The Catcher In The Rye Compared to Macbeth Essay

The Catcher in the Rye and Macbeth each has a wide variety of character each with unique and similar attributes. The play Macbeth tells the tragic story of Macbeth who deals with self doubts and ambition, The Catcher in the Rye which tells the story of a boy who failed out of 3 school and received a notice of expulsion in the 4th school, he struggles with interaction with people and connecting with the adult world. Both the book and the play have similar characters that both have struggles with life. But what do the main characters from different stories have in common? The fact that these character have someone the to confide with someone they discuss their problems with even when they have trust issues

Holden Caulfield faces problems like that of a child and that prevents him from fully understanding why it is that he is so depressed. His life revolves around his problems, and he seems helpless in evading them. Among the other things Holden finds himself facing the issues of acceptance of death, growing up, and his own self-destructiveness. One of the hardships Holden must cope with is his inability to come to terms with death, in particular that of his younger brother, Allie. Holden seems to have experienced a rather happy and carefree childhood; he lived with his siblings, Phoebe and Allie, and had his older brother D.B. to look up to. Then Holden suddenly is faced with the realization that he has to grow up, and learn to live without Allie.

Macbeth portrays a man in position doing the usual, searching for more power. Macbeth is a young prosperous, ambitious man that is out to fulfill a prophecy. Maybe he is a little too ambitious. At first he wasnt the murderous type. His wife Lady Macbeth was pretty much behind the whole thing. She convinced him that he should kill King Duncan so he could claim the throne. It might be his character but it doesnt truly come out till he has Banquo killed. It appears that he doesnt really care what happens to his friends. He first kills King Duncan and then to cover up his crime he must lower himself even more to kill his close friend Banquo.

Several cases when Holden confided with Phoebe like when he said I mean if you tell old Phoebe something, she knows exactly what the hell youre talking about. This quote shows that Phoebe understand what Holden tells her and that really means a lot to Holden.In Macbeths case when he heard the three witchs prophecy he sent a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth to tell her that he will become of Scotland.