Catcher in the Rye

Most of the time in life you encounter people who are smart, talented, kind, and many other things. The people that put their heart into something they care deeply for weather its music or a book or a profession. In “The Catcher and the Rye”, Houlden the main character is not one of these people. He is your typical floater that shows no interest in his future, or the well being of others. He is arrogant and has no motivation once so ever. He was kicked out of numerous schools and still showed no signs of improving.
Throughout the book Houlden narrates his life through day dreams that he reencounters his experiences. As a boy of sixteen having being kicked out of three schools, now four after Pencey, he still didn’t learn. All he cared about was the easy way out and his own enjoyment. There is always one Houlden that you know as you grow up in school and you think to yourself how on earth they are going to make it in life. While reading the book you see the outrageous things he does just to avoid his parents after being disgusted by the talk about his future from his teacher at Pencey. All Houlden did was run from the truth he did not want to face. He ran from things that challenged him and he had an immature way of thinking.
By the end of the book you see that like all of the floaters you knew as you grew up he had that one person that did affect him and for Houlden it was his sister. Houlden upset almost every person he encountered throughout the book. He even annoyed his sister when he told her how he was unsuccessful at Pencey before even seeing his parent. However, by the end when he sees her ride the carousel when he is about to run away from home, he realizes he loves her so much and that he wants to change his future.
The ironic thing about the ending is that he is supposeably at a mental home of some kind narrating the book, but we do not know where or how old he is. So how successful he was with his self change is unknown.

Willy and Gatsby

Reading both The Great Gatsby and The Death of a Salesman taught me a lot about life through the similarities between the main characters. Both Gatsby and Willy Loman die after living a long life through a dream of what they thought should have been. Gatsby lived most of his adult life wondering what it would be like to be with Daisy, the love of his life. When the opportunity to be with her comes, he is thrilled. However, he dies in the novel. In a way, you can say he deserves it because he lived through this dream and acted upon it when it presented itself even though Daisy was married. You cannot always get what you want especially when it involves hurting others. Karma will eventually find its way to get you.
Willy Loman’s story is similar but different. He lived his life in the dream of being a successful salesman because that was the kind of work he knew and did his entire adult life. His problem was that he wished to live more successfully through his sons, no matter the cost. This sons Happy and Biff didn’t quite see the joy in becoming a salesman, but wanted the love and satisfaction of their father. Willy put a lot of pressure on his sons especially the oldest, Biff. As a result Biff grew a feeling of resentment towards him. As Willy grew older and began to have episodes of illusions of the past, his wife and sons grew concerned. Biff did nothing except trying to please his father even though it didn’t work out the way Willy had hoped. Willy ended up committing suicide at the end of the book. I show only a small feeling of pity for Willy because all he knew was the life of a salesman and ultimately wanted success for his boys. However, the way he approached his goal for them was not right. You cannot treat others, especially family bad just because of your wants. Willy should have been supportive with any choice that Biff made with his life even if being a salesman was not one of them.
Both Gatsby and Willy strived for what they wanted. They did not care if it meant hurting people in the process. Or did they? The ultimate question that we face in life when we encounter people like Gatsby and Willy is; are they aware of the way they affect others by the way they act? Do they hurt others on purpose or are they just unable to change the way they push people and loved ones for their own dreams? I like to believe it has something to do with the way they were originally raised by their families. Everything you experience in life affects the person you become, and sometimes not always for the better. I do not believe that Willy and Gatsby were bad people. They let their dreams get the best of them and they unconsciously hurt people along the way. However, everything you do wrong in life catches up to you and in their case it was their very own death.