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How Does Holden's Character Change

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How Does Holden's Character Change
In the books The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, each author portrays how the life of the main character is changed after the loss of a close family member. Lily, the main character in The Secret Life of Bees, lost her mother at the young age of four. In an gun accident, Lily shoots her own mother. To seek closure and forgiveness of her mother's death, she runs off with her caretaker to find out more about her mom. Holden, the main character in Catcher in the Rye, is sent off to boarding school after he loses his younger brother Allie. Holden deals with the loss by attempting to smoke and drink to cope with the pain. Lily becomes successful while Holden ends up in a mental hospital. Loving people …show more content…
Holden, the main character in The Catcher in the Rye spends his whole life with his family until his younger brother Allie died. After that his family becomes broken with grief after losing their youngest son. His parents send Holden to boarding school in hopes that he would be in a better environment. The school only makes things worse, by leading him to alcohol smoking and isolation. Despite his age, he turns to substances to numb the pain. Smoking becomes a regular habit of escapism for him. Holden always looks for someone to love him but at the same time never wants anyone to get close, fearing that they may reject him and he will be hurt. He continues to isolate himself from anyone that could potentially help him and continues to smoke and drink attempting to find solution in that. When Holden arrives at Penn Station he wants to talk to someone but never does: “So I ended up not calling anybody. I came out of the booth, after about twenty minutes or so.” (Salinger, 91) Holden is looking for help but doesn't have the courage to actually go and ask someone for help. Fear of rejection and being hurt again holds him back from asking for the help he needs. He also doesn't have a very strong group of friends or family a key support system to help overcome a loss. He always wants to call his friend Jane to seek comfort, but he never does because he is too worried that she will reject
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