Post-war America was a time of conformity in America and such rigid conventionality caused many young people to feel lost, isolated and unfulfilled. This uneasy and troubled youth is artfully represented in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. In The Bell Jar, Esther struggles the traditional female role of wife and mother and Holden Caulfield, the narrator of The Catcher in the Rye, finds conformity equally repellent. He cannot accept the corruption of adult life and it’s ‘phoniness’. Holden and Esther, both have an inability to cope with adolescence and growing up and this triggers their breakdowns.
Holden and Esther are parallel characters. Their stories both take place in 1950’s New York, both are young adults struggling to accept societal expectations and both feel alienated. Many critics confirm that The Bell Jar is the female equivalent to The Catcher in the Rye; the foreword to the 199 Perennial Classics Edition of ‘The Bell Jar’ states that: ‘It [The Bell Jar] quickly establishes itself as a female rite of passage novel, a twin to ‘ The Catcher in the Rye’ . Furthermore, a New Statesmen review of The Bell Jar confirms the likeness of the books – Timothy Materer states that, ‘[The Bell Jar was] perceptively referred to as a novel like J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’.
The loss of innocence is another theme that arises within both coming of age novels. Esther and Holden grow and mature to realise the truths about society and it’s expectations. Holden in particular is greatly affected by the loss of innocence that comes with adolescence.
Holden’s hair is representative of his dichotomous personality. He is in the transitional phase of adolescence and is very immature. He confirms this when he states that ‘I still act … like I was only … twelve’ . On the other hand, Holden can be very philosophical in is outlook (‘sometimes I act a lot older than I am’ ). It is this internal struggle which plagues Holden throughout the novel.
Holden’s reluctance to grow up is shown when he talks about the exhibits in the Museum. The museum represents a utopia for Holden – it is the place where nothing ever changes and everything remains simple forever. Holden is truly terrified by the grown up world and Holden explains ‘the best thing’ in the museum is that, ‘everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move’ . Holden resents the corruption of adult life. He says ‘certain things should stay the way they are’ . The preservation of innocence is paramount.
Holden decides to escape from this world of corruption but before he does so, he takes a walk with his younger sister Phoebe. Holden talks of a song which he has recently heard, reciting: ‘If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye’? . Phoebe corrects Holden:
“It’s ‘If a body meet a body coming through the rye’!”
Holden should realise that he cannot save children from falling over ‘the edge of some crazy cliff’’ into adolescence. Feeling that this is an impossible task, he decides to run away and avoid interacting with the world. However, Holden must understand that it is better to “meet” with others and in that way, effect the changes you desire.
Towards the end of the novel, Holden has an epiphany at the carousel in Central Park. He realises that:
The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it’s bad if you say anything to them.
Holden realises his mistake regarding the preservation of innocence. He desires to be the “catcher”, to stop children from falling over the terrifying brink into adolescence – he wants to protect them from growing up and the torture of adulthood. However, Holden realises that he must not shelter children from the difficulties they will face. Instead, children must make mistakes in order to learn and grow. James Lundquist comments thus:
It is a ‘fortunate fall’ and ‘only through coming to terms with the fallen nature of the world through his own fall can Holden achieve release’
Everyone had tried to warn Holden of the dangers of isolation. Even his teacher, Mr Antolini said:
The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.
Mr. Antolini advises that escape is not the solution, but interacting with the world and working hard to change it for the better. Holden has the right values but the wrong attitude and his immaturity and disillusionment prevent him from recognising this.
As the The Bell Jar opens, Esther is already falling into a state of crisis having just arrived in New York as one of twelve recipients of a prestigious and sought after award. She and eleven others had written their way into a monthly work placement for a New York magazine and she should, as she put it, have been ‘having the time of [her] life’ . However, despite being ‘the envy ’ of all, Esther is consumed with thoughts of death and execution such as the Rosenberg’s electrocution. She should have been ‘steering New York like her own private car. Only [she] wasn’t steering anything, not even [herself].’ New York, and by extension the world at large, has been a terrible disappointment and Esther is forced to accept ‘the impossibility of living up to the era’s contradictory ideals of womanhood.’
Esther has worked her entire life towards this moment – this opportunity – where she would be free to express who and what she truly was. However, there was no real opportunity. She would be bound by the:
Social expectations and toxic culture of 1950’s America – a culture that makes finding a positive identity as a woman so difficult that [she] is driven to self-destruction.
As childhood naivety fades in the face of the harsh New York reality, Esther reflects that ‘all the little success [she’d] totted up so happily at college’ fizzled to nothing. Esther struggles to cope in a world that does not fit her expectations and wishes – she is alienated as she views the society in 1950s America as suffocating.
Within both novels, the corrupting nature of sex is explored. Holden desires sex and wishes to lose his virginity but he is simultaneously disgusted by the thought of sex as he views it as a corrupting. He has many opportunities to have sex but his morals get the better of him. Holden’s reluctance to engage in sex, despite his strong desire, is highlighted when he asks Ackley to pass his regards on to his long-time friend, Jane Gallagher:
Ask her is she still keeps her kings in the back row
The ‘kings in the back row’ symbolize the preservation of virginity and the protection of innocence which Holden so yearns for. Jack Salzman states that:
‘Jane’s withholding her kings may be said to symbolize the suspension of maturation typical of this adolescent period-even as it typifies the static, sexually unthreatening relationship has with her. For, like young people, the pieces on a checkerboard must keep moving forward … By not moving her kings out of the back row, Jane solves the problem presented by this unavoidable process of maturation. ’
Holden’s physical maturity in fusion with his mental immaturity leaves him unable to fulfil his sexual desires. Stradlater, his school roommate, has no such qualms and this infuriates Holden who cannot abide the thought of him dating Jane. He questions Stradlater, asking if he gave ‘her the time in Ed Banky’s goddamn car? ’. Holden is infuriated that Jane could have been corrupted and tries to fight Stradlater, stating: ‘I’d’ve killed him’ ’. It is evident that the thought of people he deeply cares about engaging in lewd activities unsettles him.
The same is true at a sleazy hotel where Holden talks of seeing ‘a man and woman squirting water out their months at each other ’ Disgusted, he claims ‘that hotel was lousy with perverts. ’ Here, Holden has an encounter with a sex worker and realises how young she. Holden can’t help but feel sympathetic to her loss of innocence. Noticing her green dress, he feels ‘sort of sad when I hung it up’ . Holden admits:
I thought of her going in a store and buying it, and nobody in the store knowing she was a prostitute and all. The salesman probably just thought she was a regular girl when she bought it.
Holden feels ‘sad as hell’ because Sunny is a young girl who is suffering at the hands of an uncaring and corrupted society. She is around the same age as him yet she has undergone a great loss of innocence. It has been torn from her because of inequality and callous disregard and despite her tough exterior, Holden knows this to be true. While his physical desires for sex become stronger, he is utterly opposed to the way in which it allows men to exploit women.
Esther, on the other hand, wishes to explore her sexuality but is denied the ability to do so by societal standards. She has been told many times throughout her life that she must adhere to the social standards for woman set by men. Buddy Willard confirms this when he states in a ‘sinister, knowing way’ :
That after I [Esther] has children, I would feel differently, I wouldn’t want to write poems. So I began to think maybe it was true when you were married and had children, it was like being brainwashed.
Buddy tells Esther that once she eventually starts a family with him, she will have a different mind-set and her deep passion for literature and poetry will diminish. He is a stereotypical man of this period, expecting women to focus solely on marriage and children and to put their own dreams aside. In addition, Buddy’s comment leaves Esther feeling utterly confused about her future, ultimately leading her into deep depression. This social expectation is debilitating for intelligent and creative Esther.
Esther has proved herself to be successful and hardworking due to her internship at the NY magazine, yet is faced with a future of bland and mind-numbing conformity. She balks at the idea of spending her life serving the needs of a man and is sickened by an article titled ‘In Defence of Chastity’ , stating that,
‘men…wanted to be the ones to teach their wives about sex. Of course they would try to persuade a girl to have sex and say they would marry her later, but as soon as she gave in they would lose all respect for her’ .
Esther feels the weight of paternalistic expectation and realizes that she cannot explore her blossoming sexuality as men may do without being labelled as wild and loose: ‘the one thing this article didn’t seem to me to consider was how a girl felt’ . Esther is becoming increasingly aware of the limitations for women in her society.
Upon, discovering that Buddy has spent his summer having sex with a waitress while dating Esther and simultaneously expecting her to remain a virgin until the pair married, Esther rightfully ends the relationship, but their circumstances highlight the double-standards she must endure.
Esther’s uncomfortable experiences exploring her sexuality continue when she encounters Marco. He gives Esther a diamond in exchange for sexual favors; it is evident that Marco is misogynistic and simply sees women as objects. Esther realizes that, ‘I’d happened to be dealt to him, like a playing card in a pack of identical cards.’
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