Comparison Of King Lear And The Catcher In The Rye

One’s downfall may be caused by many factors, such as an individual’s traits. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s cynical behaviour towards those around him causes him to see his classmates around him in a negative perspective. Similarly, in King Lear, King Lear’s attitude towards his honest daughter, Cordelia causes him to banish his most-loving and caring daughter away from England. Then, both protagonists are prompted to a punishment of physical humiliation. Likewise, both protagonists are mentally ill and have reached a breaking point, causing psychological problems. In The Catcher in the Rye and King Lear, Holden and King Lear are led to an eventual downfall due to their behaviour towards those around them, physical humiliation, and†¦show more content†¦He was dismissed from Regan and Goneril’s house, forced to go into the storm. This event leads Lear to his physical humiliation. Particularly, when Lear tears away his garments, it show s his realization towards his status from king to beggar (King Lear 3.4.105-112). Equally, Holden was physically humiliated when he kept agitating Stradlater about his date with Jane. â€Å"Then he really let one go at me, and the next thing I knew I was on the goddam floor again. I don’t remember if he knocked me out or not, but I don’t think so.† (Salinger 45) Due to Holden’s attachment to Jane, Holden was concerned about what events may have bestowed upon Stradlater and Jane. Holden mistakenly bothered Stradlater several times about his date with Jane, even after Stradlater had told him to stop. As a result, Stradlater punched Holden and Holden was left on the ground with a bloody nose. Given these points, it is evident that both protagonists were physically humiliated due to their decision making leading towards their downfall. In the same way, both protagonists are mentally ill, and have psychological problems. This is evident throughout King Lear. K ing Lear foreshadows that he will develop psychological problems when he screams, â€Å"O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!/Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!† (King Lear 2.1.43-44). The Fool tells Lear that he should be wise because heShow MoreRelatedEssay Prompts4057 Words   |  17 PagesGreat Expectations Sister Carrie The Great Gatsby The Sound and Fury Gulliver’s Travels Sula Heart of Darkness The Sun Also Rises Invisible Man Their Eyes Were Watching God Joe Turner’s Come and Gone The Things They Carried King Lear The Turn of the Screw Major Barbara Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf 2004 (Form B): The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organizedRead MoreChildrens Literature13219 Words   |  53 Pagesprecious (Bingham and Scholt 1980). Amusing books written specifically for children would have been economically and psychologically impossible (Townsend 1996). Children would probably have listened to adult works such as Beowulf, Song of Roland, El Cid, King Arthur, and Robin Hood. Children and adults also enjoyed folk tales and literature rich with fantasy and imagination, as myth was the way they made sense of their world. While there were no manuscripts devoted specifically to â€Å"children’s literature