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Submitted By Justalicel
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Both "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain contain the theme of rejection interwoven throughout them. Both extracts show teenagers rejecting society’s norms as, Holden begins his journey on the train to New York as a way of escaping his expectations much like Huck’s journey along the river in the other extract. In the late 1940s, teenagers were starting to be recognised as their own demographic, which Salinger explores in "Catcher" through the protagonist Holden Caulfield's rejection of both adulthood and childhood simultaneously. Similarly, Twain counteracts the norms of society throughout "Huckleberry Finn" wherein the eponymous character rejects society’s views and begins a journey down the Mississippi river with the slave, Jim.
Both Holden and Huck reject the view that all children have to grow up and accept subordination in society rather than choosing to escape what’s expected of them and run away. Holden’s journey on the train is a microcosm for the main plotline, thus creating a physical and metaphorical mode of transport to steer Holden’s rejection of and escape from society. When Holden first boards the train he meets a woman who questions him on the “Pencey sticker” featured on one of his “Gladstones”. Although Holden continuously rejects Pencey for being “phoney” and “lousy”, he still keeps the sticker thus rejecting moving on from Pencey as the sticker isn’t a permanent fixture but he doesn’t remove it. This is similar to his school life as he was eventually going to have to leave it behind, but is reluctant to do so as that would indicate his initial move from childhood to adulthood. Salinger uses this plotline to create a semiautobiographical stance on the novel as he too didn’t complete full education. This shows Holden has an issue with the concept of adulthood which is what Salinger tries to

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