is considered a powerful exploration of adolescence. With
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye it is recognized as a classic of adolescent
angst.
J.D. Salinger received major critical and popular recognition with The
Catcher in the Rye. It has been said to be “reminiscent of Mark Twain’s
Adventure of Huckleberry Finn in many ways” (Adamson, 2002: 44). This is
because Twain’s protagonist in the novel also deals with the pressure to conform
as an adolescent entering adulthood. Salinger’s sudden popularity causes him to
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withdraw from his social circles and decide to live in solitude. The American
public has considered Salinger a sociopath – a fate similar to his main character in
his The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, who ends up becoming an anti-hero
character.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The problems that will be analyzed in this thesis are:
1. What are the themes of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar?
2. How do the protagonists in both novels help to reveal the themes?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of doing this analysis are:
1. To show the themes of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia
Plath’s The Bell Jar.
2. To show how the protagonists in both novels help to reveal the themes.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The research approach in writing this thesis is new criticism or formalism.
Therefore, the method of research used is library research. First of all, the two
novels are read as the primary texts. I then search and gather the information
needed for the thesis from some references and materials from the internet to
support the analysis of the primary texts. Finally, I draw the conclusion.
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THE ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS:
This thesis is divided into four chapters, which are preceded by the Preface
and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which contains the Background
of Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of
Research and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two deals with the analysis
of theme in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, whereas Chapter Three deals
with the analysis of theme in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Chapter Four is the
Conclusion, in which I conclude and compare my analysis in The Catcher in the
Rye and The Bell Jar. The thesis ends with the Bibliography and the Appendix.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After careful analysis of the experiences of the two protagonists in the two
literary works, I conclude that both The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar share
the same subject matter, which is “growing up.” However, each book has a theme
that is slightly different from the other. Although both protagonists in both novels
experience mental depression due to their efforts to cope with life as they are
transitioning from adolescence into adulthood, I noticed that the causes of their
mental depression differ from each other.
In Holden’s case, he becomes mentally depressed in trying to reject the
world of adulthood around him as phony, something which he does not want to
belong to. He sees development toward maturity as losing one’s innocence. As
such, he tries hard to preserve his innocence by identifying the things in the world
which he rejects as phony. To Holden, adulthood consists of people who have
given in to society and become something they are not. This state of constant
rejection of the world frustrates Holden and leads him to mental depression.
Therefore, the theme of The Catcher in the Rye is “resistance to conform in the
process of growing up may well result in a depressive mental state.”
On the other hand, the theme of The Bell Jar is “the process of adjustment
in growing up may cause a depressive mental state.” Similarly, Esther Greenwood
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in The Bell Jar also has to cope with the issue of entering adulthood with much
emotional turbulence. Unlike Holden, however, Esther’s primary concern is about
how to live up to the expectations of others and the pressure of choosing a career
path to pursue. There is also the issue of proper codes of behavior, especially in
regards to sexuality. Furthermore, the protagonist in The Bell Jar, Esther, also
experiences mental depression. Unlike Holden, Esther does not reject the world of
adulthood as phony. Instead, Esther longs to embrace it. What frustrates Esther is
that as the parameter of her world expands she is faced with many different
choices in life, most of which promise her success and yet she is not able to seize
them all. As a very brilliant woman living in the era when most other women are
confined to serving men and occupying themselves with menial household duties,
Esther defines success as earning a good income by being a writer and having the
ability to be equal to men. She finds, however, that her society has its own
different standards and expectations for men and women. Esther finds that the
society she is living in is a sexist society. Being a woman who is ahead of her
time, she tries to breach the societal standards and fulfill her own expectations by
herself. However, she is often held back by those around her and constantly
reminded of her place in society. Thus her pursuit of success which she views as a
necessary element of growth and adulthood cannot be met simply because she is
not given the space to move and time to explore her potentials. She is also
required to make constant adjustments as she goes through life as a small town
girl who suddenly finds herself in a big city. There are new values and
expectations which confront her. As she accepts each new value and tries to fulfill
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each expectation, she finds herself making constant adjustments. Eventually, this
leads her to mental breakdown.
In my opinion, the process of growing up requires making adjustments
toward oneself and one’s society in order to adapt well to the norms and
expectations of the society. However, the process of adjusting oneself during the
transition from adolescence to adulthood is in itself depressive, especially for
those who are not apt to change. These themes are derived from careful perusal at
the protagonists’ experiences in facing their adolescence and adapting into their
adulthood. Both protagonists end up institutionalized. However, Esther
Greenwood’s ending is more resolute, whereas Holden Caufield’s ending is still
very much an open-ending without much resolution offered to the readers. Having
been written in the early 1950s, The Catcher in the Rye has an open ending, which
is interesting because the open-ending narrative technique is mostly found in
contemporary novels. I view this simply as a way the two authors would like their
readers to accept their novels. Plath’s resolved ending gives the readers resolved
feelings about Esther’s depressive experience. On the contrary, Salinger’s open
ending allows the readers to draw their own conclusion about what they think
would happen to the protagonist after having gone through the incidents in his life
which lead to his mental depression. The narrative technique of not offering a
resolved ending to the readers, in this case, intensifies the sense of depression that
Salinger is trying to convey.
The Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar are both novels which deal with
the issue of growing up and its entailing aspects. In my opinion, coming of age is
never an easy experience. One goes through a lot of adjustments, not only toward
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one’s surroundings, but also toward oneself. The search of identity becomes a
major issue for teenagers during their growing-up periods. In the same manner,
Holden Caufield and Esther Greenwood, the protagonists in The Catcher in the
Rye and The Bell Jar respectively, both undergo the same experience in their
process of growing up. What sets them apart is how each of these protagonists
ends up coping with the changes in their lives as the result of their growing up.
Holden rejects the changes as phony, whereas Esther is frustrated by not being
able to seize all opportunities
which she perceives as the definition of a
successful life.
Having said that, I think the authors’ purpose to present such themes is
mainly to bring to the surface the importance of allowing oneself time for proper
transition from adolescence to adulthood. Attempts to rush or refuse the transition
may result in maladjustments and depression. The Catcher in the Rye is mainly
focused on male teenagers as the protagonist in the novel is of a male gender, and
the author is a male also. In the same manner, the target audience of The Bell Jar
is female readers. These coming-of-age novels clearly point out the fact that
growing up is very difficult to cope with for a lot of teens. As such, teens must be
carefully understood and be allowed sufficient time to go through the transition
into adulthood.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
REFERENCES
Adamson, Lynda G. Thematic Guide to the American Novel. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. London: George Allen & Unwin
Ltd, 1972.
INTERNET WEBSITES
Franklin, Carolyn. Sylvia and The Bell Jar.
5 June 2004.
Herberle, Mark. Salinger. 27 May 2004.
The Wikipedia Online. 2003. 5 June 2006
Folley, Tom. Mrs. America: Women’s Roles in the 1950s 20 June 2006
PRIMARY TEXTS
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: HarperCollins Inc., 1971.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. New York: Penguin Books,1951
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